Find the speed of your internet connection speeds are, and how you can test the speed of your Wi-Fi connection.
If you’re trying to figure out if you’re receiving the speed the provider promises or find out if it’s an issue with your internet connection that is causing your video to buffer here’s the best way to accomplish it.
It can be difficult to tell if it’s broadband or home Wi-Fi which is slow. Additionally, conducting a “Wi-Fi speed test’ isn’t the same as testing the speed of your broadband, but there are many applications (and users) that use both terms in a similar way.
If you attempt to check your internet speed on an insufficient or slow Wi-Fi connection you may not find a precise figure because an insufficient Wi-Fi connection can be the main cause of slowness. It is an actual test of the entire connection of your device – a laptop, computer, or tablet to a server that is on the internet. This test is testing the Wi-Fi speed as well as broadband speed. You could test your mobile’s data speed by running the test on your smartphone without Wi-Fi.
But what happens if you want to be able to determine the speed of the broadband connections are your router? You’re in the right spot as we’ll go over everything you have to be aware of.
It is important to know that the speed of the internet varies based on a variety of variables. When you and all your household mates or family members, or even neighbors are watching Netflix simultaneously the speed can drop to the point of a crawl. It could be that your Wi-Fi connection is slowing down and you’re thinking it’s your internet provider to blame.
If you’re using the VPN it could be the reason behind websites loading slow. Make sure you disable any VPN prior to running tests unless you’re trying to test your VPN service’s performance.
But what happens if you want to be able to determine the speed of the broadband connections are your router? You’re in the right spot as we’ll go over everything you have to be aware of.
Free speed test of internet
The tool that we use to test broadband speed can be found at Speedtest.net. You can check this using the web browser or download the application to Android or iPhone.
It will inform you in just a few minutes how fast your connection is. But ensure you’re close to your router when conducting the test with an internet-connected device.
There are many more however, there are plenty of. Some include Fast.com, broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk, and broadbandgenie.co.uk.
To prevent the possibility of slow Wi-Fi, it’s recommended to conduct the test on either a PC or laptop connected directly to the router using the Ethernet cable.
It is important to know that a lot of broadband plans are asynchronous that is, they provide different speeds for downloading and uploading. Download speeds are often the most talked-about numbers you hear about since they’re usually much more rapid. The upload speed can also be extremely slow, sometimes up to 90 percent lower than downloading speeds this is the reason it may take time to upload videos to YouTube for instance but it’s much quicker to download them from YouTube.
Also, if you’re experiencing difficulties in Zoom calls in which your video ceases and begins in a jumble, you need to examine your upload speed. Also, keep in mind that smart cameras that record to cloud storage will consume a bit of the bandwidth used to upload.
Internet speed tests can reveal both your download and upload speeds.
It is also important to report your ‘ping’ that is the speed of your connection. This is crucial in real-time applications like video gaming online and other calls. A lower number is more beneficial.
To ensure you get the most accurate results, you must ensure your internet connection isn’t utilized for any other purpose during the time you are testing and when you can connect your router with an Ethernet cable, as it is more likely to be more efficient than Wi-Fi.
Notice: The download and upload speeds will be measured in Mbps (which is Megabits per Second and is not to be confused with megabytes Per Second. To convert between both, multiply the speed in Megabits per second, then multiply it by 8 to obtain the Megabytes per the Second figure.
You can also download apps to test your speed such as the well-known Speedtest which is available on iOS or Android. Here’s what the Android version looks like, and the results of the test.
Test the speed of your Wi-Fi
If your speed test results are slower than what you anticipated and you conducted the test via Wi-Fi you can test your WiFi speed for yourself to determine whether that’s the problem or not. Finding an application to test Wi-Fi speed can be difficult since many broadband testing applications claim to be “Wi-Fi speed tests”.
There is an Android application known as WiFi Speed Test by Zoltan Pallagi that lets you disable the internet portion and check the speed of your Wi-Fi at home. It’s not pretty however it does its job.
This test only measures the speed of the upload process which is the rate at which data is transferred from your smartphone (or tablet) to your router, or to whatever connection point that you’re using. The speed is restricted by the device with the lowest speed your router is one of the latest models with WI-Fi 6 support however, unless your device is also compatible with this speed as well, what is that of your device that is slowest.
We’ve tested this with a Huawei P30 Pro (Wi-Fi 5) connected to the Linksys Velop tri-band mesh system. (Ignore this BT Hub SSID – this was copied to the Velop system to prevent having to configure a whole set of devices using a different WiFi network.) This speed is excellent and is much faster than the 37Mbps download speed that we receive from BT.
This app can be used throughout your home to check the speeds that differ between rooms, and even in your garden. It is extremely helpful in determining where to put your router or other Wi-Fi devices.
What is the internet speed I require for Netflix, Zoom, and gaming?
If the main reason to test speeds on your Internet connection is simply to check whether it’s sufficient for specific tasks Here are some suggested speeds:
- Standard definition video streaming 1.5Mbps download
- HD video streaming 5Mbps download
- 4K video streaming: 25Mbps download
- 8K video streaming Download speed: 50Mbps (minimum recommended to be 100Mbps)
- Zoom video calls / Teams 4Mbps download, 3Mbps upload (for HD)
- Online gaming: <50ms desirable, <100ms usable. Beyond 150ms is considered to be inaccessible.
If you’re not satisfied with the speed you’ve received using these tools for testing take a look at the top UK broadband providers, best UK broadband deals and the top mesh Wi-Fi networks and also discover how to lower the ping.
