I've been syncing my router's time with the Swiss Meteorological Institute (metas) and using it as my local NTP source. I noticed that the jitter was under 0.5 yesterday but has increased to over 1.0 today. What might be causing this change? Here are the stats from two different days:
1. **January 31, 2026**:
- `+ntp11.metas.ch .PZF. 1 u 10 64 377 14.604 -0.216 0.439`
- `*ntp12.metas.ch .PZF. 1 u 39 64 377 14.433 -0.288 0.159`
- `+ntp13.metas.ch .PZF. 1 u 42 64 377 14.435 -0.376 0.327`
2. **February 1, 2026**:
- `*ntp11.metas.ch .PZF. 1 u 62 64 377 13.868 -0.253 1.246`
- `+ntp12.metas.ch .PZF. 1 u 7 64 377 13.566 -0.351 1.150`
- `+ntp13.metas.ch .PZF. 1 u 56 64 377 13.454 -0.435 1.296`
3 Answers
It sounds like your setup might be experiencing some internet-related issues. Since you're likely going through multiple ISPs and core providers, fluctuations like this are expected. Just remember, internet routes can be complex!
A lot of consumer-grade routers don’t handle NTP effectively since it's not a top priority for them. If your setup has been stable for a while, consider increasing the poll interval from 64 seconds for better performance. Also, check how long your router has been running without a reboot.
Honestly, that jitter isn’t that concerning unless you're doing something time-sensitive. NTP has built-in corrections, and if you’re not relying on precision timing, you might not need to worry too much!
Totally agree! As long as your applications aren't time-critical, a little jitter is usually manageable. Just monitor it and see if it stabilizes.