Connection hints on the typical site: 0 dns-prefetch, 0 preconnect, 0 preload

1

At a glance the headline numbers for Connection hints

dns-prefetch, preconnect and preload links the document declares.

0

dns-prefetch hints

on the typical page

0

preconnect hints

on the typical page

0

preloads

on the typical page

180,684

sites measured

all-device field data

Connection hints on the typical site: 0 dns-prefetch, 0 preconnect, 0 preload.

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

2

Distribution & median LCP site count and median LCP at each level of connection hints — dns prefetch

0ms 750ms 1500ms 2250ms 3000ms

2.5s

0 61373 122745

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8–9 >p98

Good (≤2.5s) Needs improvement Poor (>4s) Site count

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

3

Passing LCP by connection hints — dns prefetch which level passes the LCP most often

Connection hints — dns prefetchSitesPassing LCPLCP

0 122,745 86% 1.4s

1 27,801 76% 1.7s

2 13,338 70% 1.9s

3 6,538 72% 1.8s

4 4,231 80% 1.6s

5 2,088 78% 1.7s

6 1,084 75% 1.7s

7 667 75% 1.8s

8–9 1,150 78% 1.8s

>p98 1,042 73% 1.9s

Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Connection hints — dns prefetch 0. p75 1. p99 8. Spearman with LCP r = +0.34. At the low end (0): LCP 1.4s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.9s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

4

Distribution & median LCP site count and median LCP at each level of connection hints — preconnect

0ms 750ms 1500ms 2250ms 3000ms

2.5s

0 64781 129562

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >p98

Good (≤2.5s) Needs improvement Poor (>4s) Site count

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

5

Passing LCP by connection hints — preconnect which level passes the LCP most often

Connection hints — preconnectSitesPassing LCPLCP

0 129,562 83% 1.5s

1 19,644 79% 1.6s

2 17,172 83% 1.5s

3 7,180 87% 1.5s

4 3,810 85% 1.6s

5 1,484 77% 1.7s

6 622 78% 1.7s

7 420 84% 1.6s

>p98 790 77% 1.8s

Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Connection hints — preconnect 0. p75 1. p99 6. At the low end (0): LCP 1.5s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.8s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

6

Distribution & median LCP site count and median LCP at each level of connection hints — preload

0ms 750ms 1500ms 2250ms 3000ms

2.5s

0 64187 128374

0 1 2 3 4 5 6–7 8–10 11–13 14–18 19–25 >p98

Good (≤2.5s) Needs improvement Poor (>4s) Site count

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

7

Passing LCP by connection hints — preload which level passes the LCP most often

Connection hints — preloadSitesPassing LCPLCP

0 128,374 82% 1.5s

1 14,607 81% 1.6s

2 10,628 87% 1.4s

3 4,694 85% 1.6s

4 6,925 89% 1.3s

5 4,215 86% 1.4s

6–7 4,466 78% 1.7s

8–10 2,745 83% 1.6s

11–13 1,318 81% 1.6s

14–18 930 76% 1.8s

19–25 775 81% 1.8s

>p98 1,007 64% 2.1s

Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Connection hints — preload 0. p75 1. p99 18. At the low end (0): LCP 1.5s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 2.1s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · all devices field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv

8

Why this matters for the Core Web Vitals, and where to start fixing it

Hints move network work earlier. dns-prefetch resolves a domain name before it is needed. preconnect goes further and completes the TCP and TLS setup too. preload fetches one specific file that the scanner would otherwise find late, like a background hero image or a critical font.

Hints are easy to overuse. Every preconnect spends sockets and CPU on a connection you might never use. A preload that is not critical steals bandwidth from something that is. A handful of deliberate hints beats a wall of them.

How does this affect the Core Web Vitals?

Connection hints correlate with the LCP. Preloads separates passing sites from failing sites the most. With few preloads, 82% of sites pass the LCP. With many, 64% do. The decline is gradual. There is no point where sites suddenly start failing.

Go fix it Guide to resource prioritization → Preload the LCP image → When preloading stylesheets does not make sense → 103 Early Hints →