Test Your Internet Bandwidth Speed Here
To use the Bandwidth Speed Test you'll need to have your browser running the latest version of Macromedia Flash Player.
For an accurate result you may need to
temporarily disable any antivirus software or ad blocker extensions in your web browser as well.
The Speed Test can be used to show your Internet bandwidth connection speed. It will measure the download and upload rate from your location to ours. To better understand the test results, be sure to read the "Understanding Internet Bandwidth" section below.
The Ookla Speed Test applet should appear here on the live page. It requires at least version 8 of Flash.
Please update your client.
Please update your client.
Understanding Internet Bandwidth **
In simplest terms Internet bandwidth is a measure of the transmission speed or throughput of your connection to the Internet. It is done by counting the passage of digital information (1's and 0's) past a point and assigning it a speed value. Common units of measurement can be megabits per second (Mbps) or kilobits per second (kbps). The bandwidth speed test on this page displays your upload and download speeds in both units (Mbps & kbps). Download and upload speeds are typically asymetrical - the download speed being much faster than the upload.
The speed test displays transfer rate measurements as well, shown in kilobytes per second (KB/sec). Bytes are units of measurement typically given to computer data - items such as files, documents, pictures and video. A single byte is equivalent to 8-bits. You'll often see files, documents, etc. with sizes given as kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB) and larger.
So, for example if the speed test shows a download speed of 32.72 Mbps that would be equivalent to 32719000 bits-per-second or 32719 kbps. The transfer rate in kilobytes then becomes 4089.9 KB/sec (32719 divided by 8). So to download a picture 100 MB in size (100,000 KB) would take approximately 24.5 seconds (100,000 divided by 4089.9)
Measuring bandwidth can be tricky, since the slowest bandwidth point between your computer and the
site you're looking
at will determine the effective transmission speed at
any given instant in time.
Three primary factors control how quickly you can view web pages or download information:
- The Internet bandwidth between your computer and the site you're viewing (equipment delays, ISP delays, etc.)
- The round-trip time between your computer and the site you're viewing (better known as "ping" or overall latency)
- The response time of the site you're viewing (for instance how fast the web pages load)
You'll achieve more accurate readings of your Internet bandwidth if you test it at different times of the day. Bandwidth
measurements in the morning can be much better than bandwidth measurements taken at noon and in the evening
when local web traffic will be at its peak.
Don't expect to see the same bandwidth values every time you measure for it because the Internet changes from one moment to the next in ways that are uncertain. Furthermore, you cannot expect to see the full advertised speed of your internet connection because there will always be delays introduced somewhere.
What else can consume bandwidth?
Information is never sent in it's "raw" form over a digital line - there is always overhead attached to it. This is because data is transmitted as packetized or encapsulated segments (referred to as frames). Sending data in packets ensures the integrity of the information as well as holds the additional protocols necessary to route the data over Ethernet, ATM, and other networking infrastructures. Typically sending data in packets can consume 8% to 10% of bandwidth speed under ideal conditions - more so when you take into account various internet delays as discussed above.
** Purchased bandwidth cost is typically based on one endpoint (for example your desktop computer) utilizing the internet transport to the testing server. Note that if your computer is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network), other machines on the LAN could cause a reduction in the measured throughput of the test.