How does this Mediacom speedtest work?

The Mediacom speedtest starts by determining your Mediacom connection and then selecting the speedtest server nearest to you.

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

The Mediacom speed test is powered by Ookla and measures the ping (latency), download speed and upload speed from your device and the selected test server.

The time that it takes this packet to arrive and return from the server determines your Mediacom broadband speed.

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How reliable is the Mediacom internet connection speedtest?

This Mediacom speed test is powered by Ookla which one of the most popular broadband connection speed test and provides accurate and consistent testing experience and results.

By automatically choosing a speedtest server closest to you, this will eliminate latency & bottlenecks which may distort performance results.

Ookla has a global network of over ten thousand speedtest servers in over 190 countries.

Source: Ookla’s metrics and methodology

To improve accurateness of your test, it is recommended to run the Mediacom speed tester from a device connected directly to the Mediacom gateway modem or router.

This will help give an accurate reflection on the performance of your Mediacom broadband connection and assist to rule out the Wi-Fi related issues.

If you are unable to connect your device directly into your Mediacom modem or router, ensure that the device that you are performing this test is as near the modem or router as possible. Also run the speed test at least twice and from 2 separate devices to make sure that the issue is not on one of the devices.

What do the speed test results from my Mediacom speedtest mean?

What’s the Ping result mean?

Ping is sometimes called latency which in internet connectivity terms refers to the the time (or delay) it takes for information to travel from one device to another. In this instance, from your device using the Mediacom broadband connection to the nearest server.

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

If the Ookla test server is very far away or the network is busy then it will take longer to receive a reply and therefore the ping value will be high.

This Mediacom speed test will automatically choose a speed test server closest to your location to eliminate latency and bottlenecks which can distort performance metrics.

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

What is a good ping rate?

An average ping rate to a device in the same city should be lower than 20ms. A typical ping rate between cities you would expect to see ping values between 30-60ms, and between continents the figure can be over 200ms.

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

What is Jitter?

All data (e.g. an email, image, video, voice call, etc) is transmitted over the internet as a series of small packets. The packets typically move at a regular rate and are put back together at the destination device.

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

Think of it like running a tap and then increasing or decreasing the flow rate of the running water coming out. When the flow becomes irregular (due to the increasing and decreasing), the Jitter metric goes up – which is not good.

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

Mediacom Download and Upload speed results explained

Read More:What does the Download and Upload speed metric on my Mediacom speedtest actually mean?

Possible causes of Mediacom slow internet connection speed

There are several possible reasons why the Mediacom internet connection is not performing. Whilst we cannot address each and every possible reason, we have listed a number of likely possibilities.

Based on your Mediacom broadband setup, some of the recommendations may not be relevant in your scenario. We hope that they may trigger possible ideas or get you heading in the right direction to resolve the problem.

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

You may need to check how many apps are simultaneously running on your device that could be using your system resources (mainly RAM memory and CPU) and your Mediacom broadband internet bandwidth.

If you’re on a PC, you may use the task manager to see your CPU and memory utilisation.

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

Run the Mediacom speed checker on your personal computer and your smart phone to see how the speed test results compare between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully provide you with some info to work with in terms of whether the issue lies with your device or the Mediacom internet connection.

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

Is your Wifi network connection the problem?

The root cause of the problem could be your Wi-Fi network connection and not the Mediacom broadband internet connection.

You could eliminate the Wifi network network being the cause of the problem by connecting your computer directly into the Mediacom internet modem or router using a network cable and run the Mediacom speed checker again.

If the speed is better when you’re connected by a network cable then this proves that the issue could be with the wireless.

Possible things to investigate are:

• Are the Wireless channels you’re using for your Wifi network network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbors?
• Is your WiFi frequency congested? You should consider switching to 5Ghz?
• Could the Wifi network signal from the modem or router obstructed?
• Does your performance improve when you are standing directly infront of the Mediacom wireless network modem/router?

The amount of devices connected to your internal network

Every device that is connected to your internal network or Wifi is using the same Mediacom internet connection.

If you have several devices on the web, streaming films, streaming music, downloading or uploading files, video conferencing, etc, this will have an impact on the performance of your Mediacom broadband internet connection because the available bandwidth has to be shared between all the devices.

Are you aware of how many devices are connected to your Mediacom internet connection? Don’t forget about all the smart home gadgets, CCTV cameras, door cameras, Google or Alexa hub or other similar devices that may be continually connected.

Who is connected to my wireless network?

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

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

There are two apps that you may use to scan your wireless network to see 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 Wi-Fi network and show you a list of the connected devices.

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

Check out this guide on how to use both applications

Wifi signal strength

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

Situations that can affect the wireless signal are;

• Walls, doors or floors between your device and the Mediacom broadband internet modem or router
• Household appliances such as baby monitors and microwaves
• Overlapping Wi-Fi network signal from your next-door neighbours
• Long distance between your device and your Mediacom internet modem or router.

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

If you find that you have Wi-Fi black spot at your house, a wireless signal extender also know as a Wi-Fi booster is the solution to increase your signal strength across the home.

The wireless network booster simply picks up your existing Wifi 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.

Place the wireless network booster/extender where the wireless network signal from the Mediacom broadband internet router or model is starting to become weak. Approximately where your wireless signal drops down to 2 bars. You could use your phone to determine where this is.

Health of your End device

Viruses and malware can slow down your device and your performance of your device. Viruses or malware could be working quietly and hidden in the background download and uploading information 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 your Mediacom internet modem or router was restarted?

In the same way as other Internet Service Providers, Mediacom’s broadband infrastructure is frequently upgraded to support new features and changes in technology. Similarly, the broadband internet routers or modem at your home will also occasionally need to be updated to support changes in the Mediacom internet infrastructure.

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

You can perform the software upgrade by logging in to the Mediacom modem/router. If you cannot do this or are unsure doing this, get in touch with Mediacom and they are able to either it for you or talk you through it.

The type and age of the device

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

Are you experiencing the same problems or newer devices?

Is the problem external to your home?

This is one of the most likely reasons for Mediacom internet faults. There are miles of cabling involved to present the Mediacom internet connection to your property.

The problem could be with the physical connection that comes into your property and goes into the modem or router in your home.

You should get in touch with Mediacom who should be able to run the appropriate connection tests to check if there’s a fault on the Mediacom broadband internet line.