Internet Speed Tests: Your ISP has a lot to do with how fast your internet is, but there are more things than you might think that can slow down your internet at home. As you move away from your router, your connection will slow down. This is especially true if there are a lot of walls and other things between you and your router. Your internet speed can also change and slow down during peak usage times, when most people are online, or if your internet provider enforces data caps or slows down connections to keep the network running well as a whole. The best way to find out if you’re getting the most out of your internet is to do a speed test.
You can test your internet speed or connection quickly and easily, and there are many free options to choose from. Even the best ways to check how fast your internet is are simple to use. You might even be able to use the app you used to set up your router to run one. Most of the time, all you need to do to run a test is press “Go,” and it won’t take more than a minute. The speed test will tell you a lot about your internet connection based on the results.
A good speed test will make it easy to see your current download speeds, upload speeds, and latency (or ping) for whatever device you’re using to run the test on. But there are so many options that all promise to do the same thing, how do you know which one to trust?
5 Best Internet Speed Tests
1. Ookla
One of our favourites is the Ookla speed test, which was one of the first speed tests on the web and is very reliable. No matter how popular it is, we like Ookla because it has everything a basic user needs from a speed test: accuracy, the ability to see your speed test history (when you create an account), a wide range of servers to connect to, and even a handy app for testing speed from your Android or iOS device. When we test Wi-Fi routers, we also use Ookla’s speed test.
By adding new features and functions over the years, Ookla has done a good job of keeping up with the times. The service just released a video speed test that measures how well your network can stream 4K videos. Ookla has apps for both Windows and Mac computers, as well as apps for smartphones and its own website. You can even use an Apple TV to run the Ookla speed test.
Even so, Ookla does show banner ads while you run simple speed tests. That’s not a surprise, but how strong your connection is at the time of the test could have a small effect on your results.
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2. Fast.com
Fast.com is another great broadband test, and its user interface is about as simple and straightforward as it gets. But Netflix owns it, which is one of the best things about it. At first, that might seem strange, but the fact that it does that makes it a great choice for people who stream online. The point of the test is to see if your connection is strong enough to stream Netflix at the highest resolution without lagging.
Fast.com is a great tool for some people, but it’s not the best test for everyone. Even though the basic interface is easy to use, it lacks some of the advanced settings and metrics that other speed tests have. The most important thing is that you can’t choose which server to connect to for your test.
3. M-Lab Internet Speed Test
Tests of Internet Speed, None of these speed tests are hard to use, but the M-Lab Internet Speed Test is probably the easiest to find. The open-source “Measurement Lab” (M-Lab) test was created by a group of computer scientists and academic researchers with help from Google. It’s the test that comes up when you type “internet speed test” into Google’s search bar. Just click the blue “RUN SPEED TEST” button, and your download speed, upload speed, and latency will show up in a few seconds.
You don’t have to save it or remember what it’s called, so it’s as easy as it gets. During the test, there are no ads, and your IP address is the only thing that gets sent to M-Lab. Just know that the M-Lab test doesn’t let you choose which server to use, and it’s only made for internet speeds of up to 700 Mbps. If you want to find out how fast a gigabit connection is, you should look elsewhere.
4. Speedof.me
Speedof.me is the best test to use if you want to find out not only how fast you are but also how consistent you are. Just like Ookla, the test interface is great at showing how your upload and download speeds change. Over time, this can make it easier to know when something is wrong with your connection, especially since Speedof.me lets you compare your results to those of other tests. Its website is great for taking tests on your phone, and it works well on mobile devices. This means you don’t have to download an app to do a quick speed test on the go.
Speedof.me isn’t the best option, though. First, you can’t choose which server to connect to on your own. And if you don’t know much about home networking, the visual data may be harder to understand than something like Fast.com, which just gives you a number.
5. Testmy.net
Testmy.net is a speed test for the internet that works only with HTML5 and PHP. This means that you don’t need third-party software like Java or Flash to run your test, which can lead to more accurate results. This also makes it a good way to compare how well different browsers work. You can also make an account to keep track of your internet speed and compare it to other speeds in the future.
It’s not the easiest tool to use, though. With a lot of detailed information, you’ll have a lot to look through, and a lot of it might not be useful to you. The design is also a bit ugly compared to other speed tests, and you have to click a few times before you can start a test. This isn’t as easy as other speed tests, which have big “Go” buttons as soon as the page loads.
