Opening additional connections is like adding more lanes to the highway. Imagine your internet service as a highway with a speed limit. The general idea is to tax your internet connection and see how much it can do simultaneously. If the client detects you have room to spare, it opens more connections to the server and downloads more data. At this point, two things are measured: how long it took to grab the fragment of data, and how much of your network resources it used. The client opens multiple connections to the server and attempts to download a small piece of data. The test measures that roundtrip in milliseconds.Īfter the ping is complete, the download test begins.

With the test server in place, the Speed Test sends a simple signal (a ping) to the server, and it responds. Some versions, like Ookla’s, have an option to change the server. First, the client determines your location and the closest test server to you-this part is important. When you start a speed test, multiple things occur. How a Speed Test Works After you choose a server, a ping, download, and upload test is performed. For instance, our local ISP offers a plan with a 500 Mbps download speed, but 125 Mbps upload speed. Usually, the download speed features prominently, but if you dig into the details, the ISP typically specifies a slower upload speed for each level. Measuring the latter two is essential because most ISPs make separate promises for download and upload speeds. But if you see 10 Mbps, then you’re not getting what you pay for, and it’s time to call your ISP.Ī Speed test measures your ping, and download and upload speeds.

The catch is the promises your Internet Service Provider (ISP) makes nearly always include the phrase, “up to.” This gives an ISP wiggle room-if it promised you “up to 30 Mbps,” and you consistently only get 28 Mbps, then the company can say it’s kept its promise. The service you connect to often limits your download and upload speeds based on the plan you chose, local congestion, any throttling rules it has, and so on. An internet speed test is the best way to get an idea of how fast your connection is right now.

Accurate internet speed test