It’s fine if you just want to brag about how great your ISP is (that’s the idea), but it’s bad for getting an idea of your real-world speeds. That means you’ll get a faster result than you might with a Netflix or Google speed test. Their tests are optimized for ideal conditions, using servers close to you that are often maintained on the same ISP network you’re testing from. However, you probably shouldn’t rely on an ISP-generated speed test.
Your ISP might also offer a speed test, like Comcast, Spectrum, or AT&T. The difference in server locations is why you likely see different speed results when trying different tests, like Ookla’s, Netflix’s, or Google’s. In that scenario, your results may reflect a faster performance than your real-world usage. So, while your speed test may show incredibly fast streams, you might find that downloading a program is very slow if the server hosting the data is far away. Much of it is on computers far away-sometimes across the country or in another country. Businesses know that proximity makes a difference, and that’s why some, like Netflix, use a content delivery network to bring the data closer to you.īut the entire internet isn’t close to you. That proximity is an optimal situation, so the data doesn’t have as far to travel. Often the closest server might be incredibly close-perhaps even in the same city. Speed tests sound simple, but it’s much harder than it might seem to measure how fast your connection is accurately.Ĭonsider the first step of the process: choosing a test server. Are Speed Tests Accurate? This router test shows the true speeds the ISP offers, while the other tests on Wi-Fi are slower due to their connection.
Instead of pulling data from the server to your PC, the client uploads data from your PC to the server.įor more detailed technical information, check out ’s explanation of how it works. It’s essentially the same process as the download test but in reverse. Once the client determines it has the correct connections to test your internet service, it downloads additional chunks of data, measures the amount downloaded in the time allotted, and presents a download speed. The speed limit hasn’t changed, but more cars can pass through the same space at a faster rate thus, the 50th car will arrive sooner using a four-lane highway than it would on a two-lane. Opening additional connections is like adding more lanes to the highway. Imagine your internet service as a highway with a speed limit. The general idea is to tax your internet connection and see how much it can do simultaneously. If the client detects you have room to spare, it opens more connections to the server and downloads more data. At this point, two things are measured: how long it took to grab the fragment of data, and how much of your network resources it used. The client opens multiple connections to the server and attempts to download a small piece of data. The test measures that roundtrip in milliseconds.Īfter the ping is complete, the download test begins. With the test server in place, the Speed Test sends a simple signal (a ping) to the server, and it responds. Some versions, like Ookla’s, have an option to change the server. First, the client determines your location and the closest test server to you-this part is important. When you start a speed test, multiple things occur. How a Speed Test Works After you choose a server, a ping, download, and upload test is performed. For instance, our local ISP offers a plan with a 500 Mbps download speed, but 125 Mbps upload speed. Usually, the download speed features prominently, but if you dig into the details, the ISP typically specifies a slower upload speed for each level. Measuring the latter two is essential because most ISPs make separate promises for download and upload speeds. A Speed test measures your ping, and download and upload speeds.