What is "Jitter"?
Jitter
Jitter refers to how variable latency is in a network. High jitter, greater than approximately 50 msec, can result in both increased latency and packet loss. Let's see how.
When talking to someone it's important that they hear what you say in the same order that you say it, otherwise they won't understand what you're telling them. Unfortunately, jitter causes packets to arrive at their destination with different timing and possibly in a different order than they were sent (spoken), with some arriving faster and some slower than they should.
To correct the effects of jitter, VoIP endpoints collect packets in a buffer and put them back together in the proper timing and order before the receiver hears them. This works, but it's a balancing act. Processing that buffer adds delay to the call, so the bigger the buffer, the longer the delay. Remember the effects of latency? Keep in mind, no matter how big the buffer is, it is finite in size. If voice packets arrive when the buffer is full then packets are dropped and the receiver will never hear them. These are called discarded packets.
!!!
