Speed Test: Top 8 important things to learn
Speed test measures the speed between your device and a test server, using your device’s internet connection. Several factors can impact the speed recorded by a test:
- Devices (phones, tablets, PCs, etc…) can have very different Wi-Fi and cellular radio capabilities. This means you might get one Speed test result on one device and a different result on another, even using the same provider. Some devices may not be able to measure the full speed of your internet service. It’s also possible that your Wi-Fi router doesn’t support the full speed of your service.
- Speed test servers may perform differently. Generally, you will get faster speeds from servers closer to you. We recommend testing to a variety of test servers to get the most complete picture of your speed. Speedtest has the world’s largest testing server network, which means you will always have the benefit of testing to a server near your geographic location.
- Other speed testing services use different servers in different locations than Speedtest, so differences in speeds between testing services are not uncommon.
- Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, etc…) have different capabilities and may provide different results, particularly on high-speed connections.
Internet Speed Test
An internet speed test measures the connection speed and quality of your connected device to the internet. It does so by running multiple consecutive tests that analyze different aspects of your internet connection, namely ping (latency), download speed, and upload speed. Each of these values represents the connection’s specific qualities, which you can read more about in the paragraph after the next. These should help you understand the final speed test results. But before we get to these, we first want to discuss how to perform each test.
Why should I test my internet speed?
You may be paying for an internet connection with WiFi speeds higher than you require, which is costing you money each month. Alternatively, you may be paying for WiFi speeds that are lower than you than you expected. Our internet speed test can reveal whether your provider is actually meeting their advertised speeds. If you run our test multiple times and still don’t see the speeds you’re paying for, contact your ISP for more help.
Check Internet Speed
Check the speed of your internet and WiFi with free Internet Speed Test. The Internet Speed Test helps you decide if you need more speed. Click here
Ookla Speed Test
- Plug your computer directly into the Helix Fi gateway or cable modem. It is necessary to reinitialize the modem (press the Reset button) whenever you change the device connected to it.
- Verify that your computer is not running other tasks. It is important to shut down all applications, navigation windows and tabs. Only the speed test window must be open. Open Task Manager (in Windows), click on the Application tab and then close all the applications.
- Check that only the speed test uses your Internet connection. Open Task Manager (in Windows) and click on the Networking tab to check that the Local Area Connection graph is at zero.
How does your internet speed test work?
Most Internet Speed Test is a browser-based, HTML5 speed test that checks your connection speed without requiring any downloads. When you begin the test, the tool will upload a set of files from your computer to the test server closest to your location. It will then run the test in reverse, downloading your files instead. During the entire process, our tool will measure various metrics, such as your upload speed, download speed, and ping.
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What is good internet speed?
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the good internet speed benchmark starts at a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps to perform everyday online tasks. Regarding what speeds you need for these common activities, your connection will need to meet the following minimum download speeds:
- 1-5 Mbps for email and web browsing
- 15-25 Mbps for streaming HD video
- 40-100 Mbps for streaming 4K video and light online gaming
- 200+ Mbps for streaming 4K video, online gaming, and downloading large files
How do I test my WiFi speed?
You can use our WiFi speed test tool to check your WiFi speed. First, while standing near your router, run our speed test on a mobile device or computer connected to your WiFi network. Then connect a wired desktop or laptop directly to one of the wireless gateways’ Ethernet ports. Finally, rerun our speed test with the new wired connection, and compare your results to the original WiFi speed test.
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Internet Speed Test Results
Running regular internet speed tests can help you better understand your connectivity performance trends and your connection’s maximum download and upload speed. However, when you finally get your test results, are you able to understand what each metric means? Use this guide and glossary to gain a more comprehensive look into your web connection’s performance.
Conclusion
An internet speed test is an evaluation of your existing broadband parameters. Speed tests work by sending a file from a speed test server and analyzing the time it takes to download the file onto your local device (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and then upload it back to the server.