How to Check Internet Speed

There are several reasons to check internet speed. The speed of your connection may be different from general data transfer speeds because different Internet Service Providers or ISPs offer different plans; also, your speed may not be the same as promised.

The speed can be affected by a number of factors that include the distance from the nearest network node, the number of users connecting at the same time and the speed at which the website loads. If your ISP promises to deliver at 10 Mbps, it does not mean that your connection will always remain at that speed.



There are several sites on the web where you can check internet speed. On many wesites, no download or installation is required. All that’s required is to access the website and click the required buttons. In order to check internet speed, the site will download and upload some small files to and from your computer. Also, they will measure how fast it all takes and automatically calculate your transfer speeds based on the size of the files and the duration which the process takes.

When you check internet speed, your current upload and download speeds are displayed after the test is completed. You may often find that the upload and download speeds are different; with the upload speed being slower than the download. This is expected because users download more often than they upload and systems are designed more for faster downloads.

You may also find when you check internet speed that they never match those of the rates advertised. The most that you may obtain is usually 85% of the advertised rates. This may happen as there may be others who are using the network and resources. Also, your computer is probably handling multithreading activities, like the Anti-virus or Operating System can be updating.

Here are the list of the websites where you can check internet speeds:

Some of the easy access ones include Bandwidth Place Speed Test Speed Test | Bandwidth | Broadband Internet Services where you simply click a button and wait a few seconds for the test results. Similar site is speedtest.net

Another popular site is the CNET Bandwidth Meter Speed Test at reviews.cnet.com/internet-speed-test.

Apart from these, I recommend to read another thread on the forum to test the download speed for Videos on YouTube

You may find that when you check internet speed, your connection speed may vary daily or even at different periods of the day. To get an accurate representation, you can test your connection a few times each day, on different days of the week and calculate an average. You can then compare that average to the speed promised by your ISP.

If you check internet speed of all connections, including those of broadband, DSL or even T1 lines, you will find that the speeds you receive are not always as high as promised. There are many factors that can decrease the transfer rates which include bad cables, the number of users accessing the network and distance from the server.

If you find that you are consistently connecting at less than the rate you were promised, you can contact your ISP tech support or leave a review on India Broadband Forum. There are many customer care representatives from various ISPs who are reading through the reviews or complaints of members on this forum. This is a quick way to get your issue resolved. Also, the members of the forum are very active and may help you increase the speed if there is a problem at your end.

You should check internet speed regularly to ensure that you get what you are paying for. If you are still on a dial-up connection, you should switch to the broadband. With more availability of the broadband, there is no reason to accept the slower connection.

these days I'm getting really good Download Speed from my BSNL UL750 plan!! Reaches Up to 2.78 mbps!!

Good post!!! I check my internet speed at ip-details.com and currently my scan results are
Download speed : 0.425Mbps and upload speed: 0.11Mbps

I am using BSNL internet connection which promises me 4mbps of speed unlimited though i hardly get speeds above 2mbps ever and mostly speed averages around 1 - 1.4 mbps .
Now i live in a remote area between Rishikesh and Dehradoon in Uttarakhand. But its an industrial area with many factories set up where i live and most would be using high speed business connections. Do you think the slow speed is just due to my remote location ?
My PC is optimised for internet usage/connection . It has been properly tuned for that function and i don't think it is the reason behind slow speed.
What do you think might be the reason to this ? How it is to be resolved ?
And if there is no problem and its just that my ISP is not giving me the promised speed ; how do you suppose i should take up this matter with the officials concerned?