What Speed Test Do You Use?

[BobH]

I just switched ISPs. I'd like to test their speed. What site or software do you use? Is there any special way to read the results?

I tried Ookla and got 48-49 Mbps for download speed. I'm supposed to have gotten 600 Mbps. My guess is that I'm doing something wrong. It's my understanding that download speeds should be much much higher than upload speeds yet Ookla results for me were very close.

[HansV]

Is your computer wired directly to the router, or do you use WiFi? Speeds over WiFi are generally lower than wired connections.

[BobH]

I am indeed wifi connected. I'll plug in a short RJ45 and give it another test.

Thanks, Mr. V!!!

[PaulB]

If you are using a VPN, try testing with it turned off. My speeds are faster with it off. Assuming you have a dual band router, you may also want to speed test both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi bands of your router. I found the 5 GHz band significantly faster in my set-up. YMMV.

Activity over your network is also a factor while running a speed test. Bandwidth is a shared commodity so if someone is streaming IPTV, downloading an HD movie or playing a video game over the internet, that will have an impact on your results.

BTW, I also use Ookla.