How does this EarthLink speed test work?

This EarthLink speedtest starts by determining your EarthLink connection and then selects a speedtest server closest near you.

When you click the GO button it’ll send packets of information from the speedtest server to your device.

The EarthLink speedtest is powered by Ookla and calculates the ping (latency), download speed and upload speed from your device and the test server.

The time that it takes this packet to arrive and return from the server establishes your EarthLink internet connection speed.

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How reliable is the EarthLink internet connection speed test?

The EarthLink Speedtest is powered by Ookla which one of thee most popular broadband connection speedtest and provides accurate and consistent testing experience and results.

By automatically choosing a speedtest server closest to your location, this will eliminate latency and bottlenecks which can distort performance metrics.

Ookla has a worldwide network of over 10,000 speedtest servers in more than one hundred and ninety countries.

Source: Guide to Ookla’s methodology

To increase accuracy of your speed test, we would recommend that you run the EarthLink speed checker from a device connected directly to the EarthLink gateway modem or router.

This will help to provide an accurate result on the performance of your EarthLink internet connection and assist to rule out the Wifi related problems.

If you are unable to connect your device directly into your EarthLink modem or router, ensure that the device you are running the test is as physically close the modem or router as possible. Also run the speed test at least twice and from two different devices to make sure that the problem is not on the device.

Exactly what do the speed test results from my EarthLink speed test mean?

What does the Ping metric mean?

Ping is also referred to as latency which in internet connectivity terms means the time (or delay) it takes for information to travel from one device to another. In this case, from your device using the EarthLink broadband connection to the nearest server.

Ping sends data to another computer (in this case, the speedtest server) and measures in milliseconds (ms) how long it takes to receive a response.

If the other device is very far away or the network is congested then it may take more time to receive a reply and therefore the ping value in ms will be high.

This EarthLink speed checker will automatically select a speed test server nearest to your location to eliminate latency and bottlenecks that can skew speed test metrics.

A fast ping (low ms value) means a faster EarthLink internet connection.

What’s a good ping result?

A normal ping rate to a device in the same city should be lower than 20ms. A normal ping rate between cities you’d expect to see ping values between the values of 30-60ms, and between continents that figure can climb to over >200ms.

The speedtest above will show you the location of the Ookla test server so that you can determine whether your ping result is good.

What’s Jitter?

All data (e.g. an email, image, video, voice call, etc) is sent across the internet as a series of packets. These packets typically move at a regular rate and are rebuilt back together at the destination.

Jitter is the rate of delay during the transmission of the packets.

Try to think of it like running a tap and then increasing or decreasing the flow rate of the water coming out. When the flow rate becomes irregular (because of the increasing and decreasing), the Jitter value increases – which is not a good thing.

You do not normally notice jitter because networking devices can smooth it out but you will notice jitter during a video and voice calls because the internet connection will momentarily disconnect or break up.

EarthLink Download and Upload speed results explained

Find out More:What does the Download and Upload speed results on my EarthLink speed test actually mean?

Common causes of EarthLink slow internet connection speed

There are a number of reasons why your EarthLink internet connection is not performing. Whilst we cannot tackle each and every possible reason, we have listed a number of likely possibilities.

Depending on your EarthLink internet setup, some of the suggestions may not be relevant in your case. Hopefully they may trigger possible reasons or get you on the right path to fix the fault.

Is it the EarthLink broadband internet that is slow or could it be your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

You need to check how many apps are currently running on your device that could be utilizing your system resources (mainly RAM memory and CPU) and your EarthLink internet bandwidth.

If you are on a PC, you can use the task manager to see your CPU and RAM utilisation.

On other devices you could try restarting the device which should hopefully shut down all programs that may have been running in the background.

Re-run the EarthLink speedtest on the personal computer and your smart phone to see how the speed test results compare between the 2 devices.

Hopefully the will give you some information to work with in terms of whether the issue lies with your device or the EarthLink internet connection.

• What does the EarthLink download and upload speed actually mean?
• 5 Ways to Speed Up Your EarthLink Internet Speed
• DNS hack to speed up internet browsing on your EarthLink internet connection

Is the Wifi connection the problem?

The cause of the fault may be your Wifi network connection and not the EarthLink broadband internet connection.

You can rule out the wireless network network being the cause of the issue by connecting your computer directly into the EarthLink internet modem or router using an ethernet cable and run the EarthLink speed checker again.

If the speed improves when you’re connected via an ethernet cable then this proves that the problem could be with your wireless network.

Other things to verify are:

• Are the Wireless channels you’re using for your Wi-Fi network network (SSID) overlapping with your neigbours?
• Is the Wireless frequency congested? You should consider switching to 5Ghz?
• Is your Wi-Fi network signal from the modem or router obstructed?
• Does the performance improve when you are stood directly in-front of the EarthLink Wifi network modem/router?

The amount of devices connected to your home network

Every device that is connected to your home network or Wifi is sharing the same EarthLink broadband internet connection.

If you have multiple devices on the internet, streaming videos, streaming music, downloading or uploading files, video conferencing, etc, they may have an impact on the performance on your EarthLink broadband internet connection because the available bandwidth has to be shared between devices.

Are you aware of how many devices are connected to the EarthLink internet connection? Don’t forget about all the smart home gadgets, security cameras, doorbell cameras, Google or Alexa home hub or other similar devices that may be constantly connected.

Who’s connected to my Wifi network?

• Have you checked that your Wi-Fi network password has not been compromised?
• Do you have an unsecured Guest Wifi network?

Nearby Neighbors could be on your Wifii network and using up all your EarthLink internet bandwidth downloading, uploading, streaming or running peer-to-peer file sharing over your EarthLink internet connection. Worse still, they could be carrying out illegal activities.

There are two applications that you can use to scan your Wifi network to check who’s connected:

• MS Windows users may use Wireless network watcher
• MAC users may use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)

Both apps will scan your Wifi network and display a list of the devices connected.

As an alternative, you can log into the EarthLink wireless router to see who is logged in to your Wi-Fi network.

Check out this guide on how to use both Apps

Wifi signal strength

If your device is unable to pick up a strong signal it will affect on the throughput, speed and internet performance regardless of how fast your EarthLink internet connection is.

Situations that may affect your wireless signal are;

• Walls, doors or floors between your device and the EarthLink broadband internet modem or router
• Electrical appliances such as baby monitors or microwaves
• Overlapping wireless network signal from surrounding properties
• Long distance between the device and your EarthLink broadband internet modem or router.

Do I need a wireless network signal booster for my EarthLink broadband internet?

If you discover that you have Wifi blackhole at your property, a wireless signal extender also know as a wireless booster is the solution to increase the signal strength across the home.

The wireless booster simply picks up your existing wireless network signal as it is starting to become weak and then re-transmits the Wifi network signal at a stronger rate to extend its reach.

Locate the wireless booster/extender where the Wifi network signal from the EarthLink internet router or model is beginning to become weak. Roughly where your wireless network signal drops below two bars. You can use your phone to determine where this is.

Health of your Device

Viruses or malware can slow down your device and the performance of your device. Viruses or malware may be working quietly and hidden in the background download and uploading data and thus slowing the performance of the whole internal network down.

When is the last time you ran a full Virus and Malware check on the device?

When’s the last time the EarthLink broadband modem or router was restarted?

Just like other Internet Service Providers, EarthLink’s broadband infrastructure is continually being updated to support new features and changes in technology. Similarly, the broadband internet routers or modem at your property will also periodically require an update to support changes in the EarthLink broadband internet infrastructure.

The update could be in the form of a software update or an upgrade of the physical EarthLink modem/router hardware to a the newest version.

You may be able to carry out the software update by logging in to the EarthLink modem/router. If you cannot do this or are not confident doing it, get in touch with EarthLink and they will be able to either do this for you or talk you through it.

The type and age of the device

The latest computers, smart phones and other internet enabled devices are generally faster than old devices due to advancements in networking technology and protocols.

Are you seeing the same problems or newer devices?

Is the fault external to your property?

This is one of the most likely reasons for EarthLink internet connectivity issues. There are miles of cables involved to deliver the EarthLink broadband internet connection to your home.

The issue could be with the physical cabling that comes into your home and terminates into the modem or router in your property.

You should get in contact with EarthLink who should be able to run the relevant connection checks to see if there’s a problem on the EarthLink broadband internet connection.