How to Test Your Internet Speed (And What the Results Mean)

2 min read
Beginner Speed Test Internet WiFi How-To

Quick Answer: Use our Quick Speed Test for a fast download check, or our Full Speed Test for download, upload, ping, and jitter. Compare results to your ISP plan. Getting less than 50% of your plan speed? Your connection has a problem.

Test Your Speed

Quick Test

Visit What's My Download Speed — tests download speed in about 5 seconds.

Full Test

Visit our Speed Test — tests download, upload, ping, and jitter with detailed results.

Understanding Your Results

Download Speed (Mbps)

How fast you receive data. This is what most people care about.

Speed What You Can Do
1-5 Mbps Basic browsing, email
5-25 Mbps HD streaming, video calls
25-100 Mbps 4K streaming, gaming, multiple devices
100-500 Mbps Large downloads, many devices
500+ Mbps Overkill for most people

Upload Speed (Mbps)

How fast you send data. Important for video calls, streaming, and uploading files.

Speed What You Can Do
1-5 Mbps Video calls, email with attachments
5-20 Mbps Streaming to Twitch/YouTube, cloud backup
20+ Mbps Uploading large files quickly

Ping (ms)

Round-trip time to the server. Lower is better.

Ping Quality
1-20 ms Excellent (gaming, real-time)
20-50 ms Good
50-100 ms Acceptable
100+ ms Noticeable lag

Jitter (ms)

Variation in ping. Lower is better. High jitter causes choppy video calls and gaming lag.

Jitter Quality
0-5 ms Excellent
5-15 ms Good
15-30 ms Acceptable
30+ ms Problems with real-time apps

Is My Speed Normal?

Compare your test result to your ISP plan:

  • 80-100% of plan speed — Normal, your connection is fine
  • 50-80% — Slightly slow, could be WiFi interference or congestion
  • Below 50% — Something is wrong, troubleshoot

Common Causes of Slow Results

  1. Testing on WiFi — Always test with ethernet for accurate results
  2. Other devices using bandwidth — Pause downloads, streaming
  3. Router too far away — Move closer for WiFi tests
  4. ISP congestion — Test at different times of day
  5. Old router — WiFi 4 routers bottleneck fast connections
  6. VPN active — VPNs add overhead, reducing speed

Tips for Accurate Tests

  1. Use ethernet when possible (WiFi adds variability)
  2. Close other tabs and apps (they consume bandwidth)
  3. Test multiple times (results vary 10-20%)
  4. Test different servers (some may be closer)
  5. Test at different times (peak hours are slower)

Related Tools

See Also