Checking the speed of the Internet: an overview of the methods. How to find out the speed of your Internet connection How to find out how many Mbits my Internet is
When purchasing the services of a provider, we hope that the speed of the Internet connection will be exactly as specified in the contract. Well, or almost like that. However, in practice, it extremely rarely corresponds to the numbers on paper, because it is influenced by a lot of factors - from network congestion to the state of the client device - a computer, smartphone, tablet or Smart TV. In addition, in the contract the provider indicates the maximum, not the actual connection speed. However, if the latter is constantly and much lower than the first, the quality of the service can be questioned.
To control the work of the provider and simply be aware of the real Internet speed, you need to know how to determine it. Fortunately, there is a large amount of special software and free web services for this, which we will get acquainted with today. But let's start with what capabilities the Windows operating system has in this regard. We will also find out how to get the most reliable result.
Built-in Windows capabilities
The easiest and fastest way to view your current Internet connection speed is in the task manager on the “Performance” tab. If the network is lightly loaded, the graph in the “Bandwidth” window will be low; if it is strong, the window will be filled almost completely, and the speed shown in the upper right corner will be closer to what is specified in the contract with the provider. This should be normal. If, when the network is heavily loaded, the speed remains low, it means that there is an obstacle somewhere. But where is it - yours or his?
To find out the maximum achievable (in theory) Internet speed within a specific connection type, open the “Network Connections” folder and select the “Status” section in the context menu of your network.
The necessary information is contained on the “General” tab.
The actual speed is usually 2-3 times lower than the maximum. By the way, when transmitting data via Wi-Fi and cable, it can differ significantly.
Let's say you have determined that the Internet on your computer should be faster. The next task is to find out who is to blame for the slowdown - your devices or the provider.
How to check your Internet connection speed manually
To get the most reliable result, you need to check the Internet speed on a computer to which the provider’s network cable is connected. If it is not possible to insert the cable directly into the computer, for example, if it only supports wireless connections or binds the connection to the router’s MAC address, disconnect all other devices from the Internet during the test.
- Prepare a 1 GB file and select any cloud web service to which you will upload it, for example, Yandex Drive or Google Drive. It is important that the service does not limit the speed of uploading and downloading content.
- Close all programs that use the network and the Internet to relieve the channel as much as possible.
- Disable VPN clients and proxy servers if they are not required to establish access to the global network.
- Record the time and start uploading the file to the cloud server. Note the download completion time.
- Under time control, download the file back to your PC.
Knowing the file size in megabytes and the number of seconds spent on its transfer, you can easily calculate the Internet speed in Mbps. If it is close to that specified in the contract, it means that the provider will fulfill its obligations to you, and the reason for the slowdown is in your devices. If not, then it's the other way around.
For those of you who don't want to do the math, you can test your Internet speeds using the methods discussed below. For reliability, we recommend performing the check several times within an hour.
Web services
Testing your Internet speed using the 2ip service is as easy as shelling pears: click the “Test” button and wait 1-2 minutes.
In addition to ping indicators, as well as incoming and outgoing speeds, 2ip allows you to find out:
- Average Internet speeds in your city.
- Average speed indicators among subscribers of your provider.
- The best tests for all providers for the current day.
- The total number of measurements among all providers.
This is a kind of benchmark. Below on the page is a table of the last ten measurements.
By the way, as of the date of the audit, none of the largest leaders in the provider services market in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan - Rostelecom, ByFly, Ukrtelecom, Kazakhtelecom, MTS, Beeline, Akado, Yota, Dom.ru, Citylink and TTK record holder. The first places were taken by small and not very well-known companies.
And further. If you have something to tell other users about the services of your Internet provider, you can leave a review about it on the site.
- another simple free service of similar purpose. To start the scan, just click the “Start” button. The result will appear on the screen in a couple of minutes.
By the way, if you register for Speedtest (this is also free), you will be able to save the test results in your account and share links to them with other users.
In addition to the web service, accessible online through a browser from any device, SpeedTest exists as an application for desktop (Windows, Mac OS X) and mobile (iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Amazon) platforms.
Yandex.Internetometer
The Yandex.Internetometer service determines the speed of incoming and outgoing connections without ping. However, in addition to this, it shows detailed information about your Internet connection, operating system and the browser in which you ran the scan. It’s just a pity that there are no benchmarks or opportunities to save test results here.
To start the test, click the “Measure” button. The result, like its competitors, appears on the screen in 1-2 minutes.
The set of functions is very similar to the service of the same name in the “ru” domain and differs from it only in the design style. In addition to the Internet speed testing button, this resource contains a rating of Ukrainian providers and indicators of the last 20 checks.
For users with Russian IPs, the 2ip.ua website opens in Russian, for residents of Ukraine - in Ukrainian.
To start testing, click the “Test” button. The result will be displayed after the same time as the others.
Banki.ru
Banki.ru uses 2 tests provided by the telecommunications company Wellink. One of them is a traditional test of response time (ping), incoming and outgoing Internet speeds, the second is a test of the quality of online video viewing. Based on the testing results, the service displays a brief description of your connection: how quickly a new movie series will open, how long it will take to download an album and upload a photo to a social network, what video quality is optimal for your connection, whether the picture will freeze when watching videos through a browser.
Using the service on Banki.ru is no different from others.
Free programs to check Internet speed on PC and mobile devices
If you use the above services several times in a row, you will notice that the Internet throughput indicators will always be different. This is normal, but not entirely informative, especially when the connection is intermittent. Applications, unlike web services, allow you to monitor network traffic continuously. And this is their main advantage.
NetTraffic for Windows
The utility, available in installation and portable versions, is a small window that constantly hangs in the corner of the screen, where the connection speed is displayed in real time.
In addition to current data, it collects traffic statistics for time periods specified by the user. Can monitor multiple network interfaces simultaneously.
TMeter for Windows
is a more advanced Internet traffic monitoring tool than the previous utility, but also very easy to understand and use. In addition to speed parameters, it collects statistics about the IP addresses of visited resources, ports, protocols, etc.
Tmeter has a built-in firewall and traffic distributor (traffic shaper) between local network devices. These functions become available if the program is running on a computer that is used as a gateway to connect other devices to the Internet.
The utility is designed to monitor the entire flow of information passing through the network adapter, including the data transfer speed. Initially it is in English, but a localizer has been released for it (available on the download page), which you just need to copy to the folder with the executable file or program archive.
NetworkTrafficView works without installation and does not require any special settings. Connection data is displayed in table form in the main and only window of the utility.
Internet speed test for Android
The Internet Speed Test mobile application is not only stylishly designed, but also very functional. In addition to collecting the main speed characteristics of Wi-Fi and 2/3G networks, it displays the delay time of sending packets, allows you to select a test server (its availability and distance affect the performance), accumulates statistics and publishes test results on social networks.
The application is also convenient because it supports even very old versions of Android.
Meteor - speed test for Android
Meteor - speed test is one of the few mobile applications that received the highest user rating - 4.8 points. It not only shows the real speed of the Internet connection, but also determines how fast popular network programs will work with the current connection quality. Among such programs are social network clients, browsers, Gmail, YouTube, Skype, WhatsApp, Wase navigator, Google Maps, Uber taxi service, etc. A total of 16 different applications.
Other advantages of Meteor are that it supports all types of network connections, including 4G, and does not contain advertising.
It is worth noting that, as a rule, the Internet speed is somewhat lower than what is declared by the provider and there are a number of reasons for this, which you can read about in the article:
Perhaps one of the most popular ways to check connection speed is the speedtest.net service. When you visit this site, on the page you will see a simple window with a button “Start testing” or “Begin test” (or Go, several versions of this service have been running lately).
By clicking this button, you will be able to observe the process of analyzing the speed of sending and downloading data (It is worth noting that providers, when indicating the speed according to the tariff, as a rule, mean the speed of downloading data from the Internet or Download speed - i.e. the speed with which you can download something from the Internet. The sending speed may vary less and in most cases this is not a problem).
In addition, before proceeding directly to the speed test on speedtest.net, you can select the server (Change Server item) that will be used - as a rule, if you select a server that is closer to you or served by the same provider as your you, the result is higher speed, sometimes even higher than stated, which is not entirely correct (it may be that the server is accessed within the provider’s local network, and therefore the result is higher: try choosing another server, maybe in a different region, to get more realistic data).
The Windows 10 app store also contains the Speedtest application for checking Internet speed, i.e. Instead of using an online service, you can use it (which, among other things, keeps a history of your checks).
Services 2ip.ru
On the website 2ip.ru you can find many different services related to the Internet in one way or another. Including the ability to find out its speed. To do this, on the main page of the site, in the “Tests” tab, select “Internet connection speed”, specify the units of measurement - the default is Kbit/sec, but, in most cases, it is more convenient to use the value Mbit/sec, because Internet providers indicate speed in megabits per second. Click “test” and wait for the results.
Speed test using torrent
Another way to more or less reliably find out what the maximum possible speed for downloading files from the Internet is is to use a torrent. You can read what a torrent is and how to use it.
So, in order to find out the download speed, find on the torrent tracker any file that has a significant number of distributors (1000 or more is best) and not too many leechers (downloaders). Set it to download. At the same time, do not forget to disable the downloading of all other files in your torrent client. Wait until the speed rises to its maximum threshold, which will not happen immediately, but after 2-5 minutes. This is the approximate speed at which you can download something from the Internet. Usually it turns out to be close to the speed declared by the provider.
It is important to note here: in torrent clients, the speed is displayed in kilobytes and megabytes per second, and not in megabits and kilobits. Those. if the torrent client shows 1 MB/sec, then the download speed in megabits is 8 Mb/sec.
There are also many other services for checking the speed of the Internet connection (for example, fast.com), but I think most users will be fine with those listed in this article.
Stable and fast Internet is something without which it is difficult to imagine a modern computer.
The concept of high Internet speed is different for each user, for some it is enough to connect with the transfer and download of data at 20 Mbps, others need at least 500 Mbps.
Checking the speed of the Internet to which your computer is connected is very simple. There are several services that allow you to do this, and we will consider their work as part of this issue.
You can watch a video on how to check the Internet speed on a computer. Or read the article below.
How to check Internet speed using the Yandex service?
Yandex has many different web tools aimed at both developers and ordinary users.
One of the services that Yandex offers to use for free is "Internetometer". It allows you to determine not only the Internet speed for incoming and outgoing connections, but also some other network parameters.
Using the Yandex Internetometer is easy and convenient:
- Go to the service website: https://yandex.ru/internet/;
- Immediately after visiting the site, you will notice that the service has identified the browser from which you logged in, as well as the IP, monitor resolution and region. Below there is detailed technical information about cookies, browser, operating system and other characteristics of the connection and device from which you entered the site;
- To start measuring Internet speed, you need to press the button "Measure";
- The process of measuring the Internet speed used by the computer will begin. It will take a couple of minutes to measure, after which you will see the result.
By the way! If you want to increase your Internet speed to the maximum, then I recommend that you study the following issues:
How to check Internet speed using the SpeedTest service?
Perhaps the most famous service for measuring Internet speed is Speedtest .
Unlike the Yandex service, it does not provide additional technical information, and its main task is to quickly check the speed of your Internet connection.
Note: Speedtest is not only a website on the Internet, but also an application for mobile devices. If you need to measure your Internet speed quite often, it makes sense to download the program to your smartphone or tablet.
To measure Internet speed using the Speedtest service, you need to click on the button on the site page "Begin". You will also find a link to this service in the description of this video.
Unlike the Yandex service, Speedtest, in the process of measuring Internet speed data, demonstrates beautiful graphics reminiscent of the operation of a speedometer.
After measuring the network speed, the user will learn not only the number of Mbits per second for downloading and uploading data, but also ping data when connecting to servers in a region that can be selected before starting the test.
Note: If you do not select a server for testing yourself before starting an Internet speed test, the Speedtest service will automatically check the connection speed to the server closest in geographic location or to the server of your Internet provider. The results will vary depending on your connection to different servers.
Checking Internet speed using the 2ip service
Another famous Russian service to check the Internet speed - this is 2IP .
Unlike its competitors, this service has significantly more functions, but many of them may be of interest only to site administrators.
Like the Speedtest service, 2IP can check the connection when connecting to servers in different regions. You can select servers on the corresponding map presented on the Internet speed measuring tool page.
It is worth noting that most of the servers to which you can connect via 2IP are located on the territory of the Russian Federation.
To measure Internet speed, click on the button "Test", after which a visualization of the speedometer will appear, where you can monitor the measurement results.
note, that under the measurement results of the 2IP service it is possible to view various statistical data.
For example, you can find out the average Internet speed in the region where you are, look at the average Internet speed from your provider (based on other measurements), find out the maximum Internet speed measured over the last 24 hours, and so on.
By the way, there is also a good one for measuring Internet speed. If you want, you can use it too.
Well, that's all for today! Please write in the comments whether you were able to measure the speed of your Internet using various services! And which of the services did you like best?
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Many modern Internet service providers claim to provide maximum data transfer speeds. How true is this statement? The speed of data transfer is influenced by various factors: day of the week, time, load of the communication channel, the state of the communication lines, the technical condition of the servers used, even the weather. Customers who purchase a certain package of services want to be sure that they will be provided with Internet at the declared speed for their money. In this article, we will tell you how to find out your connection speed, as well as which services are best to use for this purpose.
How can you check your Internet speed?
To check Internet speed, we will use special services available on the network. This method is the most accurate, accessible and convenient. In this case, speed is measured from the computer to the server on which the service runs. The indicators will differ from each other in all cases.We will measure the incoming speed, as well as the outgoing speed (the speed at which we transfer information, for example, through a torrent).
These indicators usually differ from each other; the outgoing speed is usually less than the incoming one. The service that shows the highest incoming speed will be considered the best.
Before starting testing, you must complete the following steps:
- Close all applications except the browser (especially those programs that can download anything).
- Wait for the downloads to finish or pause them in the browser.
- Make sure that the operating system or other applications are not updated during the scan.
- To prevent the Windows Firewall from affecting the results, it is also advisable to disable it.
Services through which you can check your speed
There are several services on the network through which you can check the data transfer speed:, etc. You can test several of them and choose the most suitable one. Below we will look at the most popular of these services.Internet meter from Yandex
To test the speed of your connection using this online service, you must. Once you do this, you will see a large yellow button “ Change". Here you can see your IP address. For Yandex to start testing, you must click on the button and wait a bit. The duration of testing is determined by the speed itself. If the speed is too slow or there are communication interruptions, the test may freeze or fail.
Yandex, testing speed, downloads and uploads a test file several times, after which it calculates the average value. At the same time, it cuts off strong dips, which ensures the most accurate determination of the connection speed. However, despite this, after repeated checks we received different results, the error of which was 10-20 percent.
In principle, this is normal, since speed is not a constant indicator, it jumps all the time. Yandex claims that this test accurately determines speed, but many factors influence the result.
Service 2ip.ru
quite popular. With its help, you can not only determine the speed of your Internet connection, but also find out the IP address of your computer. This service will provide complete information on your IP address, check any of your files for viruses, and also tell you a lot of interesting information about any site on the Internet (site engine, IP, distance to the site, the presence of viruses on it, its accessibility, etc.). d.).To check the speed, click on the “Tests” tab on the inscription “Internet connection speed”.
After that, indicate the speed declared by your provider so that the service can compare it with the real speed, then click the big button “ Test". After running several repeated checks, you will have to enter a simple captcha.
This service provided almost 3 times higher outgoing connection speeds and slightly lower incoming speeds. A BB code is proposed to insert a picture containing the test results into the forum. To insert the code on the site, you will need to edit it yourself.
The changes in speed after each retest were insignificant - within ten percent.
Speedtest.net
This is a very convenient, serious service that allows you to determine the speed of your Internet connection with maximum accuracy. Although this site is located in America, the test uses a server located near the user, so this server is suitable for everyone, regardless of their location.This “trick” allows you to get the best results, but it also has its negative sides. The user has the opportunity to compare the obtained figures with the data declared by the provider, but the actual Internet speed is lower precisely because the remaining servers are scattered throughout the planet. Therefore, it is advisable to use several services simultaneously to check the speed.
All this works on flash animation, so not everyone can make money. To start testing, you should then press the " Start checking».
After the testing process is completed, the user can see a link to the picture, which he can insert into the website himself, as well as a BB code intended for forums.
As you can see, this test finally showed high incoming speed and normal outgoing speed, however, we were able to achieve similar results only on the fifth attempt, since the results vary significantly. But at similar speeds, close to theoretical ones, this situation is normal.
The service periodically hosts SpeedWave tournaments, during which you can compete with other participants or just find out what speeds generally exist.
After registering on the portal, you will have access to the history of all your checks, thanks to which you can compare various indicators. You will be able to run the test periodically and then check the year's history in a graphical view. This will clearly demonstrate to you whether your provider is developing towards increasing speed or whether it is time to change it.
You can also visit a foreign service that tests not the speed, but the quality of communication. This is also a necessary thing. The service closest to you is selected, after which the level of communication quality from this service to you is tested. We got the following results:
“Grade B” - it is considered that this is a good quality of communication. Packet Loss (that is, packet loss), if equal to zero, is a very good indicator.
MainSpy.ru
, click the “Run Test” button.
It does not average the obtained values. If you wish, you can insert a picture into a forum or website. Each repeated test showed completely unpredictable results, and the largest number of real indicators were never reached.
Try it, maybe your results will be better, but we won’t use this service anymore.
Speed.yoip.ru
This server only tests incoming speed. There is no point in testing high-speed Internet using this service; it can only be useful to people who use not very fast Internet or a modem. There are 5 packages used to run the test.
The results display the average results for different interfaces for comparison, as well as your result for comparison.
Summing up
Not a single service was able to determine the maximum possible indicators characteristic of our Internet connection. Therefore, to test the maximum incoming speed, you can use the program. To do this, find a popular distribution that has 20 or more seeders, download it and watch the speed.When testing, remember that the slow speed of your computer can also be the reason for the low speed.
Internet providers boast about their fastest data transfer speeds, but what is the reality? The speed depends on many factors: time and day of the week, communication channel congestion, technical condition of servers, condition of communication lines and even the weather. When purchasing a certain package of services, you want to be sure that the money is not being paid in vain, and that the Internet speed corresponds to the advertised speed.
We will check using special services on the network, because this is the most convenient, accessible and accurate way to determine Internet speed. Speed is measured from the computer to the server on which the service runs. Accordingly, indicators from different services will differ.
Measured:
- incoming speed, i.e. the one from which we download from the Internet
- outgoing – speed of information transfer, i.e. when data is transferred from our computer, for example when you send an email or file, or a torrent is opened.
As a rule, these two indicators differ, for me - up to three times, depending on what you test. The outgoing speed is usually lower because it is used less often.
Data transfer speed is measured in kilobits or megabits. One byte contains 8 bits plus a couple of service bits. This means that with a result of 80 Mbps, the actual speed is 8 MB per second. Each speed test consumes about 10-30 megabytes of traffic!
Ookla SpeedTest
Today's best service, designed for testing Internet connection throughput. Accurately determines the maximum possible speed for your computer at the moment.
To start the test, click the big “START” button. The service will determine the optimal server and begin transmitting data. As testing progresses, the current speed is displayed. It usually grows as the process progresses.
Please note what indicators are determined:
Very approximate good values for wired Internet:
- “download” - incoming speed: 30-70 Mbit/s
- “download” - outgoing speed: 10-30 Mbit/s
- "PING" : 3-30 ms
For mobile 3G/4G Internet:
- incoming: 5-10 Mbit/s
- outgoing: 1-2 Mbit/s
- PING: 15-50 ms
PING is an important indicator; it is the time it takes to establish a connection. The closer the server, the lower the value and the better.
SpeedTest has servers all over the globe, so first your location and the closest server are determined, then the test data is transmitted. The measured speed is the maximum possible for your computer at a given time. This is achieved due to the fact that the server for data exchange is located in your city or region, and the closer the server is to the computer, the higher the speed. But you can choose any server!
Thus, it turns out that we will get a speed that is not achievable for most sites on the Internet, well, because their servers are located further away. Thanks to this “trick” I got the best results. The obtained figures can be compared with those declared by the provider, but the actual speed on the Internet is still lower.
Speedtest has applications for smartphones:
After testing, a permanent link to the results and to a picture is provided, which you can show off on social networks :)
If you check the speed several times in a row, you will notice that it is different each time. It depends on the load of the provider and server. Therefore, I recommend running the test several times and calculating the average speed, this will be more correct.
After registration, the history of all checks becomes available and the ability to compare them, which is also important. You can run a test from time to time and then look at the history for the year, and in a graphical representation. It will immediately become clear where your provider is developing (or, on the contrary, it will turn out that it’s time to change it).
SpeedTest app for Windows 10
Using the application, you can find out what the quality of your Internet connection is.
Communication quality differs from speed. For example, a file may be downloading at breakneck speed and suddenly the download is interrupted and you have to start over. After finishing the test in the application, you need to click on the results:
To determine the quality of communication, the following indicators are used:
- Ripple (jitter) - phase pulsation, the smaller the better. Up to 5 ms.
- Packet loss - what percentage of data was lost and had to be resent. Should be 0%
Internet meter from Yandex
Unlike Speedtest, the service from Yandex measures the data transfer speed between your laptop and its servers, only its own. It turns out that the speed here should be lower than in the speed test, but it is closer to reality for working on the RUNet.
Click the “Measure” button and wait a while while Yandex tests. The time will depend on the speed itself, and if it is too low, or there are communication interruptions, the test may freeze or fail.
Yandex tests as follows: downloads and uploads a test file several times, and then calculates the average value. For better accuracy, strong dips are cut off. However, after each re-check I received different results with an error of 10-20%, which in principle is quite normal, because... Speed is not a constant indicator and fluctuates all the time. This was during the day, and then I tested early in the morning and the result jumped with a difference of up to 50%.
Yandex Internet Meter also shows the IP address and detailed technical information about the browser.
Service 2ip.ru
I have been using this wonderful service for a long time. The 2ip.ru service will also show you, give complete information at this address, check any of your files for viruses, tell you a lot of interesting things about any site on the Internet (IP, site engine, presence of viruses, distance to the site, its accessibility, etc.).
2ip determines your provider, the optimal server and checks the speed between you and this server, just like SpeedTest.Net, but 2ip has fewer servers, so the ping will be higher. But there are statistics on the average speed in your city and your provider. With each repeated test, my speed changed slightly - within 10%.
Another service that runs on HTML5, without Flash or Java, just like the previous services.
OpenSpeedTest will help you measure bandwidth between Western servers. You will notice that the pings have become even higher.
Works stably, averages the obtained values, fairly predictable and repeatable results.
The service is not of particular interest for testing high-speed Internet, but it may be of interest to those who use a modem or other not the fastest Internet. The results show average results for various network interfaces (modem, coaxial cable, Ethernet, Wi-Fi) and yours for comparison.
Here the measurement accuracy is expressed as a percentage. It is calculated based on whether the speed during data transfer was stable or fluctuated greatly. The more stable, the higher the accuracy.
I will separately note the testing method using . To do this, take a torrent with a large number of seeds and look at the real data reception speed.
For everyone, before testing it is advisable to:
- Close all programs except the browser (especially those that can download something) and leave only one tab of the speed testing service active
- Wait until the end or stop all downloads in your browser!
- Check if any program is using the network. To do this, open the “Task Manager” using the “Ctrl+Shift+Esc” buttons, go to the “Performance” tab and click on the network adapter. If there are several of them, then there will be only one with data:
See how much data was sent and transmitted in the last minute. If no program uses the network, then there should be a few to tens, a maximum of a hundred kbit/s. Otherwise, reboot and check again.
Let's sum it up
Finally, I want to say that not a single service was able to determine the maximum possible indicators for my Internet connection. I say this because when downloading from torrents, my speed reaches 10 MB/s. This happens by downloading from different sources scattered around the world at the same time (this is how torrents work). And the services work with only one server, albeit a powerful one. Therefore, I can recommend the uTorrent program as a tester, but it works on active distributions where there are dozens of seeders.
Do not forget that low speed may be due to, or due to a weak Wi-Fi adapter. Please write your results in the comments and don’t forget to post the article on social networks.
Video review:
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