How do i know my internet speed?

Question

when i ask people how fast is their internet they answer like "10mbps" (or was it Mbps) idk but they dont mention it like "my download speed is .. and my upload speed is.." (from speedtest.net because that's how i determine and say what mine is) so how do i know how fast my speed is in like.. one term?

and also, i use a home internet so does that make a difference..? on my wifi status it says my speed is 54Mbps st? but is that a lot lower compared to other wifi because this is a home wifi or what..?

i've attached a photo to help you guys understand me( i got this from network and sharing center) thanks guys!

Answer 1

If you want a single figure to quote, then normally that is the download speed. For most people, the download is the limiting factor except when you are sending emails or hosting a website. Even when the download speed is 10 times faster than the upload speed, for general browsing, watching movies and receiving emails, you will hit the limit on download before the upload limit. There will be a small amount of upload traffic as you will be sending requests for information to the Internet, and you will be acknowledging the receipt of data packets you are receiving. (By you, I mean your computer.)



Now, the screen shot of your WiFi connection shows 54 Mbps (Mbps is Megabits/second while mbps is millibits/second, which is a billion times slower - yes 10 to the power 9 times slower). The 54 Mbps refers to the speed of the wireless interface between your router and your computer. Similarly, most Ethernet connections will work at 100 Mbps (although some do 1000 and some only 10 Mbps). WiFi does NOT come from your ISP, it is purely on your side of the router. If you have a 200 Mbps ISP (Internet) connection, but your computer is connected by Ethernet to the router, you are not likely to see speedtest.net report much over 90 Mbps. That's 100 Mbps, but there are some protocol overheads that can drop the speed below the raw Ethernet speed. Speedtest.net will be limited to the speed of the slowest interface even if the ISP connection is much faster. For WiFi, you might only get around 25 Mbps in Speedtest as WiFi uses a two way alternate connection and can suffer from packet collisions, while Ethernet is two way simultaneous and normally has no collisions when only one device is active.



Unlike the speed you see reported in the WiFi status screen, Speedtest actually measures the best average speed it can achieve end to end between your computer and a remote server, while the WiFi status reports the instantaneous speed just between your computer and your router.



I hope this clarifies the position.

Answer 2

If you want to know how fast your internet is then the honest answer is, whatever you are told. Because thats what you get. Sounds odd i know but you will struggle to find any ISP that accepts the speeds from Speedtest.net BT in the uk for isntance built their own. And all calculate their speeds and quote them differently.

For instance you might have 10Mbps and in the small print it says "Up to" so its the best you will ever get. This is the grey area that ISPs and advertisers like.

As for the screenshot you sent this is your internal speed so router to computer not ISP.

This has been a discussion point between controlling bodies, consumers and companies since internet bagan everyone measures it differently.

Answer 3

It`s actually called broadband speed, which is the download and upload speeds in Mbps added together.

Mbps is Megabits per second which is used by ISPs for advertising as it sounds a lot.

Servers however download in MBps, Megabytes per second which is one eighth of the Mbps speed.

Speeds may vary due to factors such as time of the day or night and what speed the server is capable of, and how good the line between the exchange ( central office ) is.

Speed tests should be done over a wired connection, if you try to do a test over Wi-Fi you will record a much lower speed.

Your 54 Mbps sounds to me like the maximum that a Wi-Fi device can run at in ideal conditions, but not in the real World and is nothing to do with your broadband speed.

Anyway mate, have a read of the safe link below for more information;

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/guide/broadband-speed.html

Regards, Bob UK.

Answer 4

As mentioned, your Internet download speed is usually what matters most for accessing things on the Internet. From some testing I did at work, as long as your WiFi speed is at least 3 times your Internet speed, it should not make much difference if you use Ethernet or WiFi. If your Internet download speed is 10 Mbps, then your wireless-g speed of 54 Mbps is fine for that.



For example at work on 50/10 cable (which usually tests about 58/11.7 Mbps on Ethernet) when our WAP was out back in our warehouse and I got a weak 78 Mbps wireless-n signal, speedtest.net was about 25/11.7 Mbps. When I moved the WAP into our office and got strong 150 Mbps wireless-n, then it speed tested at the same 58/11.7 Mbps as on Ethernet.

Answer 5

Just type in, Speed test on Google or? There are many choices. I prefer ATT, or Comcast speed test sites.

Answer 6

Myinternetspeed

Answer 7

go to status

Answer 8

go here

http://www.speedtest.net/



click

Begin Test

Answer 9

What are you paying for from your ISP?

Answer 10

Check the box or something i don't know