Internet providers or ISPs love to sell to the four winds the maximum speed that their lines can reach… up to 100 Mbps, up to 200 Mbps, up to… But many times we end up getting home much less than promised. Check the real speed of our line we can use the following speed tests.
nPerf
To get started, you can choose the server you want to test on. There are a lot of locations.
After the test, which is quite fast, you will get the data of download speed, upload speed, latency and jitter (something that very few tests offer).
Finally, you can visit their website and create an account to save the history of your tests, as well as share your results or compare them with the rest of the users.
Of course, the web works perfectly on the mobile, but if we want, we can download the applications they have for iOS , Android and Windows Phone that further expand the functionality by performing tests on specific websites such as Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.
Fast
The test can be run on both a computer and a mobile phone, it loads fast and is very fast. It is, without a doubt, the fastest test. However, the results are somewhat less accurate than its rivals (5-10 “megabytes” error). Still, it’s so fast that it pays off.
Another interesting page to see the average speeds of Netflix is IPS Speed Index. Here we can see which are the best internet providers to use with Netflix.
Speed of me
It works with HTML5, so it works perfectly in the mobile browser, it is not necessary to install any application and it is designed to replicate real browsing conditions. Although its appearance is not particularly careful, it is very reliable and currently has 88 servers in various geographies.
If you register, you can even track your results against previous tests.
Speedtest.net
Speedtest.net is probably the most popular speed test on the internet. So much so that it has applications for Android , iOS and Windows .
It is very reliable and you can use it on your mobile without having to install the app if you give the option to see the “Version for computer” in the browser.
However, what I like the most about Speedtest is the statistics page where you can see the ranking of countries ordered by the average speed of their connections, both mobile and fixed.
DSL Reports
In DSL Reports we can perform a speed test or a ping test. In addition, it performs the tests on servers in different countries automatically, so we can see the ping that our connection has when we communicate with other countries.
It works on both computer and mobile, although on mobile it is not as accurate (it consumes many resources).
TestMy.net
At TestMy.net you can manually select the server on which you want to test the speed. There aren’t too many, one pair per continent, which is usually enough.
Also, at the end of the test, you can see a graph of your speed compared to others: your ISP, your city, your country and the whole world.
Although it works both on computer and mobile, on mobile the results are usually not good.
The Best Mobile Applications
For Android:
- Meteor
- SPEEDCHECK
- NPerf speed test
For iOS:
- Speedcheck
- Network Analyzer Pro (paid)
How do understand the data that the speed tests give me?
- Download speed: indicates the speed at which your connection is capable of downloading files from the internet.
- Upload speed: indicates the speed at which your connection is capable of uploading files to the Internet from your computer.
- Latency or ping: it is the time it takes to receive a data packet. The lower the latency is better.
- Jitter: it is the fluctuation or variability of time it takes for packets to be received. Sort of like latency variability. The smaller it is, the more stable the connection is.
What are the recommended values?
- Most users download much more data from the Internet than upload, so the download speed is usually more limiting than upload speed, although this is not always the case. To watch streaming content in resolutions up to 1080p, it is usually recommended to have a connection of more than 10 Mbps downstream. If we want to enjoy 4K content at 60 fps, it is recommended to have speeds of more than 50 Mbps, to be leftover.
- Where latency affects the most is in online video games. The latency depends a lot on the server we connect to. If we connect to a server that is in our country, the latency is usually less than 30 ms, but if we connect to one that is in another continent, the latency shoots up to more than 150 ms. Below 60 ms it is usually possible to play without problems, although it is preferable that it is 30 ms or less.
- The jitter should always be less than 30 ms, although the lower is better. In stable connections, it can be as low as 1 ms.
How does a speed test work?
When starting a speed test, the first thing to do is to determine your location and locate the closest test server.
With the test server set, the test begins by sending a ping signal to the server, and the server responds. This simple test measures the time in milliseconds it takes for a communication to travel (round trip).
After the ping is complete, the download test begins. The client opens multiple connections to the server and tries to download a small chunk of data. At this point, two things are measured: the download time and the number of network resources that have been needed.
If the code detects that the client, your connection, still has more network resources available, it opens more connections to the server and downloads more data. By having more connections open, the download is accelerated.
It is like a highway with speed limits. By opening more lanes (connections) more cars can circulate (data).
The idea is to open the necessary connections to saturate the client’s connection. For this reason, when we do a speed test we see how the speed increases little by little and not suddenly.
Once it is determined that the client has the correct connections open to testing their Internet connection, the last tests are done in which more additional data packets are downloaded. At that moment the time it took is measured and the maximum download speed is calculated.
Finally, it only remains to perform the reverse process to determine the upload or upload speed.
Accuracy of speed tests
In general, speed tests themselves are straightforward, but there are many variables to consider that can affect their accuracy:
- The factor that most often misrepresents the results is the Wi-Fi connection. For this reason, it is advisable, whenever possible, to do the test with a device connected by ethernet cable to a port on the router. Today, many fiber optic connections are much faster than Wi-Fi connections, so in those cases, the speed will be limited to the speed of the latter.
- It is also important to take into account that the modem or router is able to take advantage of the full speed of the connection. Many times we have an old router that the operator has given us that has a modem that is already working at maximum capacity. Then the operator doubles our speed and the modem can’t give us more speed.
- The choice of the test server can also pose precision issues. The closer the better. This is because, if we have to connect with a distant place, we will have to use many more connections (“roads”) along the way, with which the probability of finding a connection that is not in good condition increases. Ultimately, the maximum speed will be limited by the slowest connection the data is going through.
- Another factor to take into account is that if we are using the connection for demanding tasks (watching Netflix at 4k, downloading games from Steam, sharing via torrent, etc.) when the code tries to open more connections, it will realize that it is already ready. maximum of its capacity and will give us speed results lower than the real ones.
