How does this Verizon speed test work?

This Verizon speed checker starts by determining your Verizon connection and then selecting the speedtest server closest near you.

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

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

The time that it takes this data to arrive and return from the server determines your Verizon internet speed.

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How reliable is the Verizon internet speedtest?

This Verizon speed checker 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 selecting a speedtest server closest to your location, this eliminates latency and bottlenecks which can distort performance metrics.

Ookla has a global network of over ten thousand speedtest servers in over one hundred and ninety countries.

Source: How are Ookla speed test reliable

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

This will help give a more precise result on the performance of the Verizon broadband connection and help rule out the wireless related issues.

If you cannot connect your device directly into the Verizon modem or router, ensure that the device that you are running this test is as near the modem or router as possible. Run the speedtest at least twice and from 2 separate devices to make sure that the fault is not on one of the devices.

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

What does the Ping result mean?

Ping is sometimes called latency which in internet connectivity terms refers to the the time (or delay) it takes for data to traverse from one device to another. In this case, from your device using the Verizon broadband connection to the closest Ookla test server.

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

If the server is very far away or the network is busy it will take more time to receive a response and the ping value will be high.

This Verizon speed test will automatically select a speedtest server nearest to your location to eliminate latency and bottlenecks that can skew performance results.

A quick ping (low ms value) means a faster Verizon broadband connection.

What’s a good ping result?

A normal ping rate to a device across 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 the figure can climb to over >200ms.

The speed test above will display the location of the test server so that you can determine if your ping result is good or not.

What is Jitter?

All data (for example an email, image, video, voice call, etc) is transmitted over the internet as a series of small packets. These packets generally move at a regular rate and are stitched 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 becomes irregular (due to the increasing and decreasing), the Jitter metric goes up – which is not good.

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

Verizon Download and Upload speed metrics explained

Find out More:What does the Download and Upload speed metric on my Verizon speedtest actually mean?

Likely causes of Verizon slow internet connection performance

There may be a number of reasons why your Verizon internet connection is not performing as expected. While we are unable address every possible cause, we have listed a number of common possibilities.

Based on your Verizon internet setup, some of the suggestions may not be relevant in your case. We hope that they may trigger food for thought or get you heading in the right direction to resolve your problem.

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

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

If you are on a PC, you may use the task manager to see the processor and RAM utilisation.

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

Run the Verizon speedtest on the computer and your phone to see how the speed test 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 Verizon broadband internet connection.

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

Is your Wi-Fi network connection the problem?

The cause of the issue may be your wireless connection and not the Verizon broadband internet connection.

You could rule out the Wifi network network being the cause of the issue by connecting your PC directly into the Verizon internet modem or router using an ethernet cable and run the Verizon speedtest again.

If the speed is better when you are connected by a cable then this suggests that the problem may be with your Wi-Fi network.

Possible things to check are:

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

The amount of devices connected to your home network

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

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

Are you aware of how many devices are connected to your Verizon internet connection? Do not forget about all the smart home gadgets, security cameras, door cameras, Alexa/Google hub or other similar devices that are constantly connected.

Who’s connected to my Wifi network?

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

Neighbors could be on your wirelessi network and using up all the Verizon internet bandwidth downloading, uploading, streaming or running peer-to-peer file sharing over your Verizon internet connection. Worse than that, they could be carrying out unlawful activities.

There are two apps that you can use to scan your wireless network to check who is connected:

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

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

Alternatively, you can log into the Verizon wireless router to see who is logged in to your Wi-Fi network.

Have a look at this tutorial on how to use these applications

Wireless 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 Verizon internet connection is.

Conditions that can affect your wireless signal are;

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

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

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

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

Place the wireless booster/extender where your Wifi network signal from the Verizon broadband internet router or model is becoming weak. Roughly where your wireless signal drops down to two bars. You can use your phone to determine where this is.

Health of your Device

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

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

When was the last time your Verizon internet modem or router was rebooted?

Just like other Internet Service Providers, Verizon’s broadband infrastructure is continually refreshed to support new features and changes in technology. Equally, the broadband internet routers or modem at your property will also periodically need an update to support changes in the Verizon broadband internet infrastructure.

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

You can carry out the software upgrade by logging in to the Verizon modem/router. If you cannot do this or are not confident doing it, get in contact with Verizon and they will be able to either do this for you or guide you through it.

The type and age of the device

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

Are you experiencing the same issues or newer devices?

Is the problem external to your property?

This is probably the most likely reasons for Verizon internet connectivity problems. There are miles of cabling involved to bring the Verizon 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 home.

You should get in touch with Verizon who should be able to conduct the appropriate connection tests to check if there is a issue on the Verizon broadband internet line.