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Wondering how fast your internet connection really is? You'll need to test your internet speed to find out. There are plenty of ways to do this, some more accurate than others, depending on why you're testing.
One common reason to test your internet speed is to make sure that you're getting whatever Mbps or Gbps level bandwidth you're paying your ISP for. If your tests show a regularly sluggish connection, your ISP may have an issue and you may have a refund in your future.
Another reason to test your internet speed is to make sure you'll be able to stream high-bandwidth movies, like those from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other providers. If your internet speed is too slow, you'll get choppy video or regular buffering.
Free benchmark tools, like those popular internet speed tests and bandwidth testing smartphone apps, are the two most common ways to test your high-speed internet but there are others, like service-specific tests, ping and latency tests, DNS speed tests, and more.
If your internet speed test results are far lower than what you’re paying for, call your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to see if it can help you resolve the issue. If the problem persists, it may be time to switch ISPs. You can also use a speed test to identify internet traffic patterns in your neighborhood. The speed test is a snapshot of your service at a point in time. You may want to re-run the test a few times to see how the results improve after exploring some additional help topics, which provide some suggestions on what you can try next to improve your Internet speeds. Close any programs that you have running which may be connecting to the internet. Run this speed test at different times of the day and different days of the week. Network usage will vary depending on the time of day and your speed may be directly affected by the changes in the network. How does the internet connection speed test work?
Below are the 3 most common scenarios for testing internet speed, each of which requires a different way of testing internet speed:
- You suspect that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or wireless provider isn't giving you the bandwidth you're paying for, either on purpose or because something is wrong.
- You're very happy (or very sad) with the state of your high-speed internet and you want to tell the world about it!
- You want to check the internet speed between your device and a service you're paying for, like Netflix, HBO GO, etc.
Just scroll down until you find the section that you're after. Choosing the right way to test your internet speed is the first, and easiest, step to make sure the results are as accurate as possible.
How to Test Your Internet Speed When You're Sure It's Too Slow
Are most web pages taking forever to load? Are those cat videos buffering so much that you can't even enjoy them? If so, especially if this is new behavior, then it's definitely time to check your internet speed.
Here's how to test your internet speed when you suspect that your fiber, cable, or DSL provider isn't providing you with the bandwidth you're paying for. This is the also method to take with your mobile computer as well when you think your wireless or hotspot internet connection is slower than it should be:
- Locate your ISP's official internet speed test page from our ISP-Hosted Internet Speed Tests page.We have almost every major US and Canadian ISP speed test page listed but we may be missing smaller providers. Let me know if your isn't listed and I'll dig it up.
- Close any other apps, windows, programs, etc. that might be using your internet connection. If you're at home, where other devices might be using the same connection, disconnect those or turn those off before beginning the test. See 5 Rules for a More Accurate Internet Speed Test for more advice. Polymath software free.
- Follow whatever instructions you're given on screen to test your internet speed.A number of ISPs use Flash-based internet speed tests even though most devices, and more and more browsers, do not support Flash. Choose a non-ISP-hosted test if you have to but know that your internet service provider might not give as much credit to those results. See HTML5 vs Flash Internet Speed Tests: Which Is Better? for more on this.
- Log the results of the speed test. Most internet speed tests let you save an image of the results and some provide a URL you can copy to reach the results page again later, but if not, just take a screenshot. Name the screenshot with the date and time you took the test so it's easy to identify later.
- Repeat Steps 3 & 4 several times, testing with the same computer or device each time, using the same internet speed test.
For the best results, if your schedule permits, test your internet speed once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening, over the course of several days.
If you find that your internet speed is consistently slower than you're paying for, it's time to take this data to your internet service provider and ask for service to improve your connection.
Bandwidth that varies a lot at different times per day, sometimes meeting or exceeding what you're paying for, may have more to do with bandwidth throttling or capacity issues with your ISP than an actual problem. Regardless, it might be time to negotiate the price of your high-speed plan or get a discount on an upgrade.
How to Test Your Internet Speed for Fun
Generally curious about your internet speed? If so, an internet speed test site or smartphone app is a great choice. These tools are easy to use and understand, and are great for bragging to your friends about that new super-fast connection you just signed up for.
Here's how to test your internet speed when you have no specific concern or goal, other than a little gloating or maybe sympathy:
- Choose a testing site from our List of Internet Speed Test Sites. Any one will do, even the ISP-hosted ones if you'd rather use one of those.SpeedOf.Me is popular speed test site, doesn't require Flash, lets you share your results on social networks, and is probably more accurate, on average, than more popular tests like Speedtest.net.
- Follow whatever instructions you're given on screen to test your internet speed. Most broadband testing services, like both SpeedOf.Me and Speedtest.net, test both your upload and download bandwidth with a single click.
- Once the test is over, you'll be presented with some kind of test result and some method of sharing, usually via Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. You can often times save these image results to your own computer, too, which you can use to keep track of your internet speed over time. Some testing sites save your previous results for you automatically on their servers, too.
Testing your internet speed and sharing the results is especially fun after upgrading. Be the envy of your friends and family everywhere with your 1,245 Mbps download speed you're getting on your new fiber connection!
How to Test Your Internet Speed for a Specific Service
Curious if Netflix will work great at your home or why it's suddenly not? Wondering if your internet connection will support streaming your favorite new shows on HBO GO, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video?
With so many streaming services, and each on a wide variety of devices, all of which are being constantly updated, it'd be impossible to give you simple speed test how-to that covers everything. https://everjl923.weebly.com/blog/windows-7-myanmar-font-installer.
That said, there is a lot we can talk about it, some of which is very specific to the various popular streaming movie and video services out there.
A basic internet speed test is a good place to start. Even though it's not a true test between your connected television (or tablet, or Roku, or PC, etc.) and the Netflix or Hulu (or wherever) servers, any of the better internet speed test sites should give you a decent idea of what to expect.
Check the device you're using for a built-in connection test. Most smart TVs and other dedicated streaming devices include built-in internet speed tests. These tests, usually located in the Network or Wireless menu areas, are going to be the most accurate way to figure out how much bandwidth is available for their apps.
Here are some more specific internet speed testing and troubleshooting advice for some of the more popular streaming services:
- Netflix: Check out the Netflix ISP Speed Index report to see what to expect speed-wise, on average, from the various internet service providers around the world or Fast.com to test your Netflix speed right now. Netflix's Internet Connection Speed Recommendations page suggests 5 Mbps for HD (1080p) streaming and 25 Mbps for 4K (2160p) streaming. If you're having trouble, it is possible to set the bandwidth Netflix uses in your account settings.
- Apple TV: While there's no built-in internet speed test available on Apple TV devices, Apple does offer extensive Apple playback performance troubleshooting via their help page. Apple recommends 8 Mbps for 1080p content and 2.5 Mbps for standard definition stuff.
- Hulu: There a General Troubleshooting Guide for Hulu Supported Devices should help solve why you might have a slow Hulu connection. Hulu suggests 16 Mbps for 4K Ultra streaming, 3 Mbps for HD, and 1.5 Mbps for SD.
- Amazon Prime Video: See the Video Issues page on Amazon's site for help that's specific to your devices, like your computer, Amazon-branded tablets and devices, and other streaming hardware. Amazon recommends at least 5 Mbps for problem-free HD streaming and 3 Mbps for SD.
- HBO GO: The HBO GO Device Troubleshooting page should help you clear up any major problems. HBO suggests you test your internet speed with a 3rd party speed test to make sure you're getting the minimum download bandwidth of 5 Mbps they recommend for a buffer-free streaming experience.
Are you getting all the network bandwidth you're paying for? Good luck trying to find out.
As Rani Molla reported recently in the Wall Street Journal, some ISPs are delivering download speeds up to 41 percent slower than they advertise. The figures were compiled by speed-test service Ookla, which owns Speedtest.net.
According to Ookla's figures, the folks in Idaho Falls, Idaho, realize only half the download speed their ISPs claim to provide. Internet users in London, Ky.; Huntington, W. Va.; and Odessa, Texas, don't fare much better: all receive information over their network at speeds far below what their ISPs promise.
When I tested more than a half-dozen network speed calculators, the results varied by a factor greater than 10: the lowest reported download speed was a snail's-pace 783Kbps using DSLReport.com's Flash-based test. Another test using the same service resulted in a download speed reading of 11.237Mbps.
The highest download speed test result I recorded was 13.06Mbps using the HTML5-based test at SpeedOf.me (shown at the top of this post). However, the same test generated a download speed of 4.87Mbps on the connection two days later.
(For the record, my ISP promises download speeds up to 12Mbps. I ran the tests in both Firefox and Google Chrome on a Windows 8.1 laptop; many of the services also test phone network speeds, but I didn't run any of them.)
Conversely, the results of the upload tests at the various services were consistently at or just under 2Mbps. The exceptions were upload-test results at DSLReports.com, whose testing was so inconsistent I ended up discarding all of the service's results.
I ran the tests at DSLReports.com about a dozen times: three times the download results were under 1Mbps, five times they were between 1Mbps and 4Mbps, twice they were around 8Mbps, and three times the download speed the test reported topped 10Mbps.
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Does the type of speed test make a difference?
Many experts claim HTML5-based speed tests are more accurate than tests that use Java and Adobe Flash. Others point out that multithread tests such as those used by Ookla (Speedtest.net and branded by many ISPs) don't represent real-world network traffic as well as single-thread tests.
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The most consistent test results were recorded at Speakeasy's Flash-based Speed Test and at TestMy.net's HTML5-based tester. Of course, the services' tests may be consistently wrong. After running several tests over a span of days, all of Speed Test's download results were within a few kilobits of 11.5Mbps. TestMy.net's download scores in both its single- and multithread tests exhibited a bit more range than those of Speakeasy's Speed Test, but they averaged about 11.2Mbps.
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The results of the HTML5-based speed tests conducted at Bandwidth Place ranged from 5Mbps to 11Mbps, those at Toast.net exhibited a similar range, and the Flash-based tests at ZDNet's Broadband Speed Test recorded speeds from 5.8Mbps to 11.4Mbps. Computer networking notes pdf free download.
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Not surprisingly, the highest consistent speeds were reported when I ran the tests offered by my ISP, AT&T. The company's speed tests are provided by Ookla, as are the tests at many other network providers. (Note that the Java-based network tester at the FCC's Broadband.gov runs on the Measurement Labs platform, which doesn't support the Safari, Google Chrome, or Opera browsers. The FCC's test also requires that you supply your street address.)
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With only one exception, all the download tests I ran at the AT&T Internet Speed Test and at Ookla's Speedtest.net indicated speeds of 11.5Mbps or greater. One of the dozen-or-so tests recorded a download speed of 10.4Mbps, and several of Ookla's Flash-based test results exceeded 12.5Mbps for downloads.
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After conducting more than 100 network speed tests from many different providers over the course of several days, I'm confident my ISP is delivering speeds approximating -- and perhaps exceeding -- those it promised when I signed up for the service. Whether any of the speed tests I tried truly represent real-world network traffic is debatable. Mathtype 6.9 crack serial number.
HTML5-based speed tests such as those offered by SpeedOf.me and TestMy.net seem to have an advantage in that they require no additional software. If you suspect you're paying for more bandwidth than you're actually getting, you needn't trust your ISP's test results to make your case -- especially if you happen to live in one of your service's dead zones. Hello, Pocatello!