Be careful if you are going to test your internet speed This is the correct way to know your real internet speed
Testing your internet speed is very common and can help you spot potential problems. It can be useful if you’ve just signed up for a new internet provider, have a recently purchased router, or think there might be a problem with your coverage. But the question I’m going to ask you now is, are you doing your speed test correctly? Here are some details to keep in mind so that your test is accurate and you don’t run into problems.
The goal is to know your connection speed more accurately. If you do not take certain factors into account, it is possible that you will get results that do not correspond to reality. This may lead you to believe that you have a router that is not working well or that the connection you contracted has a problem.
- Run a good speed test.
When you test your connection, you will not only get the download and upload speeds, but you can also see the latency. This helps you understand whether the connection is good or if, on the contrary, it requires some changes to solve the problem. That is why it is important to do it correctly.
- The difference between Wi-Fi and cable connection
The first thing you should know is that there can be a big difference between performing a cable test and a Wi-Fi test. In particular, you may run into problems if you perform this test from a device that is quite far away from your router. This means that the signal will be weak and therefore can give misleading results.
Also take a good look at the hardware capacity. It is important that you have a Gigabit Ethernet cable, if you limit yourself to Fast Ethernet you will not have a good connection, and you should also see that the Wi-Fi adapter has a good maximum speed.
- Use several tests.
It may happen that the test you are using is not giving very accurate results. Maybe it has a problem or it is not measuring correctly. If you see that there is something strange, and the speed or latency that is showing you does not add up, the thing you can do is to use several online tests.
This will help you see if the speed is the same in all of them or if on the contrary, there is a big difference. If you see that it is not suitable, just try several of them and stick to the average speed or the most frequent speed while doing the tests. You can test these sites and see if there is a difference:
- fast
- Devices that do not consume bandwidth
Of course, when you run a speed test, make sure there are no other devices consuming bandwidth. The fewer devices connected to the network, the better. This way you will get a more accurate test and avoid making the mistake of thinking that your connection is not working well.
A clear example of this is if you have another device downloading files from the cloud or installing an update. In this case, they will consume a lot of bandwidth and you will not be able to achieve a good test, with results consistent with what your internet subscription is compatible with.
- Set up your device
You should also prepare your device. For example, do not have software restrictions. If you are connected via VPN, the results will not be real. Additionally, you may have software that generates conflicts, such as antivirus or firewall. So, make sure you have everything ready before running your internet speed test.
Another point to keep in mind is that your device does not have any viruses. Otherwise, these malware may affect your internet connection and you will face problems when running the test. Use a good antivirus to make sure there is no problem.
In short, you should take these details into consideration when you are going to do an internet speed test. This way, you will be able to get more accurate results and avoid problems.