Common Causes of Cisco Jitter

Are you experiencing poor performance within your Cisco systems? Then you’re probably looking for solutions! But before you can find an effective solution to jitter and connection issues, it’s crucial to identify the cause.

This article will list some common causes of Cisco jitter, helping you determine and quickly solve your problem at the source.

What is Cisco jitter?

Let’s start with a quick definition of Cisco jitter to help you better understand the problem.

Essentially, network or Cisco jitter is the variation in delay or latency of packets when they are routed along an IP network. Keep in mind that latency, packet loss, and jitter are all separate issues, but they are closely interlinked.

When you make conference calls, receive or send an email, browse the web, or use VoIP, jitter can present itself in the form of poor call quality or even network dropouts. In the business world, dropout can result in serious productivity loss, while poor call quality can have a negative impact on customers.

Network jitter is normally caused by network congestion issues, poor hardware quality, or a weak network connection (which often results from using a wireless or WiFi network). The remainder of this article will go into further detail about these causes.  

Cause 1: Network congestion

Network congestion occurs when there is too much traffic on a network, causing a delay in the data packets coming in and out.

There are two main types of congestion:

The first type is at the edge of the network, typically caused by an increase in data usage, such as video streaming.

The second type of congestion is at the core of the network, typically caused by maintenance or an outage.

If you experience jitter or latency on a voice call, it’s more than likely because your service provider has limited bandwidth and not enough capacity to deliver your data to you quickly enough.

Cause 2: Poor quality hardware

Using poor quality hardware can also lead to Cisco network jitter. Since most networks work thanks to a combination of hardware—including modems, routers, hubs, bridges, and switches—using damaged, poorly configured, or outdated hardware is sure to cause issues.

Make sure to regularly update and maintain your hardware to reduce network problems. If you’re already experiencing jitter, check for damaged cables and replace any inferior hardware.

Cause 3: Using a wireless network

While wireless networks are useful for many reasons, in almost all situations, they’re slower than wired connections. 

This speed discrepancy exists because wireless networks have to send data through the air, which takes time and slows down transmission speeds. Wireless networking is also generally less reliable than wired networking, so it’s not the best choice if you want to achieve optimal network performance.

If you regularly experience latency and jitter issues on your WiFi network, consider switching to a wired network and see if the problem resolves.

Conclusion

In most cases, Cisco jitter arises from one of the following causes—congestion, hardware failures, or weak network connections. The best way to avoid these issues is to reduce the amount of traffic on your network, maintain and replace outdated hardware, and use wired rather than wireless connections.