Packet Loss Calculator
Calculate the packet loss percentage from sent and received packet counts.
About Packet Loss Calculator
Packet loss occurs when packets sent across a network fail to reach their destination, typically due to congestion, faulty hardware, or wireless interference. It is calculated as the percentage of sent packets that were not received. Even small amounts of packet loss (1-2%) can noticeably degrade real-time applications like VoIP calls and video conferencing, since lost packets can't simply be retransmitted in time.
Formula
Packet loss percentage
loss% = (sent − received) / sent × 100
- sent
- Total packets transmitted
- received
- Packets successfully received
Worked example
With the default values below, Packet Loss Calculator returns Packet Loss of 1.500%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Packets Sentminimum 1
- 1,000
- Packets Receivedminimum 0
- 985
Results
- Packet Loss
- 1.500%
- Packets Lost
- 15
- Impact Assessment
- Noticeable — may affect real-time voice/video
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Packet loss percentage
- 3Packet Loss= 1.500
- 4Packets Lost= 15
- 5Impact Assessment= Noticeable — may affect real-time voice/video
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What packet loss percentage is considered acceptable?
Generally, under 1% packet loss is considered acceptable for most applications. VoIP and video conferencing start to show noticeable quality degradation above roughly 1-2% loss, and become largely unusable above 5%.
What causes packet loss?
Common causes include network congestion, insufficient bandwidth, faulty cables or hardware, wireless interference, software bugs on network devices, and overloaded routers dropping packets when their buffers are full.
How is packet loss different from latency?
Latency measures how long a packet takes to arrive; packet loss measures whether it arrives at all. High latency with low loss means things are slow but reliable, while high loss means data is actually being dropped.
How is packet loss typically measured?
Tools like ping and mtr send a known number of packets and count how many responses come back, reporting the loss percentage. Continuous monitoring tools track this over time to catch intermittent issues.