How does this Nextlink speed test work?

This Nextlink speed checker begins by identifying your Nextlink connection and then selects the speedtest server nearest to your area.

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

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

The total that it takes this data to go to and return from the server determines your Nextlink broadband speed.

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How reliable is the Nextlink internet speed test?

The Nextlink speed test is powered by Ookla which one of thee most popular broadband connection speed test and provides accurate and consistent testing experience and results.

By automatically selecting a speedtest server closest to you, this eliminates latency & bottlenecks that can distort performance metrics.

Ookla has a worldwide network of over ten thousand speed test servers in more than one hundred and ninety countries.

Source: Ookla reliable speedtests

To improve accuracy, we would recommend that you run the Nextlink speed tester from a device directly connected into the Nextlink gateway modem or router.

This will help to provide a more precise reflection on the performance of the Nextlink broadband connection and help elimate the Wifi related issues.

If you cannot connect your device directly to the Nextlink modem or router, make sure that the device you are performing this test is as physically close the modem or router as possible. Run the speedtest at least twice and from two separate devices to ensure that the problem is not on the device.

What do the results from my Nextlink speed test mean?

What’s the Ping result mean?

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

Ping sends information to another computer (in this case, the speedtest server) and measures in milliseconds (ms) the duration it takes to receive a reply back.

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

The Nextlink speedtest will automatically select a speed test server nearest to your location to eliminate latency and bottlenecks which can skew performance metrics.

A fast ping (low ms value) means a faster Nextlink broadband connection.

What’s a good ping result?

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

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

What’s Jitter?

All data (for example an email, image, video, voice call, etc) is transmitted across the internet as a series of packets. These packets usually move at a constant rate and are put back together at the destination.

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

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

You do not usually notice jitter as networking devices can smooth it out but you will be aware of jitter whilst on a video and voice calls because the internet connection will momentarily disconnect or break up.

Nextlink Download and Upload speed metrics explained

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

Possible causes of Nextlink slow internet connection speed

There may be a number of reasons why your Nextlink internet connection is not performing as expected. Whilst we are unable tackle each and every possible reason, we have listed a number of likely causes.

Depending on your Nextlink broadband setup, some of the suggestions may not be applicable in your case. Hopefully they may trigger possible ideas or get you heading in the right direction to resolve your problem.

Is it the Nextlink internet that is slow or is it your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

You may need to consider how many apps are currently running on your device that may be using your system resources (mainly RAM memory and CPU) and your Nextlink internet connection bandwidth.

If you’re on a laptop, you may use the task manager to check your CPU and memory utilization.

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

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

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

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

Is the wireless network connection the problem?

The cause of the issue may be the Wifi connection and not the Nextlink internet connection.

You could rule out the Wifi network being the cause of the problem by connecting your computer directly to the Nextlink internet modem or router using an ethernet cable and run the Nextlink speed test again.

If speed improves when you are connected by an ethernet cable then this proves that the fault may be with your wireless.

Possible things to investigate are:

• Are the Wireless channels you are using for your wireless network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is your Wireless frequency congested? Maybe you should consider switching to 5Ghz?
• Is the Wifi network signal from the modem or router obstructed?
• Does your performance get better when you’re stood directly in-front of the Nextlink wireless network modem/router?

The amount of devices connected to your internal network

All devices that are connected to your home network or Wifi is using the same Nextlink internet connection.

If you have multiple devices on the web, streaming movies, streaming music, downloading or uploading files, video conferencing, etc, this will have an impact on the performance of your Nextlink internet connection because the available bandwidth is being shared between devices.

Do you know how many devices are connected to your Nextlink broadband connection? Don’t forget about all the smart home gadgets, security cameras, door cameras, Google or Alexa home hub or other similar devices that may be constantly connected.

Who’s connected to my Wi-Fi network?

• Check that your Wifi network password has not been shared?
• Do you have an unsecured Guest wireless network?

Neighbours may be on your wirelessi network and eating up all the Nextlink internet bandwidth downloading, uploading, streaming or running peer-to-peer file sharing over your Nextlink internet connection. Worse still, they could be carrying out unlawful activities.

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

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

Both applications will scan your wireless network and show you a list of the devices connected.

Alternatively, you can log into the Nextlink wireless router to see who is connected to your Wifi network.

Check out this tutorial on how to use both applications

Wireless signal strength

If your PC, laptop is not picking up a strong signal it will affect on the throughput, speed and internet performance regardless of how fast your Nextlink internet connection is.

Conditions that may affect your wireless signal are;

• Walls, doors or floors between the device and the Nextlink broadband internet modem or router
• Household appliances like baby monitors and microwaves
• Overlapping Wifi network signal from your neighbours
• General distance between your device and the Nextlink internet modem or router.

Do I need a Wifi network signal booster for my Nextlink broadband internet?

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

The Wi-Fi network booster simply picks up the existing wireless signal just as it is becoming weak and then re-transmits the wireless network signal at a stronger rate to extend its reach.

Locate the Wifi booster/extender where the wireless signal from the Nextlink broadband internet router or model is starting to become weak. Approximately where the Wi-Fi network signal drops below two bars. You can use your phone to determine where this is.

Health of your End device

Viruses and malware may slow your device and your performance of your device. Viruses and malware may be working silently and concealed 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 your device?

When was the last time your Nextlink internet modem or router was restarted?

In the same way as other Internet Service Providers, Nextlink’s broadband infrastructure is continually upgraded to support new features and changes in technology. Similarly, the internet routers or modem at your property will also occasionally require an update to support changes in the Nextlink internet infrastructure.

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

You may be able to perform the software update by logging in to the Nextlink modem/router. If you can’t do this or are unsure doing it, get in touch with Nextlink and they are able to either do this for you or talk you through it.

The type and age of the device

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

Do you experience the same problems or newer devices?

Is the problem external to your house?

This is probably the most likely reasons for Nextlink internet faults. There are miles of cables involved to deliver the Nextlink internet connection to your property.

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

You should get in contact with Nextlink who will be able to conduct the appropriate connection tests to check if there’s a problem on the Nextlink broadband internet line.