A Guide To Broadband Speed Tests

Broadband speed tests are a way of finding out if your internet speeds match the speeds advertised by your internet service provider. The only way of doing this is by sending and receiving packets of data to and from a server that is accessible on the World Wide Web. In order to carry out a broadband speed test, you must either use software designed for that purpose or access one of the many internet websites that can test your connection for you via public internet connected servers around the world. To conduct a broadband speed test, follow these steps:

-Access the test application. You can use either pre-loaded software on your computer or one of the many popular internet websites that can test your broadband connection speed.

-Some applications will then ask you what area in the world you would like to test the data transfer speeds with your connection. Though with most applications, there is a default server attached to the website or software that you are using.

-The first step of the test is to determine your connection latency. This is the length of time it takes for the server you are testing with to receive packets from your computer. The latency, or ping, could range from 20ms for a good connection, up to 1000ms and over for a very bad connection. Generally, countries with well established internet infrastructure will average around 30 to 100ms, and developing countries may range from 50ms up to 350ms. In some areas of the world with poor infrastructure, latency could easily be above 800ms.

-The download speed test will be carried out after the latency test. For the download test, the server you are connecting to will transmit packets of data to your computer, thus determining your download speed.

– The final test will be an upload speed test. This is the opposite of the download test, so your computer will attempt to send data to the server. The average speed at which the packets are received will discover your average upload speeds.

-The highest upload and download speed that your connection reached will then determine your maximum possible connection speed for that particular server.

Be sure to remember that distance plays a big factor in the speed of your connection. The further away you are from a particular server, then the more wires and gateways and bottlenecks there are to reduce your internet speeds.