I said more speed, please!
When it comes to internet connectivity, the conversation around internet performance is mainly centred on one thing: speed. We have been conditioned to believe that faster always means better, but the game is changing. Like so much these days, connectivity is evolving, especially in areas of the Internet of Things (IoT) linked to automation, Agricultural Technology (AgTech), and smart infrastructure; speed alone is no longer enough.
Latency is the term to watch for, particularly as we come to depend more on connectivity for social, domestic and industrial uses.
Executive leaders recognise the importance of reliable, real-time communication in environments where lives and infrastructure depend on it; however, the mandate is often about achieving the highest possible bandwidth. However, now is the time to broaden that conversation and introduce an area that, outside of technical circles, many have not fully explored: low-latency.
In settings where real-time data exchange is mission-critical, such as smart agriculture, autonomous equipment, remote monitoring, and emergency services, latency impacts system responsiveness, decision accuracy, and overall performance.
So, what is latency?
Speed is the amount of data your network can carry.
Latency refers to the time it takes for data to travel back and forth.
You can have a 300 Mbps connection, but if latency is high, the experience will still be sluggish, especially for real-time applications.
Major internet providers are no longer just marketing high-speed internet; they now overtly promote low-latency connectivity. Without low latency, high speed alone would not be enough for the systems, devices, and platforms in use today; the game is changing, and responsiveness matters as much as throughput.
As more devices are made 'field-ready', often in rugged cases, a balance must be struck between connectivity performance and equipment care. The type of hardware, antenna quality, and even a bulky phone case can affect signal performance and add micro-delays, minor issues that compound in latency-sensitive environments.
As we expand into intelligent farming, precision AgTech, industrial IoT, and edge computing, latency is becoming the key performance metric. Speed still matters, but it's no longer the whole story.
If you're planning a digital infrastructure upgrade or deploying next-generation technology, ensure you're asking the right question: How fast does my network respond, not just how much data can it transfer?