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How to Test Your Internet Connection Speed
Computer users test their Internet connection for a multitude of reasons:
1. Troubleshoot slow connections
2. Keep their ISPs honest
3. Brag to their friends
4. Plain curiosity
Before you start testing your connection, make sure your computer is properly connection. Check your ethernet cables or wi-fi signal to make sure your computer is connected through your LAN. After that, check to make sure your router or modem is properly connected to your ISP. Browse to a couple of websites to verify your connection. For those more technically inclined, open up a command shell (DOS box) and use a program called “ping” to check your connection. Enter the following at the prompt:
ping www.google.com
If you are connected you will see the ping program attempt to reach the google server. Ping works with any Internet host and not just google. You can try this with any server you wish. You will notice the time it takes in milliseconds. The larger the number, the more time it takes to reach that particular host. Any decent broadband connection should produce results below 100 milliseconds (ms).
At this point you have verified that you at least have a connection, however fast or slow it may be. Now it is time to see just how good or bad it is. By far the easiest way and most user-friendly way to test your Internet connection is to use Speedtest.net (www.speedtest.net). This free online tool, made by Ookla Net Metrics (www.ookla.com) gives you a graphical presentation of how fast your Internet connection is and how is compares to others. Before we get into this, you may want to try out it’s new kid brother, Pingtest.net.
What is Pingtest.net and how does it work?
Pingtest.net (www.pingtest.net) is Ookla’s answer to what they call “Internet connection quality”. Unlike many other graphical speed tests you find online, Pingtest.net doesn’t just test your connection’s raw speed. It takes into account other important metrics such as packet loss, ping, and jitter.
Packet loss occurs when your Internet connection fails to deliver every bit of data you are supposed to receive. This can cause slower upload and download speeds. Long pauses in streaming media and “time warping” in video games (i.e., your character skips around erratically) are also symptoms of packet loss. If you are experiencing static, hissing, and otherwise poor VoIP quality this is definitely a sign that your Internet connection is problematic. Pingtest will check your Internet connection for signs of trouble. Good connections should have zero percent packet loss. Note that you will need to have Java installed on your computer in order to run the packet loss test.
We saw earlier the original ping tool in action, measuring how long it takes for packet of data to travel from your computer to another host on the Internet and back. When Internet-based applications experience delays, this is due to high “pings”. Internet connections with lower pings are desirable. The lower the ping, the more responsive your applications will be.
Jitter is the variance in measuring successive ping test. Having a jitter value of zero means the results of each successive ping are the same every time. Anything above zero is the amount by which the tests vary. A lower jitter value is better. Zero is the best value to have, but some jitter should be expected over all but the best of broadband connections.
After running Pingtest.net, it will give you a letter grade (like the kind you got in high school) and a numeric Mean Opinion Score (MOS). An “A” letter grade and MOS greater than 4.37 is ideal. A “C” grade or MOS under 4.00 means you should probably get on the phone with your ISP’s tech support and sort out the problem.\
Ready For Speedtest.net
Assuming your Internet connection passed Pingtest.net with a “B” or more, it is now time to see just how fast it is. Pingtest.net showed that it is reliable with good quality, but Speedtest.net will tell you its “raw” speed.
Speedtest.net should automatically figure out where you are located and present you with a map of servers near you. The best one to test with should be colored yellow, with the rest being green. Choose the yellow one to begin the test. Make sure you are not running any proxy software or Virtual Private Networking (VPN) systems or else Speedtest.net may perform the tests against the wrong server. As with Pingtest.net, make sure all other bandwidth-consuming applications are closed before choosing a test server.
During the test, Speedtest.net will tell you your ping value, IP address, ISP name, and current upload/download speeds. When the test is complete it will present you with your final upload/download speed results and the average time it takes to download a typical MP3 file, video clip, and movie. A bar graph compares your results to the average ISP. At this point you can either test again or choose a new server to test against.
Summing Up
By now you should have a good idea how fast your connection speed is. Not only have you verified your connection’s speed, you have verified the quality of the connection as well. Many speed tests ignore this critical fact, but raw speed alone isn’t enough. Speed and reliability are both contributors to faster downloads, higher quality VoIP conversations, and better gaming. It is a good to test regularly to make sure your getting all the bandwidth you are paying for and, if your connection is better than average, to maintain bragging rights.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 10:23 am and is filed under 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.