Help

  • Why is my internet speed so slow? #

    Check whether you’re streaming or downloading anything that might be using bandwidth during the Speedtest, and then try testing again. If your Speedtest result still seems slow, try rebooting your device or your router, and ensure that your router does not have any Quality of Service (QOS) features turned on.

    If that doesn’t fix the problem, here are a few more steps you can try. If none of that works, contact your ISP or carrier for help. Keep in mind that on higher bandwidth connections (150 Mbps and above), you will need a higher quality router to keep up.

  • Why am I getting different speeds between my computer and my phone/tablet? #

    Speedtest is measuring your real-time network connection, so tests taken within a few minutes of each other might vary a little based on network congestion and available bandwidth. If your Speedtest results are significantly different, make sure that you’re:

    • Testing the same connection. If one device is on Wi-Fi and the other is not, you’re testing the speeds of different connections.
    • Testing to the same server. Speedtest automatically selects a server to test to based on ping, but you can also select a server to test to.

    Also, note that there are large variations in Wi-Fi and cellular radio quality and MIMO stream handling quality between devices. These variations can cause a device to deliver slower test results than another device or computer.

  • What speeds do I need for Netflix, Skype, games, etc…? #

    If you’re asking this question, you’re already sick of the wheel of constant buffering. To get the best possible performance, you want download speeds at least as fast as the following:

    • 2 Mbps
      • Email
      • Social Media
      • Audio Streaming
    • 10 Mbps
      • Uploading Photos and Videos
      • Video Chat
    • 25 Mbps
      • Online Gaming
      • SD Video Streaming
      • HD/4k/VR Streaming

  • What speeds do I need to transfer large files? #

    You can transfer large files at any speed; it’s more a question of how long that transfer will take. Here are a couple of tables to help you out:

    Time to transfer 1GB file

    Transfer speed (Mbps)Theoretical time (Seconds)
    1.55,333
    51,600
    10800
    20400
    50160
    10080
    25032
    50016
    1,0008

    Data transferred per hour

    Transfer speed (Mbps)MegabytesGigabytes
    1.56750.675
    52,2502.25
    104,5004.5
    209,0009
    5022,50022.5
    10045,00045
    250112,500112.5
    500225,000225
    1,000450,000450

  • What’s an acceptable ping (or latency) for online gaming? #

    If you’ve ever noticed that another player always, always seems to have the jump on you, that might be because they have a faster ping. Here’s a rough guideline:

    • Winning: 0-59 ms
    • In the game: 60-129 ms
    • Struggling: 130-199 ms
    • Game over: 200+ ms

  • What does changing the Speedtest server do? #

    Speedtest relies on a network of over 5,500 host servers owned and operated by internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile carriers around the globe. By default, Speedtest chooses a nearby server with a fast ping result, trying to reach the maximum potential of your internet connection.

    For a more complete measure of your speed, test to other servers in various locations. Many sites and streaming services may host their content on servers that are far away from your current location, which could translate to slower speeds and pings from those services.

    Testing to our sponsored servers does not necessarily tell you how fast your connection would be if you were to sign up for that sponsor’s services. All tests run on Speedtest reflect the speed of your connection from your current ISP or carrier.

    Though our host network is always growing, it’s possible that we don’t yet have a host in your area. See details about hosting a Speedtest server.

  • Why aren’t there any servers in my area? #

    Your computer’s firewall or a proxy server might be blocking communication over port 8080, which will limit the number of servers available for testing.

  • What do these terms mean? (Glossary) #

    • Download: How quickly you can pull data from a server on the internet to your device. Most connections are designed to download much faster than they upload, since the majority of online activity, like loading web pages or streaming videos, consists of downloads.

    • Upload: How quickly you send data from your device to the internet. A fast upload speed is helpful when sending large files via email, or in using video-chat to talk to someone else online (since you have to send your video feed to them).

    • Ping: Also called latency, ping is the reaction time of your connection–how quickly your device gets a response after you’ve sent out a request. A fast ping means a more responsive connection, especially in applications where timing is everything (like video games). Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms).

    • Packet loss: Packet loss occurs when a packet of data being sent over the internet is not received or is incomplete. This is described in percentage of packets lost compared to packets sent. Packet loss in most cases is result of poor signal/line quality. Packet loss testing is available in the Speedtest Android, iOS, and Mac apps.

    • Jitter: Also called Packet Delay Variation (PDV), jitter frequency is a measure of the variability in ping over time. Jitter is not usually noticeable when reading text, but when streaming and gaming a high jitter can result in buffering and other interruptions. Technically, this is a measure of the average of the deviation from the mean. Jitter testing is available in the Speedtest Android, iOS, and Mac apps.

    • Mbps: Megabits per second. A megabit is 1 million bits of information. This is a standard measure of internet speed, not to be confused with megabytes (MB) which is a measure of size rather than bandwidth.

    • Kbps: Kilobits per second. A kilobit is 1,000 bits of information. This older measure of internet speed is used only when needed to describe slower connections, and not to be confused with kilobytes (KB) which is a measure of size rather than bandwidth.