Many people confuse "Internet Speed" with "Latency." While speed is how much data you can move at once, Latency is the delay before that data even starts moving. Ping is simply the tool we use to measure that delay in milliseconds (ms).
Think of it like a plumbing system: Bandwidth is the width of the pipe, but Latency is how long it takes for the water to travel from the reservoir to your tap. You can have a massive pipe, but if it's 1,000 miles long, there will still be a delay.
Anything under 50ms is considered excellent for gaming or video calls. Once you cross 150ms, you start to notice "lag"; the annoying delay between your action and the result on screen.
Latency is mostly dictated by the laws of physics. Data travels through fiber optics at roughly 2/3 the speed of light. Distance, network congestion, and the number of "hops" (routers) between you and the server all add up.
While Latency is the constant delay, Jitter is the variation in that delay. If your ping jumps from 30ms to 200ms and back again, it’s often more disruptive than a steady, slightly high ping. Jitter is usually caused by network congestion or poor Wi-Fi signals.