Are you paying for the internet speed? You should blame yourself for your slow connection Wi-Fi router or Internet provider? Can your Internet handle things like online games or live streaming?
Answers to all of these questions can be found by running a simple Internet speed test. There are several websites you can check your speed for free, and they all give you the same key metrics about your home internet connection.
I usually say the best internet connection is one you never noticed. If you’ve never experienced it bufferfrozen video conference or laggy online Games, you may get very fast. But how low can you go before these questions start popping up? According to CNET InvestigationOver the past year, 63% of U.S. adults have increased their internet bills on average by $195, causing many to slow down their plans.
Speed tests can help you determine if you pay Speeds exceed your needs Or hardly scratch your current plan. But how does it work?
“It’s comparable to the big file,” said Luke Kehoe, an industry analyst at Ookla, who chose CNET. Best speed test Comprehensive. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET.)
However, in the context of the internet, speed is not entirely direct. Several other factors may impact your overall experience online – all good speed tests will tell you.
Key metrics explain: download, upload, delay and jitter
Regardless of which speed test you use, the key number is always the same: download speed, upload speed and Incubation period. While you may need to do some digging to find it, there are also many speed test results listed.
Ookla’s speed test results show download speed, upload speed and PING – both overall and downstream loads and downstream loads.
Download and upload speed
The title number for any speed test will be uploaded and downloaded at the speed. Both measure bandwidth, which tells you how much data your connection can transfer at once.
“Download speed is synonymous with speed testing,” Kehoe told me.
When you see the speed of internet service provider advertising, that’s the number it’s talking about. Download speed is the amount of data your connection can get from the server in one second.
Download speed is an important number for most things we do on the internet. Streaming TV showsbrowsing social media and downloading podcasts all rely on downstream numbers.
The upload speed is opposite. This measures the amount of data you can send in one second. Content such as video conferencing, online games and content posted on social media all use the upload side of the equation. Think of it as the speed at which you can send videos and sounds to others on the phone.
Historically, Internet providers have specified more bandwidth than upstream. ((Fiber Optic Internet Provider is an exception; download and upload speeds are usually equal. )according to Latest report From the analytics company OpenVault, the average download speed in the United States is 568Mbps, while the upload speed is only 35Mbps.
Incubation period and jitter
Delay (or ping) is shown with double-sided arrows (left), while jitter is marked by wavy lines (right).
Bandwidth Measurement quantity Internet connections can transmit, delay or PING data measurements time It requires data to travel.
The delay is in milliseconds, and anything below 20ms is generally considered excellent. When you Online gamesfor example, you want the actions on the controller to correspond to the results on the screen as immediately as possible. Over 20ms, you may start to notice some lag.
Some free speed tests, including Ookla and Cloudflare, can also provide you with delayed download and upload scores. These are called “loaded delays” results, and they take them when the speed tests flood your connection during download and upload speed tests.
Some speed tests, such as CloudFare, show delayed download and upload scores
“Some networks may experience issues where the incubation period increases when they are full of data,” Kehoe explained. “Generally, you may see very high incubation periods in concerts or crowded areas. This is a good indication that the network is under pressure.”
Intimately related to delay is jitter, which measures the change in delay.
“You can have a very good average latency, but within that, latency may not be captured by that average,” Kehoe said. “Just catch those special spikes.”
Jitter scores below 5ms are considered excellent, and between 5ms and 20ms are considered good, Kehoe said. Once it’s over 20ms, you’ll start in your gamble or video stream.
Most speed tests don’t automatically display your jitter score – you have to click on the “result” in Ookla to find it – but it’s valuable information.
Prepare for accurate speed tests
Running a speed test is as simple as pressing a button on a website, but there are some factors that will affect your results. To get the most accurate picture, you should consider these factors before starting the (virtual) engine:
- Wi-Fi or Ethernet: Testing your connection is completely effective Wi-Fi and Ethernet – You just want to know which one of the results to be interpreted correctly. Testing over a wired Ethernet connection will give you the most accurate pictures actually provided by the ISP. Comparing the results with Wi-Fi tests will show you how much wireless connections cost you. If speed, latency, or jitter is much worse than Wi-Fi, then it might be time Upgrade the router.
- Other devices on the network: Speed test is designed to test the full capability of the connection. For example, if you download a large file on another device, the download speed results may look more than they actually are. Before starting the test, turn off any device that can actively use the Internet.
- Test at different distances from routers: Performing speed testing on devices close to your router will give you good information, but it is also important to know how your Wi-Fi works. I recommend you plan to do speed testing anywhere online. If your speed drops significantly on certain rooms or floors, you may want to consider upgrading to a mature one Grid system Or add one Wi-Fi Expander mix.
- Testing at different times of the day: Network congestion can affect your internet speed. Try a speed test during “peak internet hours” which takes place on weekday nights when many people stream at the same time. This is probably the slowest you should see when your network is stressed.
Step-by-step guide to testing home internet speeds
Testing your home internet speed is very simple. No matter which speed test you choose, the process is as simple as pressing a button marked “play” or “test”. You can even use Google “speed tests” and use Google’s speed tests (run by M-LAB) without leaving search results.
Google’s speed tests provide you with some basic information about your connection.
My preferred speed test is Ooklabut Cloudfare,,,,, M-LAB and Speedsmart All are good choices and can provide you with important metrics you need to view.
“We’re saturating the connection and we’re measuring the speed of the data actually being with the user,” Kehoe said, explaining how Ookla achieves its results.
Speed tests usually take less than 30 seconds to complete. Once done, you should immediately view all the key information on the results page.
Explain and improve your speed test results
Your speed test results. Now how do you deal with them?
If you have a speed test via an Ethernet cable and it’s significantly lower than the plan you pay for, it’s worth contacting your internet provider for that information. Speed varies by the time of day, and most plans sell at a “highest” certain threshold, but you shouldn’t be much below that mark. If you have a dead end with a provider, it may be time to consider it Switch ISP completely.
The results via Wi-Fi are more complex. In these tests, the reason for slow speeds may be an outdated Wi-Fi router, The router is not well located or interference from other devices. Usually, I recommend changing the router every five years or so to keep up with the latest Wi-Fi standards.
In the past few years, Wi-Fi 6e and Wi-Fi 7 Routers are becoming more and more affordable. Both give you access to the Super 6GHz band, the most important Wi-Fi speed improvement in memory lately.
“The Wi-Fi standards vary a lot,” Kehoe said. “There are fewer differences between manufacturers and basic Wi-Fi standards.”
The median download speeds of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 routers are significantly faster than previous generations.
according to Ookla’s dataCurrently only about one in 10 U.S. homes use Wi-Fi 6e or Wi-Fi 7 routers. But those who have seen a significant increase in speed. The median download speed of Wi-Fi 7 routers is 764Mbps, while the Wi-Fi 6e is 713Mbps, and the Wi-Fi 6 and 227Mbps on Wi-Fi 5 are 713Mbps.
If you are renting a router from your ISP, you can simply upgrade the device by asking for it. In other cases, you may need to purchase your own router to get the latest generation of Wi-Fi.
It’s a little cumbersome, but in the long run it pays off. The device costs an average of about $10 a month, and you can get a brand new Wi-Fi 7 router for over $100. Purchase your own router Almost always pay Within a few years, you can usually get better performance from it as well.
What is good internet speed?
Internet speed is highly personal. For a single person with only a few devices, it won’t be cut for a single person who is suitable for a family of five with a fully automated smart home system.
But a good reference point is Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Internet BenchmarkIt was increased to 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds last year. The FCC does not include the maximum delay number, but providers receiving federal funds to build rural broadband infrastructure must provide delays of less than 100ms.
These numbers should be considered as the minimum (or maximum, for delays) of bareness. You won’t have problems streaming videos or scrolling social media at these speeds, but any activity with live components will struggle with these delay scores – think online games or video conferencing.
Bottom line
Now that you know your speed, you have a better understanding of what you need to do next. At the very least, you want to see some numbers that reach the planned minimum speed. If that is not the case, you will have a better understanding of how to solve the problem because you know exactly where the problem lies.
