How to Check My Upload and Download Speed With a Program
There's a good risk that the actual speed of your domicile internet connectedness is not the i that was promised in your service package. At that place's lots of things that can contribute to a reduction in upload and download speeds, one of which being your distance from the router. Speeds will drop as you lot motility further away, peculiarly if at that place are a lot of walls and obstructions in betwixt. It tin also fluctuate during hours of peak usage, or if your internet providerenforces information caps or throttles connections to help maintain overall network performance.
If you're curious to know your home'due south true internet speeds, at that place's an easy way to check. Running an internet speed exam is quick and like shooting fish in a barrel, and you've got lots of free options to choose from. You might fifty-fifty be able to run one from the same app that you used to gear up yourrouter. In most cases, running a test is as piece of cake as pressing "Go," and won't take more than a minute or so.
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A adept speed test volition brand it easy to run into your current download speeds, upload speeds and latency (or ping) for whatever device you're running the test on -- but with so many options promising to do exactly that, which one should you trust?
Glad you lot asked. Here are the ones nosotros plow to showtime and why.
Ookla
An accommodating excellent speed test
Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET
One of our favorites is the Ookla speed test, which has a strong reputation for consistency and for being one of the first speed tests on the web. Popularity aside, we like Ookla for having everything a basic user needs from a speed test: accuracy, the ability to view your speed test history (when you lot create an account), a wide array of servers to connect to, and even a handy app for speed testing from your Android or iOS device. Incidentally, Ookla's speed test is too the one nosotros use when we're testing Wi-Fi routers.
Ookla's done a good job of keeping upwards with the times by adding new features and capabilities over the years. Most recently, the service released a video-specific speed exam that measures your network's ability to handle 4K video streams. In improver to the website and the smartphone apps, Ookla also has apps that you lot can run on Windows or on Mac. You tin can even run the Ookla speed test on an Apple tree TV.
All of that said, Ookla does display banner ads while you run bones speed tests. That'due south not surprising, just information technology might make a slight affect on your results depending on the force of your connection at the time of the test.
Fast.com
Great for streamers
Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET
Fast.com is some other great broadband test, and the interface is about as simple and straightforward as it gets. Withal, 1 of its biggest advantages is that it'due south endemic by Netflix. That might seem odd at commencement, just it'southward actually what makes it a corking selection for online streamers, because the test is structured around checking to meet if your connection is strong enough to stream Netflix in maximum resolution without buffering.
While Fast.com is a great tool for some, it won't be the most helpful test for all users. The basic interface is easy to use, yes, only information technology besides lacks some of the advanced settings and metrics you'll notice with other speed tests. Most notably, you can't specify which server you'd like to connect with for your test.
Grand-Lab Internet Speed Test
Every bit easy as speed tests go
Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET
None of these speed tests are difficult to use, but the Chiliad-Lab Internet Speed Exam is probably the easiest ane to find. Brusque for Measurement Lab, the open-source M-Lab test was developed by a collection of estimator scientists and bookish researchers with Google's backing -- and information technology's the test that pops up whenever you type "internet speed test" into the Google search bar. Just click the blue "RUN SPEED Exam" push to see your download speed, upload speed and latency inside a matter of seconds.
That's most as simple equally information technology gets, because you won't need to bookmark it or remember exactly what it's called. At that place are no ads while you run the test, and the only data that gets shared with G-Lab is your IP accost. Merely know that the M-Lab test doesn't let yous pick which server you'll use during the test, and it'due south only designed for internet speeds of up to 700 Mbps. If you're trying to speed test a gigabit connexion, y'all'll want to turn elsewhere.
Speedof.me
A solid test for consistency
Screenshot past Ry Crist/CNET
If you're looking for a examination that offers a await non just at speeds, but at consistency, Speedof.me is the manner to become. Similar to Ookla, the test interface does a great job of showing fluctuations in your upload and download speeds. Over fourth dimension, that can arrive easier to spot when something is amiss with your connectedness, especially since Speedof.me lets y'all compare your results with previous tests. Its mobile-friendly website is neat for running tests on your phone, too, allowing y'all to practice a quick speed exam on the go without downloading an app.
Speedof.me isn't a perfect choice, though. For starters, there's no option for manually selecting which server you connect with. And if abode networking isn't your forte, the visualized information might seem more than confusing or overwhelming than something like Fast.com, which just gives you a number.
Testmy.net
A good choice for testing your browser
Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET
Testmy.net is an internet speed examination that runs entirely on HTML5 and PHP. What that means is that it doesn't require third-party software like Coffee or Flash to run your examination, which can make for more accurate results. That besides makes it a useful tool for comparison performance between unlike browsers. You can also create an business relationship to rails your internet speed for future reference or comparison.
It's not the most user-friendly tool, withal. With a good bargain of in-depth data, you'll have quite a bit of data to expect through, much of which might not be relevant to you. The design is besides a little ugly past speed test standards, and it takes a few clicks before you really begin a test, which obviously isn't as streamlined as other speed tests that feature big "Become" buttons equally presently as you load the folio.
Speed test FAQs
What's a good internet speed?
The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband speeds as having downloads of at least 25 megabits per second and uploads of at least 3Mbps, but by the FCC's ain speed guide, that's basically the bare minimum for things like streaming 4K video and sharing big files over the web.
Net plans with multigig speeds as high as 2, 3 or even 5 gigabits per second (that'south 5,000Mbps) are starting to emerge from a number of providers, including AT&T, Comcast, Borderland, Verizon Fios, Ziply Fiber and others, just plans similar those are overkill for most homes, at least for now. Most ideal is a symmetrical cyberspace connectedness with uploads that are but as fast as the downloads -- speeds of 100Mbps would exist perfectly fine for most homes.
What does ping hateful?
In addition to showing y'all the current upload and download speeds for whatever device you're running the exam on, nearly cyberspace speed tests will also give yous a effigy called ping, which is a latency measurement measured in milliseconds. Simply put, the ping number is the fourth dimension that it took for your device to transport a signal to whatever distant server you connected to during the speed test, and and then receive a response. Think of information technology like a round-trip flight time for your internet connectedness.
Ping will go upward if you're connecting to a server that's very far away, or if at that place'southward some sort of interference somewhere in the connexion. Your ping might also ascent slightly if you're connecting through something like a mesh router or a range extender, where your data needs to make multiple wireless jumps before reaching the modem.
In about cases, ping differences are pretty minor, enough so that you lot won't observe them without running a speed test. That said, you lot volition beginning to notice high ping if you lot're trying to brand split-2nd decisions in an online multiplayer game, and it can too cause annoying delays during video telephone call conversations.
What is jitter?
Like ping, jitter is measured in milliseconds, but instead of measuring the time information technology takes your device to ship information to a remote server and receive a response, jitter describes latency differences between the flow of data to diverse client devices on your network. If jitter gets too high, it means that data isn't flowing to your device every bit efficiently as it probably should, and that can crusade problems like buffering during streaming and video calls.
Can speed tests help improve my net speeds?
Speed tests won't do anything to change the speed of your home's Wi-Fi network, but they're a groovy diagnostic tool -- a quick way to check how your network is performing in various spots effectually your home.
The all-time mode to put speed tests to employ is to run them on your telephone or laptop in various rooms throughout your house. If y'all find a expressionless zone where speeds come up crashing downward, you lot might want to consider putting a range extender in the closest room to that dead zone where speeds are potent -- from in that location, it'll rebroadcast your Wi-Fi betoken and potentially speed things up. If you find multiple dead zones in places where you'd like to connect, information technology might be time to upgrade your router. For the best whole-home Wi-Fi coverage, consider going with a mesh router that uses multiple devices.
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Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/best-speed-tests/