While directly related to latency, jitter is not quite the exact same thing as latency. In fact, Cisco defines Jitter as “a variation in the delay of received packets,” meaning that Jitter is actually a differentiation within the latency (or delay) between each data packet.

Packets are sent “in a continuous stream with the packets spaced evenly apart.” However, due to network congestion, Cisco says that “this steady stream can become lumpy, or the delay between each packet can vary instead of remaining constant.” You can check out our in-depth Jitter guide to go even further into the details.