The internet is one of the best things that ever happened to humanity. But like many other things, it is not always that great. Sometimes it can lag and cause issues due to various reasons. While diagnosing the problems of a slow internet connection, checking its speed is one of the most common things that everyone does. So what is the best way to check the speed of your internet connection? If you ever wondered, in this article we are going to talk about the different methods to check your internet connection speed.
What to do before running an Internet Speed Test?
Do not go for an internet speed test without making sure that no connected devices use internet data during the process. For example, if any background applications use the internet during the process, the speed test tools may not be able to get the exact speed of your connection. So, you should make sure that no services using your internet data in the background, and there are no connected devices such as your smartphone or table that utilize your internet connection. If there is any, you can stop them and disconnect the Wi-Fi for a while until you are done with the test.
5 Ways to check internet speed with tools
There are many tools available on the market that can be used to test your internet speed. These are the top 5 tools we found –
1. Speedtest by OOKLA
When you Google something related to the internet speed test, one of the first results that come up is the speedtest.net by OOKLA website. It is a highly popular service to check the internet connection speed from different locations and by different ISP servers placed all over the globe. The website has a lot of features that allow you to completely diagnose your internet connection. It checks both download and upload speeds as well as display the Ping of your internet connection. It will ensure that you can also check additional data apart from just download/upload speeds.
Speedtest.net also allows you to switch between the servers and the locations in order to diagnose the internet connection speed from different locations and various servers from different ISPs. The service also has applications available for mobile devices, which you can use to check your Wi-Fi speed or mobile data speed. Speedtest.net is definitely one of the best and easiest ways to check your internet connection speed with accuracy.
2. Fast by Netflix
Fast.com is a service from Netflix that allows you to check your internet connection speed accurately. The interface of the website is pretty simple. All you can see is the download and upload speed of your connection as soon as you visit the website. There is no other information available on the website. It is purely dedicated to finding out the connection speed of your internet without any additional bloatware.
There are no ads or any advertisement on the website which makes it pretty awesome compared to many other services that come with a lot of advertisements which can be irritating for most of the people. So if you do not want to see any ads while checking how fast your internet is, fast.com is the best choice for you.
3. Speed test by Google
Google has been implementing a lot of features on its search engine itself so that users do not have to visit any website to perform basic operations such as calculating the values of basic numbers or finding the correct time in their area. Recently, they have also implemented a feature that allows you so check the internet connection speed. If you Google “internet speed test” or any related terms, the first results that come up on search results is a box with a blue Run Speed Test button. Clicking on the button will bring up a pop-up with the meter that checks your download and upload speeds.
So, if you do not want to visit any websites or use any applications to check the internet connection speed, you can just Google the keywords and use their service to check your internet connection speed. The accuracy of the results is pretty great compared to many other services that are dedicated to the internet speed test. So you can trust it to find out the exact speed of your current internet connection and use the data to diagnose the problems.
4. Bing Internet speed test
Just like Google, Bing also has a speed test tool built-in to its search engine. If you search for any terms related to the internet speed test, Bing will return a similar box to Google where you can test the speed of your internet connection with ease.
Needless to say, the accuracy of the results is satisfying and there are no fancy features except showing you the download and upload speed of your internet connection. So if you do not like any of the websites, apps, or tools listed above, you can go for the Bing internet speed test.
5. Speed test Apps
There are several apps to check internet speed. You can use any one of them to get details regarding download and upload speeds. If you frequently check the connection speeds, it will be more convenient having an application installed on your device than browsing the internet every time you want to check it. So, you can have any of those internet connection test applications on your devices and use them whenever you want to check the speed.
2 ways to test internet speed without a tool
If you do not want to depend on a tool to test the connection speed, there are multiple ways you can accomplish that. Some of them are –
1. By downloading a large file
By downloading a large file, you can calculate the total time it took to download the file with a certain size. Once you have the size and time, you can divide the size of the file by the time it took to download it. Then you will have the average internet speed of your connection. There are many websites that provide large files with certain sizes such as 500 MB, 1 GB, or even 10 GB. You can use them based on how fast your internet connection is.
2. Use a streaming service
Using the streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, even YouTube, you can determine how fast your internet connection is for the streaming purposes. For example, if you right-click on a YouTube video and click on “Stats for nerds“, YouTube will show you a number of technical stats, including the connection speed. This may not be the most accurate results. But you can still get an approximate idea about your internet connection.
How to accurately measure internet speed?
To get accurate metrics of your internet connection, it is always recommended to use multiple services to check it. All of the services can have problems or complications in measuring the accurate speed while running the speed test. So to be sure, when you feel like testing your internet connection speed, make sure that you use multiple websites listed above or use multiple applications to figure out the exact speed of your current internet connection. Especially if you’re trying to fix some issues with your connection, this is very important.
If you are using a Wi-Fi connection from your router, you may not always get the best speeds you would if you were using a wired connection. Wi-Fi signals can fluctuate over time due to various reasons. So the problems may not always be the speed of your internet. So if you’re checking your internet connection speed from a smartphone or tablet connected to your Wi-Fi, make sure that you are standing near to your Wi-Fi router to get the best results.
Just like that, if you are having an extremely fast internet connection (with more than 100 Mbps speed), your router or smartphone may not be able to handle the speed. The devices will only be able to manage up to their limit. That means, even if you have 1 Gbps internet connection, if your device is only able to handle 100 Mbps, the internet speed test tools will only show you 100 Mbps as your internet connection speed. So if you’re testing an extremely fast internet connection, it is better to do that over a wired device.
By the end of the day, we hope that you were able to accurately measure and improve your internet connection speed.