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How to Check Broadband Internet Speed
How to Check Broadband Internet Speed
Speed is the overarching metric by which Internet service is judged. Consumers pay more for the privilege of switching from a dial up modem connection to a DSL or cable Internet connection. With fiber optic Internet connectivity available in many regions, even faster and more expensive service options are available.
Internet speed is necessary because of the graphics rich and multimedia oriented nature of most Internet content. As consumer Internet speeds continue to accelerate, expect the size of content served by web sites and applications to increase as well. Many media analysts visualize a consolidation of all home communications (phone, Internet, and television) into one large Internet Protocol (IP) pipeline.
Internet speed is relevant to consumers for more reasons than entertainment and social content. More and more Americans are working at home, connecting to the office via a broadband connection. Voice over IP (VoIP) technology allows a software program to connect to the phone system at the office, allowing call center workers and executives alike to handle business phone calls as if present at their place of employment.
Considering how vital the Internet is to our daily lives, that we are preoccupied with Internet speed is no wonder.
Measuring Internet Speed
Internet connection speed is measured by the rate at which data is transferred from the Internet to a computer. The days of measuring internet connection speed in kilobits per second (KBps) are long gone. Now, most connections are measured in megabits per second (MBps). Commercial, government, and military connections are even faster, being rated in terms of gigabits per second (GBps).
Broadband Internet speed checks verify that the service received from the Internet service provider is as described. If a customer is paying for a 10 MBps Internet connection from the cable company, the customer need to check to see if that service is being delivered.
Troubleshooting is another reason broadband Internet is tested. If the service provider confirms that a connection is set for 10MBps and the speed test indicates a much slower speed, the customer needs to investigate the cause for the connectivity problem. The results of a broadband Internet speed test can alert the user that a problem exists. Whether a cable modem is faulty or if an Ethernet cable is defective, or if something else is wrong, the user is able to locate and resolve the problem.
Checking broadband Internet speed is important to check compatibility with certain IP services. For example, a certain bandwidth is necessary for remote access via VoIP to the host server. If the connection is not fast enough, voice quality will suffer, so a user may have to upgrade home internet service before being allowed to work from home. Similar connection speed requirements also exist for other applications such as online gaming.
Metrics
When checking broadband Internet speed, the following are some of the values that are measured:
1. Quality of Service (QoS)
Quality of Service (QoS) refers to the overall quality and consistency of the Internet connection. This metric should test to 80% or better if the connection is being used for VoIP or remote access applications.
2. The Round Trip Time (RTT)
This metric, Round Trip Time (RTT) is used to measure the time it takes to send a data packet to a destination server and to receive a packet back from that server. This time is measured in milliseconds and is better when the number is smaller.
3. Max Pause
Max Pause is the length of the longest delay during active Internet use. Higher numbers here point to network congestion or problems with the broadband connection.
Tools
A variety of consumer grade bandwidth measuring tools are available online. These tools take different approaches to measuring Internet speed, so users should run several of these to get a good performance benchmark. The following speed tests are neither endorsed nor recommended, but are provided as examples. While these tests are free, premium speed tests and professional speed test services are available from an assortment of providers on a fee basis.
1. TestMy.net
TestMy.net has a broadband Internet connection speed test that measures upload and download speeds between the client computer and a nearby server by sending test files between them.
The time it takes to download video, music, and movie files are combined by SpeedTest.net to measure Internet speed. Upload speeds are measured by transferring typical email attachments, images, and video clips. A ping test is also available at SpeedTest.net that helps evaluate the suitability of an Internet connection for VoIP and streaming multimedia.
A multi-packet technique with accounting for ATM shaping is a feature of the speed test that is available from AuditMyPC.com. This service has several modes of speed testing that can help give the user a better idea of the quality of Internet service being delivered to the client computer.
Checking the speed of a broadband Internet connection is important to verify services from the Internet provider and to check for local network problems. Internet speed performance can vary depending on packet size, file size, as well as the quality of the routers and other equipment that are managing traffic between the client and host computers. Also, most broadband services are configured for faster download speed than upload speed; a factor that is considered as part of any speed evaluation.
This entry was posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2010 at 8:13 am and is filed under Computers, Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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