How To Test Your Internet Speed

How To Test Your Internet Speed

In this article we will explain How To Test Your Internet Speed, These days lots of people have high-speed Internet. And, they hear the blazing fast speeds they are being offered by different Internet Service Providers (ISPs). But, is it really as fast as they claim? So, you may want to verify the claims of the providers and make sure you are getting what you are paying for? If so, you need to check out speedtest.net to check your  speeds.

When you first get to the site, you are going to be greeted by a great deal of ads. This is one instance where I don’t mind the ads because the utility of it is pretty good as long as you are not tricked into clicking on the ads. There is one major deceptive button towards the top that says “Start Scan”. This is just an ad trying to get you to download software to optimize your machine. That is not the button we are interested in.

You want to click on the button a little lower that says “Begin Test”.

After you click on the button, it will do several things in the background. It will download files from a server in your geographical area and upload a file. This gives you a more systematic approach to testing the speeds. You need to be testing on servers in your geographical area because that gives you a truer sense of speed to the Internet. It also reduces the amount of hops being used in the test which can give an inaccurate result. Furthermore, if you use another server of your own, it could also prove to be a bottleneck and not give you an accurate reading.

These servers have a large amount of bandwidth available, and they are spread out all across the Internet. The site will do a good job of finding a server close to you to perform a test. This will make sure that you are testing the last mile of the connection to your ISP and will give a more accurate reading.

Once the scan is complete, you will be presented with a lot of useful information. The numbers highlighted above are the ones you are most interested in. The download speed, upload speed and ping (or latency).

To get a good sample of data you will want to run the test a few times. This will rule out any anamolies. If you are getting the same results after a few tests then you have a good baseline to present to your ISP if it seems slow.

Furthermore, you will want to make sure you are the only device accessing the Internet during the test. You will want to make sure there are not other people on the Network streaming videos or playing games online, also its a good idea to check it during different times of the day such as early hours of the morning, in the afternoon and at peak times after 6pm you will properly notice this is when it slows down.

There are other tools out there that do the same type fo test. But, I am partial to the results SpeedTest.net shows. It is a useful tool for checking speeds when you suspect there may be something going on with the Internet connection.

Andrew Marriott
Owner & Founder at AJR Solutions
I am a technical & creative guy who loves technology. From a very young age, I have had a passion for technology, website / graphic design and photography. I work hard & play harder, I’m driven and full of enthusiasm with a passion to help others. Technology, digital design, web development & creative photography are areas I am really passionate about.

In the past i have worked for a leading IT Solutions & Managed service provider in Rotherham dealing with a range of IT platforms, such as - on site field engineering and remote support, dealing with all types of servers such as Virtual & Physical, Hyper–V, VMware, Windows server 2012 R2, SBS - Small Business Server 2008 2011, SQL, Terminal, Exchange, Active Directory, Group Policy, TCP, IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, RDP, hybrid & cloud, Office 365 and managed security solutions such as Antivirus and Spam filtering.

Prior to this, I worked for Wickersley School & Sports College as the Lead IT & Network Technician and also supporting local primary schools with IT Support and engineering visits & Project Management, while also running my own company AJR Solutions, providing IT & Creative Solutions.

I’m very creative and have a huge passion for design and love how design can have a massive impact on a business image, presence and value also visit -

www.thelogocreative.co.uk | www.ajr-designs.co.uk | www.rotherhamwebdesign.co.uk

Also part of the AJR Solutions Group of businesses.