Do you know how fast your internet is? Your provider will probably have told you, but are they telling the truth? And also, what does the figure they have given you really mean? What is 4G on a phone, for example? This is why you have to learn how to test your internet speed, particularly because you are paying for a certain speed and that is what you should actually receive.
Learn How to Test Your Internet Speed – Knowing Some Basic Info:
When you download a file, you will see a download speed. This is not, however, your internet speed. A lot of factors influence the download speed, including how many routers are between you and your server, and what the quality of the remote server is. The remote server may be bogged down, or it may be restricting your bandwidth as well. Furthermore, download speed is just one part of the equation, because upload speed is important as well.
Unfortunately, to really get a true picture, you need dedicated tools. And, if at all possible, you need to go to your nearest server, and particularly one that has a lot of speed. This could show you what your internet is capable of, allowing you to compare whether you actually get something close to that.
Best Practices:
If you truly want to learn how to test your internet speed, you should:
1. Make sure you're not using your connection anywhere in your home. Pause any running applications on any machines you have. The only thing that should be able to access the connection is your speed test application. This is true for mobile devices as well.
2. Make sure you measure several times. If you take a single measurement and rely on that as an accurate reading, you may have missed a number of important factors. When you start to test more regularly, you will quickly find that there are significant differences between various times of the day, with speeds being the fastest when most people in your street are either away or in bed, and later afternoon and early evenings generally being the times when the connection is the slowest.
3. Understand that the number of people in your vicinity that use mobile data will influence the connection speed of your smartphone. Other factors like signal quality are also important. This is why, if you're testing your mobile connection, you should move about quite a bit as well. Again, the time of day can be an important influential factor as well. You should notice that, if you go into a business district around lunch time, your speed will drop significantly. If you go to that same location on a Sunday afternoon, it will suddenly appear lightning fast.
These are the three key things you have to remember when you do want to test your internet speed. The final thing you need is an accurate speed tester. There are many apps out there, some of which are free, so do take the time to review these and find the one that is believed to be the most accurate of all.