Click on the “Go” button on the Ookla Speed Checker below to start the internet broadband speed test.
An explanation of the speedtest results and guidance on what internet speed you need can be found at the bottom of this page.
For a more accurate reading, run the Speedtest twice
What’s the Minimum Broadband Speed I need?
| How do you use your Internet Connection? | Minimum Download Speed Required |
|---|---|
Household of 1 - 3 individuals: Web Surfing, Email, Online Shopping, Social Media, Music Streaming, Standard Definition (SD) Video streaming. | Up to 25Mb |
Household of 3 - 4 individuals: High Definition (HD) Video Streaming, Social Media, Video conferencing, Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, Online Gaming, Streaming music. | 30 - 50Mb |
Household of 4 - 6 individuals: Multiple Heavy Users, Smart Home devices, Recording & Surveillance devices, Ultra High Definition (UHD) Video Streaming, Netflix, Gaming, etc | 50 - 100Mb |
Household of 6+ individuals: Multiple heavy users performing all of the above plus frequently downloading/uploading large files, peer-to-peer file sharing and Avid online gamers. | Over 100Mb+ |
How to improve the accuracy of the speed test
Ensure that you do not have any downloads or uploading taking place whilst you run the test. The fewer applications you have running on your PC/device the better. For an even more refined test, connect to your broadband router using an Ethernet cable. That way you will rule out any WiFi issues or interference and it will be an even more accurate reading.
What is the Ping result?
The ping response tells you how fast you get a response back from a web server. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms). This is your connection’s reaction time. The lower the number the better the connection. Anything around 6ms is good.
What is Jitter?
Jitter is a delay during the transfer of data. This is the delay between when a signal is transmitted and when it is received. Jitter can be caused by a number of factors such as network congestion, signal interference and collisions. Jitter is measured in milliseconds. All internet connections experience a level of jitter and it is most visible and problematic for real-time applications such as online gaming, streaming and voice communications (e.g Skype). For optimal performance, jitter must not be over 15 milliseconds maximum or else there will be an impact on performance.
What is the download speed?
Download speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps). This is a measure of how quick your broadband connection pulls data from online internet servers such as displaying web pages, watching videos and downloading files. Your internet download speed result will be higher than upload speed because the majority of internet activity consists more of downloading than uploading (e.g. web servers sending the content of web pages to your computer/device screen). The data is downloaded so that it can be displayed on your internet browser. Difference between download & Upload speed.
What is the Upload speed?
The upload speed is how quick your internet broadband connection sends data up to web servers. When you click a link on a web page your computer ‘uploads’ a small data signal (also known as a packet) to the website telling it that you have clicked on a link. The web page then reacts by displaying the content of the link clicked. Displaying the content of the web page uses your ‘download’ bandwidth to send the data (i.e text, image, videos, etc) of the new page to your screen hence why download bandwidth is (should) always be higher than upload. Other examples of uploading are sending files, emails, video chat or messaging.
Difference between Upload and Download speed
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