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

In that location are many online test tools that let y'all to check your upload and download speeds.

In this tutorial I volition endeavor to explicate how speed tests piece of work and what they are really telling y'all. We await at.:

  • What is a good download speed and upload speed?
  • What does Mbps mean?
  • Is a download speed of 10 Mbps good? How fast is 10 Mbps
  • Does Cyberspace speeds vary throughout the mean solar day.
  • Is it worth changing providers to get a faster internet connexion?

Agreement Internet Speed Tests

Cyberspace speed tests will give you an upload speed and download speed.

Uploading refers to the procedure of transferring data from your computer to the Internet, and downloading refers to transferring data from the Internet to your reckoner.

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

This is commonly OK because for most 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 Internet to your computer, and measuring how long it takes.

A four MB file volition take eight secs over a four Mbits/s link and ii seconds over a 16 Mbits/s link. (see Bits and Bytes).

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

There are many online test tools you lot might want to effort these:

  • http://www.speedtest.net/
  • http://diagnostics.bt.com/login/?workflow=Speed
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/diagnostics

At that place are several factors that touch how fast your overall connection speed is:

  • The access technology- eastward.thou. ADSL,4G/3G mobile, Satellite etc
  • Your Isp.
  • The location of your destination server or service.

They all combine together to grade a chain (communications link) . As a comparison, If yous imagine traffic driving down a half-dozen lane road, which becomes a 2 lane road and.then a 4 lane route. (prototype Beneath).
.

Traffic-speed-comparisson

You can see that the traffic will be restricted by the ii lane road.

On the Internet, merely like on a normal road, your terminal speed will exist express by the slowest link in the chain.

Notation: You practice not need to install any software on your computer to do a Cyberspace speed exam. Be very wary when using speed test sites every bit some with prompt you to install software to improve your computer speed. Some probably are 18-carat, merely it is impossible to tell, so I wouldn't practise it.

Cyberspace Speed Factors

Several factors impact your internet access speeds:

  • Your Access technology
  • Your Isp
  • Location of the remote resource
  • Fourth dimension of Twenty-four hours

Internet Access Technology

This is the about of import gene as far as net access speed is concerned.

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

See common Net access methods. for an overview with pros and cons of each applied science

Your (Internet service provider) ISP

You lot connect to your ISP (using an access method due east.g. ADSL Broadband) and your ISP then connects to the Cyberspace.

Internet-connection-speed-1

ISPs advertise the connexion 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 popular.

If that is the case then The admission speed will exist express by these BT lines regardless of the Internet service provider you choose.

All the same that doesn't mean that all providers volition provide the same overall connection quality equally-.

The connectedness between the ISP and the Internet is usually over cobweb and is fast, but it is shared by 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 Internet it could be just 3 Mbits/s.

Hither is a quote from the BBC article on broadband speeds

Almost half of broadband users are now on packages with advertised speeds above 10Mbps but the average 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 e.chiliad 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 add-on the speed and chapters of the network that inter-links these computers/routers will also affect the final connection speed.

In full general the Internet itself will oftentimes exist the limiting factor that affects your overall cyberspace speed.

So you may take a super fast connexion to the Cyberspace, merely still take the aforementioned amount of time to download a file from the Cyberspace equally someone with a much slower Internet connection.

Time of Day

Yous may accept noticed that the Net appears to irksome at certain times of twenty-four hours.

This is very similar to rush hour on the roads.

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

speed-graph-uswitch

Notice how the boilerplate speed drops from almost 10Mbps to around 6Mbps.

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

When doing speed tests it is a good idea to do several over the form or a normal twenty-four hour period.

Download vs Upload Speeds

When you view a website with a web browser you are downloading information from the Cyberspace.

Most people spend most of the time surfing the Net, and downloading information, which is why the download speed is unremarkably more important than the upload speed.

It is the speed that broadband providers commonly display, and what people compare.

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

T-broadband-downloadspeed

If you transport email then that electronic mail is uploaded from your PC to the Internet.

If you post pictures or videos on YouTube or Facebook then 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 use 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 connexion you tin can check your upload and download speeds using an online speed tester. Here are my results:

upload-download-speed-test1

Detect that the upload speed is 21 times slower than the download speed. This means that a file that could be downloaded from the internet in 30 minutes would have over ten hours to upload to the Cyberspace.

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

The newer fiber packages from the main United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland broadband providers (BT, SKY, Virgin,Talk Talk) offering significantly faster upload speeds as well as faster download speeds

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

BT-Superfast-broadband

If you lot are because using the Net for transferring big files then you should await for a broadband package that offers fast upload speeds.

What is a Expert Upload or Download Speed?

This really depends on what you want to do with the Net connectedness.

If yous desire to download and stream movies so a minimum of 4Mbps is needed.

If there are several people in your household that as well lookout man movies online then you would want a niggling more speed.

The best indicator of wearisome network speeds is obtained by using the Internet.

If you find that that web pages take a long time to load, and movies accept a long time to buffer, and then you should cheque your speed.

An easier check is to bank check your Internet access provider advertised speeds confronting your own speed.

You might notice that you lot are paying a premium for a package because of the advertised speed simply it is incommunicable for you lot to go those speeds because of your location.

Net Speed Checkers

They are many websites that allow you lot to check your Cyberspace speed like this online speed tester.

Still if you want to monitor your Net speed on a regular basis then I recommend the command line to;; chosen speedtest-cli.

This Github page equally the install and usage instructions

Summary

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

However your connectedness speed is only i part of the overall Internet connectedness, and you are unlikely to observe the difference between a 10Mbit/s connection and a 6Mbit/s connection when watching, for case, a YouTube video.

The more than people you lot have accessing the Internet through your connection the more of import your connection speed becomes.

Bits and Bytes Explained

A byte has 8 bits. The size of files stored on your computer is measured in bytes.

aneKB =1 kilo Bytes =1,000 Bytes and 1MB=i Million Bytes.

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

Once more

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

Notice bits has small b and bytes a large B.

Mutual Questions and Answers

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

A- Yes. ISPs ordinarily quote the best speeds possible in theory, just not in practice.

Q- I measured past download speed and information technology is XMbps is it fast plenty?

A- It depends on what you exercise, or desire to practice with the connection and how many people apply the connection. Generally speeds above 6-8 Mbps volition exist good for most applications.

Q- My Net connectedness is slow what is the reason?

A- It is difficult to say for sure. It could be your connectedness to your ISP or it could be the Internet. If y'all check 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 become a faster net connexion?

A- Because of the way broadband is provided it is commonly improve to effort irresolute the access method i.due east. go to fiber instead of ADSL.

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

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

Q- I am using Cloud storage for bankroll up data what should I check?

A- You lot need to check your upload speed. By and large only fibre broadband supplies good upload speeds.

Q- Is 6 Mbps fast?

A- You lot tin judge it's speed by how long it takes to transfer data. A half-dozen MB file will take 8 secs over a half dozen Mbits/due south. A standard 1GB movie volition take about 22 minutes to download at 6Mbps.

Q- What is more of import upload speed or download speed?

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

Resource:

  • Bits and bytes explained
  • Report reveals drop between acme and off-meridian surfing
  • Download time calculator

Related Articles:

  • Internet Connection Methods
  • Troubleshooting Net Connections
  • Monitor Cyberspace Speeds with Speedtest-cli and Node-Red
  • Home Networking Speeds

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