How to Make Sure You’re Getting the Internet Speed You Pay For
It has probably been a while since you signed up for an internet service, but you should have an idea of how fast your plan is. If not, call your ISP. Write down the maximum upload and download speeds of your data plan. You can then use those speed test websites to see only the actual performance of your Wi-Fi versus what you are theoretically paying for.
Before we get started, a few words about testing: you need to run multiple speed tests at different times of the day on different sites, in case your connection is suffering from congestion or some site is slowing down your speed. for any reason.
Fast from Netflix
Fast.com certainly lives up to its name, giving you near-instantaneous measurement of your download speed in Mbps (megabits per second). If you click Show More Information after you finish measuring a site, you can also check download speed and latency – how long it takes for a web page to start downloading after you’ve clicked a link. Fast.com also has an app if you want to check your speed from your iOS or Android device.
TestMy.net
The speeds you see when testing your internet connection in the morning may not reflect the speeds you can expect to get during the day or at night when everyone is launching Netflix after work . With TestMy.net, you can keep a tab open in your web browser and automatically measure your internet speed at different intervals throughout the day, which can help you figure out who is at fault for your connection – your ISP or your bandwidth- restricting neighbors transmission.
Ookla Speedtest
Ookla Speedtest measures your download speed, download speed and latency, and there are separate apps available to check the same statistics on iOS , Android, and your Windows or Mac computer . Create an account to keep track of your results and graph all of your readings, which can help you figure out if your speeds are dropping (or improving) during extended testing.
Measurement Lab Network Diagnostic Tool
If you need more information than some of the other internet speed tests, consider the Measurement Lab Network Diagnostic Tool . It’s not flashy at first – it gives you basic information about latency, download speed, and upload speed – but choosing the Details tab will show you even more details : your packet loss, any network congestion, duplex mismatches, and whether or not it thinks you might have cable fault (to name a few).
SourceForge Internet Speed Test
The numbers don’t tell much of the story. Sure, you can run a bunch of tests, but what speed do you really need to stream a movie or play an online game? SourceForge Internet Speed Test gives you many of the same statistics as our other options, but it also recommends services you can use (or should avoid) based on your ping, download and upload speed, and your packet loss combination. … , jitter and latency. You will quickly find out if it’s worth trying out services like Skype, Netflix or VoIP on your connection.