How to Test Your Internet Speed Correctly

A speed test is a snapshot: it measures your connection at one moment, from one device, to one server. With a few simple steps you can make that snapshot as fair as possible, and learn far more from it.

Before you start

1. Pause other internet use. Stop downloads, game and system updates, cloud backups and video streams on all devices in the home. Anything running in the background takes a share of the connection.
2. Close other tabs and apps on the device you are testing with. Browser tabs can keep loading data quietly.
3. Turn off your VPN, unless you specifically want to measure performance through the VPN. VPNs add distance and processing, and usually lower both speed and latency results.
4. Keep the test page in the foreground. Browsers slow down background tabs to save power, which can lower results. SpeedCheckWeb warns you if the page was hidden during a test.
5. Plug in a laptop. Some devices reduce network performance on battery-saving modes.

Cable first, then Wi-Fi

If possible, run two tests:

• Wired (Ethernet) test: connect a computer directly to your router with a cable. This shows what your internet connection delivers, without Wi-Fi limits.
• Wi-Fi test: test from the places where you actually use the internet, such as the sofa, the home office or the bedroom.

If the wired result is good but Wi-Fi is much slower, the problem is inside your home, not with your provider. Our Wi-Fi guide can help.

Test more than once

Results naturally vary from test to test. A good approach:

• Run three tests in a row and look at the typical result, not just the best or worst.
• Test at different times of day: morning, afternoon and the evening peak (about 7–11 pm in many areas). If speeds drop sharply only in the evening, local congestion is a likely cause.
• Keep a record. SpeedCheckWeb saves your results in your browser’s test history, and you can export them as a CSV file to share with your provider.

Read the whole result, not just the big number

Result	Look for
Download	Close to your plan’s speed on a cable connection.
Upload	Close to your plan’s upload speed. This is often much lower than download.
Idle latency	Low and steady. Under about 50 ms to a nearby server is good.
Jitter	Low: under about 15 ms is good for calls and games.
Latency under load	Should not rise much above idle latency. A big rise means bufferbloat.
Packet loss	Ideally 0%. Shown only when it could actually be measured.

Know what a speed test cannot tell you

• Every test measures a path to one server. SpeedCheckWeb tests to the nearest Cloudflare data centre. Speed to a game server, a video service or a website on another continent can be different.
• Your device can be the bottleneck. Older phones, budget laptops and USB network adapters may not reach gigabit speeds. A test in a web browser on a very fast line can also be limited by the browser itself.
• Plans are “up to” speeds. Providers advertise the maximum speed of a plan. Some overhead is always used by the network protocols, so even a perfect line measures a little below its headline speed.
• A test uses data. If you are on a metered mobile plan, turn on SpeedCheckWeb’s Data saver option.

Quick checklist

1. Other devices paused.
2. VPN off (unless you are testing it).
3. Test page in the foreground.
4. One wired test, plus Wi-Fi tests where you use the internet.
5. Three tests, at more than one time of day.
6. Results saved.

Start a speed test now or try the ping and bufferbloat test.

Sources

1. FCC – Broadband speed guide

Figures from third parties can change; we review guides regularly. See our editorial policy.