Are you getting the internet speed you’re paying for? Should you blame a slow connection on your Wi-Fi router or internet provider? Can your internet handle things like online gaming or livestreaming?
The answers to all of these questions can be found by running a simple internet speed test. There are several websites you can use to check your speed for free, and they'll all give you the same key metrics about your home internet connection.
I usually say the best internet connection is the one you never notice. If you never experience buffering, frozen video meetings or laggy online games, you’re probably getting plenty of speed. But how low can you go before these problems start popping up? According to a CNET survey, 63% of US adults saw their internet bill increase an average of $195 in the past year, leading many to downgrade their plans to lower speeds.
Locating local internet providers
A speed test can help you determine if you’re paying for more speed than you need or barely scraping by on your current plan. But how does it work?
“It is flooded with the equivalent of a large file. That will test the full capability of the network,” says Luke Kehoe, an industry analyst at Ookla, CNET’s pick for the best speed test overall. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
Locating local internet providers
But speed isn’t entirely straightforward in an internet context. Several other factors can impact your overall experience online -- all of which a good speed test will tell you.
Key metrics explained: Download, upload, latency and jitter
No matter which speed test you use, the key numbers are always the same: download speed, upload speed and latency. Jitter is also listed on many speed test results, although you may have to do a little digging to find it.
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