How does the Suddenlink speedtest work?

This Suddenlink speed checker begins by identifying your Suddenlink connection and then selecting the speed test server nearest to your area.

When you click on the GO button it will send packets of data from the speed test server to your device.

The Suddenlink speedtest 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 packet to go to and return from the server determines your Suddenlink internet connection speed.

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How accurate is the Suddenlink internet speedtest?

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

By automatically choosing a speedtest server closest to your area, this will eliminate latency & bottlenecks that can skew performance metrics.

Ookla has a global network of over 10,000 speed test servers in over one hundred and ninety countries.

Source: Guide to Ookla’s methodology

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

This will help to provide a more precise result on the performance of the Suddenlink internet connection and help rule out the wireless related issues.

If you are unable to connect your device directly to your Suddenlink modem or router, make sure that the device that 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 issue is not on the device.

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

What does the Ping result 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 Suddenlink internet connection to the closest Ookla test server.

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

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

The Suddenlink speedtest will automatically choose a speed test server nearest to your location which will eliminate latency and bottlenecks which can skew speed test results.

A fast ping (low ms value) means a more responsive Suddenlink 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 typical ping rate between cities you would expect to see ping values between the values of 30-60ms, and between continents the figure can climb to over >200ms.

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

What’s Jitter?

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

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

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

You don’t usually notice jitter because networking devices can smooth it out but you will notice jitter while on a video and voice calls because the internet connection will momentarily stutter or break-up.

Suddenlink Download and Upload speed metrics explained

Find out More:What does the Download and Upload speed results on my Suddenlink speedtest mean?

Common causes of Suddenlink slow internet connection performance

There may be several reasons why your Suddenlink internet connection is not performing. While we are unable tackle every possible reason, we have listed a number of likely causes.

Based on your Suddenlink broadband setup, some of the suggestions may not be applicable in your case. We hope that they may trigger possible ideas or get you heading in the right direction to resolve the fault.

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

You may need to consider how many apps are concurrently running on your device that could be utilising your system resources (mainly RAM memory and CPU) and your Suddenlink broadband internet bandwidth.

If you’re on a laptop, you can use the task manager to check the processor and memory usage.

On any other device you should try restarting the device which should hopefully terminate all apps that may have been running in the background.

Re-run the Suddenlink speed test on the computer and your smart phone to see how the speed test results compare between the two devices.

This should hopefully give you some information to work with in terms of if the issue lies with your device or the Suddenlink internet connection.

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

Is the Wi-Fi network connection the problem?

The cause of the issue may be your Wifi network connection and not the Suddenlink internet connection.

You can eliminate the Wifi network network being the cause of the problem by connecting your computer directly to the Suddenlink internet modem or router using an ethernet cable and run the Suddenlink speed checker again.

If the speed improves when you’re connected using an ethernet cable then this suggests that the issue could be with the Wifi.

Possible things to verify are:

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

Number of devices connected to your home network

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

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

Do you know how many devices are connected to your Suddenlink broadband connection? Do not forget about all the smart home devices, CCTV cameras, door cameras, Alexa/Google home hub or other similar devices that are continually connected.

Who is connected to my Wi-Fi network?

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

Neighbors may be on your Wi-Fii network and eating up all your Suddenlink internet bandwidth downloading, uploading, streaming or running peer-to-peer file sharing over your Suddenlink internet connection. Worse still, they could be carrying out illegal activities.

There are 2 applications that you may use to scan your Wifi network to see who’s connected:

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

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

As an alternative, you can log into your Suddenlink wireless router to find out who is connected to your Wifi network.

Have a look at the tutorial on how to use these 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 irrespective of how fast the Suddenlink internet connection is.

Situations that can affect the wireless signal are;

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

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

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

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

Place the Wi-Fi network booster/extender where your Wi-Fi network signal from the Suddenlink broadband internet router or model is beginning to become weak. Approximately where your Wifi signal drops down to 2 bars. You can use your phone to determine where this is.

Health of your End device

Viruses and malware may slow down your device and the performance of your device. Viruses and 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 was the last time the Suddenlink internet modem or router was rebooted?

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

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

You can perform the software update by logging into the Suddenlink modem/router. If you cannot do this or are unsure doing it, get in touch with Suddenlink and they will be able to either it for you or guide you through it.

The type and age of the device

Newer computers, smart phones and other internet-enabled devices will be generally faster than older devices due to advancements in networking technology and protocols.

Do you experience the same issues or newer devices?

Is the problem external to your home?

This is one of the most likely reasons for Suddenlink internet connectivity problems. There are miles of cables involved to present the Suddenlink broadband internet connection to your home.

The fault may be with the physical connection that comes into your property and terminates into the modem or router in your house.

You should get in touch with Suddenlink who will be able to run the relevant connection tests to check if there is a issue on the Suddenlink internet connection.