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

desktop 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 · desktop 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 · desktop 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 89% 1.3s

1 27,801 84% 1.5s

2 13,338 77% 1.7s

3 6,538 77% 1.7s

4 4,231 83% 1.5s

5 2,088 83% 1.5s

6 1,084 80% 1.5s

7 667 80% 1.6s

8–9 1,150 81% 1.6s

>p98 1,042 74% 1.8s

Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Connection hints — dns prefetch 0. p75 1. p99 8. Spearman with LCP r = +0.31. At the low end (0): LCP 1.3s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.8s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · desktop 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 · desktop 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 86% 1.3s

1 19,644 82% 1.5s

2 17,172 86% 1.4s

3 7,180 89% 1.4s

4 3,810 88% 1.4s

5 1,484 89% 1.5s

6 622 85% 1.5s

7 420 88% 1.5s

>p98 790 87% 1.6s

Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Connection hints — preconnect 0. p75 1. p99 6. At the low end (0): LCP 1.3s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.6s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · desktop 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 · desktop 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 86% 1.4s

1 14,607 84% 1.5s

2 10,628 88% 1.3s

3 4,694 88% 1.4s

4 6,925 89% 1.4s

5 4,215 88% 1.3s

6–7 4,466 84% 1.5s

8–10 2,745 87% 1.5s

11–13 1,318 89% 1.5s

14–18 930 86% 1.6s

19–25 775 89% 1.5s

>p98 1,007 74% 1.8s

Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Connection hints — preload 0. p75 1. p99 18. At the low end (0): LCP 1.4s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.8s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · desktop 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. Dns-prefetch hints separates passing sites from failing sites the most. With few dns-prefetch hints, 89% of sites pass the LCP. With many, 74% 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 →