Internet-speed-test-150x150Judging by the amount of searches done for the term "speed examination" there seems to be a bit of an obsession with Internet speeds.

In that location are many online test tools that allow you to check your upload and download speeds.

In this tutorial I will try to explain how speed tests work and what they are really telling you. We expect at.:

  • What is a practiced download speed and upload speed?
  • What does Mbps mean?
  • Is a download speed of x Mbps expert? How fast is 10 Mbps
  • Does Cyberspace speeds vary throughout the day.
  • Is information technology worth changing providers to go a faster cyberspace connectedness?

Agreement Net Speed Tests

Net speed tests volition requite you an upload speed and download speed.

Uploading refers to the process of transferring data from your calculator to the Net, and downloading refers to transferring data from the Net to your computer.

Commonly the download speed is much greater than the upload speed (ADSL).

This is usually OK because for well-nigh people they download much more than they upload.

Download speed tests work past transferring a file of a known size from a test server located on the Cyberspace to your computer, and measuring how long it takes.

A four MB file volition have 8 secs over a iv Mbits/due south link and 2 seconds over a 16 Mbits/s link. (see $.25 and Bytes).

The upload speed is measured by uploading a file from your PC to the test server and over again measuring the time taken.

There are many online test tools yous might desire to try these:

  • http://www.speedtest.net/
  • http://diagnostics.bt.com/login/?workflow=Speed
  • http://world wide web.bbc.co.united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland/iplayer/diagnostics

There are several factors that touch on how fast your overall connection speed is:

  • The access engineering- due east.chiliad. ADSL,4G/3G mobile, Satellite etc
  • Your ISP.
  • The location of your destination server or service.

They all combine together to form a chain (communications link) . As a comparison, If you imagine traffic driving downwardly a 6 lane road, which becomes a 2 lane road and.then a 4 lane route. (image Below).
.

Traffic-speed-comparisson

Y'all can run into that the traffic will be restricted by the 2 lane road.

On the Internet, simply similar on a normal road, your final speed volition be limited by the slowest link in the chain.

Note: You practice not need to install any software on your estimator to do a Internet speed test. Exist very wary when using speed exam sites equally some with prompt you lot to install software to improve your calculator speed. Some probably are genuine, but it is impossible to tell, so I wouldn't do it.

Cyberspace Speed Factors

Several factors affect your net admission speeds:

  • Your Access engineering
  • Your Internet service provider
  • Location of the remote resource
  • Time of Solar day

Internet Access Technology

This is the nigh important factor as far as internet access speed is concerned.

All technologies have limitations. The connection speeds of cobweb broadband is far superior to 3G mobile.

Run across common Net access methods. for an overview with pros and cons of each technology

Your (Internet Service Provider) ISP

You connect to your Isp (using an access method e.g. ADSL Broadband) and your ISP then connects to the Internet.

Internet-connection-speed-1

ISPs advertise the connection speeds to the subscriber, and not the speeds between the subscriber and the Internet.

In the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland the connection to the home is almost always a BT phone line and ADSL, but fibre is becoming increasing pop.

If that is the case then The access speed will exist express by these BT lines regardless of the Isp you lot choose.

Yet that doesn't mean that all providers will provide the same overall connection quality as-.

The connection between the Internet service provider and the Internet is commonly over fiber and is fast, but information technology is shared past many subscribers.

Therefore if the ISP overloads the link to the Net it slows the connexion from subscriber to Internet.

So your Connection to the ISP could be 6Mbits/s but from you to the Cyberspace it could be merely three Mbits/southward.

Here is a quote from the BBC commodity on broadband speeds

Virtually half of broadband users are now on packages with advertised speeds above 10Mbps merely the boilerplate broadband speed is 6.8Mbps according to Ofcom.

The Location Of The Service/Server On The Internet

The Internet comprises a vast network on interconnected computers and networking equipment eastward.m routers (diagram beneath).

Internet-Routing

The number of routers/servers that the data must travel through on the way to and from the destination service/server will affect the overall speed.

In addition the speed and capacity of the network that inter-links these computers/routers volition likewise affect the last connexion speed.

In general the Net itself will oft exist the limiting factor that affects your overall internet speed.

And then you may have a super fast connection to the Internet, but still take the aforementioned amount of time to download a file from the Cyberspace every bit someone with a much slower Cyberspace connection.

Fourth dimension of Day

You may accept noticed that the Internet appears to slow at certain times of day.

This is very similar to rush hour on the roads.

Here is a uswitch graph showing Cyberspace speeds in the Britain over the day.

speed-graph-uswitch

Notice how the average speed drops from almost 10Mbps to effectually 6Mbps.

The worst fourth dimension to be surfing the net is between 7pm and 9pm.

When doing speed tests it is a adept idea to do several over the course or a normal solar day.

Download vs Upload Speeds

When you lot view a website with a web browser yous are downloading information from the Internet.

Most people spend most of the fourth dimension surfing the Internet, and downloading data, which is why the download speed is ordinarily more important than the upload speed.

Information technology is the speed that broadband providers commonly brandish, and what people compare.

Here is a screen shot of the standard BT broadband package, and observe there is no mention of the upload speed.

T-broadband-downloadspeed

If y'all send email so that electronic mail is uploaded from your PC to the Cyberspace.

If yous mail pictures or videos on YouTube or Facebook so those pictures/images are uploaded to the Internet.

How long that takes volition depend on the upload speed of your connexion.

Most broadband packages provide broadband over telephone lines, and utilize a applied science called ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line ) which has a much faster download speed than upload speed.

If you have an existing broadband connection you can check your upload and download speeds using an online speed tester. Here are my results:

upload-download-speed-test1

Notice that the upload speed is 21 times slower than the download speed. This means that a file that could exist downloaded from the net in 30 minutes would take over 10 hours to upload to the Internet.

Most Net users aren't currently interested in uploading files to the Internet, simply with the growth in popularity of online storage at that place could be a increase in demand for much faster upload speeds.

The newer fiber packages from the main Uk broadband providers (BT, SKY, Virgin,Talk Talk) offer significantly faster upload speeds too as faster download speeds

The screen shot below shows the BT Infinity package with a download speed (76Mb) , which four times faster than the upload speed (19Mb).

BT-Superfast-broadband

If you are considering using the Internet for transferring large files then yous should look for a broadband packet that offers fast upload speeds.

What is a Good Upload or Download Speed?

This really depends on what yous want to do with the Internet connection.

If y'all want to download and stream movies then a minimum of 4Mbps is needed.

If at that place are several people in your household that likewise sentry movies online then y'all would desire a little more speed.

The best indicator of slow network speeds is obtained by using the Net.

If you discover that that web pages have a long fourth dimension to load, and movies have a long time to buffer, then you should check your speed.

An easier check is to check your Internet service provider advertised speeds against your own speed.

You lot might find that you are paying a premium for a package considering of the advertised speed simply it is impossible for you to get those speeds because of your location.

Cyberspace Speed Checkers

They are many websites that allow you to cheque your Internet speed like this online speed tester.

However if y'all want to monitor your Net speed on a regular basis and then I recommend the command line to;; called speedtest-cli.

This Github page as the install and usage instructions

Summary

Speed tests are useful for checking that yous aren't paying for a connection that you aren't getting.

However your connection speed is only one part of the overall Internet connection, and you are unlikely to find the deviation between a 10Mbit/s connexion and a 6Mbit/s connection when watching, for example, a YouTube video.

The more people you accept accessing the Internet through your connection the more important your connection speed becomes.

Bits and Bytes Explained

A byte has eight bits. The size of files stored on your computer is measured in bytes.

1KB =1 kilo Bytes =1,000 Bytes and 1MB=one Million Bytes.

When measuring data manual speeds the measurement is bits per 2d or bps

Again

1 kbps =ane thousand bits per second and 1Mbps= 1Million bits/sec

Notice bits has small-scale b and bytes a large B.

Mutual Questions and Answers

Q- I measured past upload and download speeds and they are very unlike to what the broadband provider advertised. Is this normal?

A- Yes. ISPs commonly quote the best speeds possible in theory, but not in practice.

Q- I measured past download speed and it is XMbps is it fast enough?

A- It depends on what y'all do, or desire to do with the connexion and how many people use the connectedness. By and large speeds above half-dozen-8 Mbps volition be good for nearly applications.

Q- My Internet connection is slow what is the reason?

A- It is difficult to say for sure. It could exist your connection to your Internet access provider or it could be the Net. If yous cheque your connection and find that your download speed is around 6Mbps or faster then it is likely to be the Internet.

Q- Is it worth changing providers to get a faster internet connection?

A- Because of the way broadband is provided it is normally better to try changing the admission method i.e. go to fiber instead of ADSL.

Q- Can my Wi-Fi be responsible for my low speeds?

A- Yes if you are using sometime Wi-Fi adapters in your laptop/PC. For example the old 802.11a standard peaked at around 5Mbps. See this Yahoo reply and this about google support tip for details

Q- I am using Cloud storage for backing upward data what should I cheque?

A- Y'all need to bank check your upload speed. Generally only fibre broadband supplies good upload speeds.

Q- Is 6 Mbps fast?

A- You tin guess it'southward speed past how long information technology takes to transfer data. A vi MB file will take 8 secs over a half-dozen Mbits/s. A standard 1GB motion picture will take about 22 minutes to download at 6Mbps.

Q- What is more important upload speed or download speed?

A- For most people it will exist the download speed as most people will be browsing the web downloading movies etc.

Resources:

  • Bits and bytes explained
  • Report reveals drop betwixt summit and off-peak surfing
  • Download time calculator

Related Articles:

  • Internet Connexion Methods
  • Troubleshooting Cyberspace Connections
  • Monitor Internet Speeds with Speedtest-cli and Node-Red
  • Habitation Networking Speeds

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