Elements of End to End Latency
The press (tech and otherwise) is filled with grandiose claims of "zero latency". There is no such thing as zero latency in computer networks. Some new technologies -- 5G and Wi-Fi 6 -- may (and probably do) reduce latency. That reduction is only for that limited portion of the full end-to-end communications path that is carried on 5G or Wi-Fi 6.
In real life, a path between devices on a network is usually composed of many elements (which may change over time.) The name "Internet" itself means a network of networks. Usually 5G or Wi-Fi 6 will make up only a very small piece of the overall path. In addition to the network path itself there are many other things that contribute to the full end-to-end delay (and jitter, i.e. variation in delay) experience. This article describes these elements using the example of remote operation/remote-control driving of a vehicle:
