There are plenty of reasons you might want to test your Internet connection’s performance. Maybe you’ve upgraded service, or just moved into a new location and want to make certain you’re getting the bandwidth you pay for. Maybe you’ve got a problem and want to confirm if it’s a certain website or not, or maybe you just installed new networking hardware.
One of the simplest ways to test your Internet connection is via SpeedTest.net, which will run three benchmarks to test your ping (latency), your upload bandwidth, and your download bandwidth. These figures can be compared to the theoretical values your ISP promises, and can help you determine if you’re getting the speed you pay for.
There are other speed tests available from various ISPs and companies, but since most of these tests perform the same basic evaluations, the results should be similar from each. If you want a comprehensive test that uses HTML5 instead of Flash and supports mobile devices, Speedof.me is a good alternative.
There are three values to pay attention to in most speed tests, and we’ve discussed all of them in previous entries. First, there’s your ping rate, also known as your connection latency. Ping times under 50ms are excellent, while ping times of 50ms – 100ms should still be fast enough for quick online gaming. Anything below 250ms should be fine for web surfing or casual use, but if you hit 500ms – 1000ms of ping latency, you’ll definitely notice the Internet lagging.
Next, there’s your download bandwidth. Download bandwidth is the speed at which your computer downloads material from the Internet. If you’re streaming video from Netflix or Hulu, download bandwidth is important.
If your bandwidth is low – under 10Mbps – you may have trouble streaming to multiple devices at the same time. Higher-bandwidth connections are important for guaranteeing that multiple high-end devices can access content without any of them feeling pinched. A single person or couple that doesn’t do much video streaming might get by comfortably on 10Mbps or less. But a full house with many devices using the Internet simultaneously should consider a wider broadband pipe.
Upload bandwidth is different. Most US ISPs sell upload bandwidth much more sparingly than download, which means it’s not uncommon to have a bandwidth plan that gives you 50Mbps of download performance but just 5Mbps of upload. Most services require far more download than upload bandwidth; 5Mbps is plenty for most people. If you need more than that, however, such as for transferring large files across the Net, you may need to look into a premium-tier service plan that can provide it.
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