How To Quickly Test Your Internet (ISP) Download And Upload Speed

Many individuals are paying top dollar for advertised network speeds from their Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  What most don’t realize is that they can actually test what their true download and upload speeds are.  Using this test they can make sure they are getting what they are paying for.

Internet speeds are typically rated by Megabits (not megabytes) per second, or Mbps.  The average $20.00 to $25.00 per month internet plan typically gives up to 1.5 Mbps downloads and 384 Kbps uploads.

How To Quickly Test Your Internet (ISP) Download And Upload Speed:

1. Go to the following website: http://www.speedtest.net

2. After the page has completely loaded, select the green ‘Begin Test’ button at the top of the map.

3. Let the test run.

You will get three results.

The Ping Test:
This will tell you, in milliseconds, how quickly a handshake is conducted between your computer and the server you are testing it on.  If for any reason this test comes back more than 300 milliseconds, you should select a different star on the map to conduct your test.  For some reason there is a significant delay between your computer and the test computer.

The Download Speed:
You may want to run the test multiple times to multiple green stars on the map (locations) at different times of the day to gauge the average download speed.  Remember, even if your download speed is large, it does not mean you can always download at this speed.  Quite often the website or source you are downloading the file from can have download speed limitations and actually restrict your overall download speed.

The Upload Speed:
High upload speeds are good for servers such as videogame or web hosts.  When an individual has a high upload they can send information faster to other computers connecting to it.  The same rule applies here for upload limitations.  Some servers simply cannot download as fast as you can upload.  So there may be instances when your computer will take a long period of time to upload data, it is not necessarily your connection.  It is standard practice for uploads speeds to be very low compared to download, as most people perform download activity instead of upload.

Using this test over a couple of weeks and at different times of the day can give you an idea of when you are getting your best web performance.  You can also use this information to contact your service provider and let them know you are not getting the bandwidth you are paying for.  In these instances, there may actually be some wiring alterations they can conduct to give you better performance.

Craig Chamberlin
The PCMichiana Tech Help Show
Founder and Host