How to Check Your Internet Speed
Best Ways to Test
| Tool | URL | Best For | Shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speedtest by Ookla | speedtest.net | General speed measurement | Download, upload, latency, jitter |
| Fast.com | fast.com | Netflix-experience streaming test | Download speed (Netflix servers) |
| Google Speed Test | Search "speed test" | Quick check from Google results | Download and upload speed |
| Cloudflare Speed Test | speed.cloudflare.com | Latency and connection quality detail | Download, upload, latency, packet loss, jitter |
| LibreSpeed | librespeed.org | Privacy-focused, open source | Download, upload, ping |
| nperf | nperf.com | Multi-server comparison | Download, upload, ping, jitter |
How to Get an Accurate Speed Test
- Connect via Ethernet — WiFi has overhead and variable performance. Test via Ethernet for a baseline that reflects your actual internet connection, not your WiFi
- Close other apps and browser tabs — Any active downloads, video streams, or cloud sync will consume bandwidth during the test and produce artificially low results
- Disconnect other devices or pause their internet activity if possible
- Run the test multiple times — Single tests can be inaccurate. Run 3–5 tests and average them
- Test at different times — Run once at off-peak hours (early morning) and once at peak hours (evening) to see if your ISP has congestion issues
Understanding Your Results
Download speed — How fast data transfers from the internet to your device. Measured in Mbps (megabits per second). This affects streaming, downloading files, loading web pages, and incoming video calls. Most activities are primarily download.
Upload speed — How fast data transfers from your device to the internet. Affects video calls, uploading photos, livestreaming, and gaming (sending your controller inputs). Cable internet typically has much lower upload (10–30 Mbps) than download (100–1000 Mbps). Fiber provides symmetric or near-symmetric speeds.
Latency (ping) — Time for a packet to travel to the test server and back, measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower is better. Below 20ms is excellent for gaming. Above 100ms causes noticeable lag in video calls and games.
Jitter — Variation in latency over time. A latency of 20ms ± 2ms is far better than 20ms ± 40ms for real-time applications. High jitter causes choppy video calls even when average latency is good.
Packet loss — Percentage of packets that never arrive. Anything above 0% is noticeable in gaming and video calls. Cloudflare's speed test shows this explicitly.
What Speed Do You Actually Need?
| Activity | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Standard definition video (480p) | 3 Mbps | 5 Mbps |
| HD video (1080p) | 5 Mbps | 10 Mbps |
| 4K HDR streaming | 15 Mbps | 25 Mbps |
| Video call (1 person, 1080p) | 4 Mbps up | 8 Mbps up |
| Online gaming | 3 Mbps / <50ms latency | 25 Mbps / <20ms latency |
| Remote work (basic) | 10 Mbps / 5 Mbps up | 50 Mbps / 20 Mbps up |
| 4K video call | 12 Mbps up | 25 Mbps up |
| Multiple users/devices simultaneously | 50 Mbps | 200+ Mbps |
Speed Test Lower Than Your Plan?
WiFi vs Ethernet: Always test via Ethernet to isolate the internet connection from WiFi variables. If Ethernet speed matches your plan but WiFi is slow, the issue is your WiFi — see the slow WiFi guide.
Testing server matters: Speedtest picks the nearest server with lowest ping. Nearby ISP-hosted servers often show higher speeds (some ISPs prioritize traffic to known test servers). Select "Change Server" and test a few different servers for a more representative result.
ISP congestion: If speed is fine at 3 AM but low at 8 PM, your ISP's network is congested during peak hours — see internet slow at night.
Router or modem bottleneck: If a device connected directly to the modem (bypassing the router) shows higher speeds, your router is the bottleneck. Old routers with 100 Mbps WAN ports physically cannot deliver Gigabit speeds. Check your router's WAN port specification.
Device limitation: Old laptops with 100 Mbps Ethernet adapters will test at 100 Mbps regardless of your internet plan. Old WiFi adapters (WiFi 4/5) may be the limiting factor on fast connections.