ChatterBank20 mins ago
Broadband Speed
17 Answers
How can I check my broadband speed please?
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It's worth comparing the results from several test sites, as some seem to be more reliable than others.
This is probably the most popular site:
http://
This is probably the most popular site:
http://
Just did mine, thanks for reminding me.
D/L 42.83
U/L 20.12
http://
The 'ping' figure is effectively a measure of the 'quality' of your broadband connection, rather than of its actual speed. It basically tests how long it takes for a signal from a remote server to be sent to your computer and bounced back again; you want it to be as low as possible. Anything under 50ms is excellent. Up to about 150ms is 'acceptable'.
The second figure shown is your download speed. Here's a rough guide to speeds:
Less than 1Mbps > Terrible (but quite a few people in rural areas still get such speeds)
2Mbps > The speed that the Government set, some time ago, as the minimum that domestic internet users ought to receive. (Also about the slowest speed that gives you a chance of watching streaming services, such as Youtube and iPlayer, without major difficulties)
5Mbps > A typical speed for home users with copper cable phone connections who live reasonably close to their phone exchange. (Also what I'd consider to be the real minimum for totally reliable video streaming).
10Mbps > At the upper end of what's achievable using copper cables.
24Mbps > The speed which the Government wants to be available (via fibre optic cables) to 95% of UK premises by next year.
60Mbps > Around the top end of what's currently available in the UK
The last figure shown is your upload speed. That's typically around 10% of your download speed because the capacity of the system is deliberately geared towards maximising downloads (since most people's uploads consist of nothing more than page requests from their web browsers).
Both Talbot's link and my own, above, will give you guideline figures. I'm using a copper-wired connection and I just got 178ms / 11.24Mbps / 2.33 Mbps from Talbot's link (which alarmed me because that's the slowest ping I've ever seen!) but 22ms / 9.78Mbps / 0.96Mbps from my own link (which I regard as more reliable).
Try BOTH a few times and see what results you get.
The second figure shown is your download speed. Here's a rough guide to speeds:
Less than 1Mbps > Terrible (but quite a few people in rural areas still get such speeds)
2Mbps > The speed that the Government set, some time ago, as the minimum that domestic internet users ought to receive. (Also about the slowest speed that gives you a chance of watching streaming services, such as Youtube and iPlayer, without major difficulties)
5Mbps > A typical speed for home users with copper cable phone connections who live reasonably close to their phone exchange. (Also what I'd consider to be the real minimum for totally reliable video streaming).
10Mbps > At the upper end of what's achievable using copper cables.
24Mbps > The speed which the Government wants to be available (via fibre optic cables) to 95% of UK premises by next year.
60Mbps > Around the top end of what's currently available in the UK
The last figure shown is your upload speed. That's typically around 10% of your download speed because the capacity of the system is deliberately geared towards maximising downloads (since most people's uploads consist of nothing more than page requests from their web browsers).
Both Talbot's link and my own, above, will give you guideline figures. I'm using a copper-wired connection and I just got 178ms / 11.24Mbps / 2.33 Mbps from Talbot's link (which alarmed me because that's the slowest ping I've ever seen!) but 22ms / 9.78Mbps / 0.96Mbps from my own link (which I regard as more reliable).
Try BOTH a few times and see what results you get.
To test the speed of your phone/cable line (without having to worry about whether your wireless connection is slowing things down) it's always best to connect your computer to your router with an Ethernet cable, rather than using it wirelessly.
If you get good speeds that way but lousy speeds with a wireless connection:
(a) move the router away from anything metallic. (Don't have it on, or next to, a metal filing cabinet, for example) ;
(b) move the computer & router closer together ;
(c) change the router's channel. (Instructions on request!).
If you get good speeds that way but lousy speeds with a wireless connection:
(a) move the router away from anything metallic. (Don't have it on, or next to, a metal filing cabinet, for example) ;
(b) move the computer & router closer together ;
(c) change the router's channel. (Instructions on request!).
The 'A' in 'ADSL' stands for 'asymmetric'. The system is deliberately to designed to use the available capacity in such a way that priority is given to downloads, rather than to uploads. So, if you're only getting 4.39Mbps as a download speed, there's nothing particularly unusual about an upload speed of 0.35Mbps.
If you're using a copper-wired phone cable then 4.39Mbps is a perfectly reasonable figure if your ISP is providing you with 'ADSL Max'. (That's the standard service that BT provides to its own customers and wholesales to other ISPs). However if you can persuade them to upgrade your service to 'ADSL 2+' (which is what I've got) that will effectively give you two connections into the internet at the exchange, thus roughly doubling your speeds.
If you're getting vastly different speeds at different times of day though, that suggests that your ISP has a pathetic 'contention ratio'. Big businesses and large organisations pay hundreds of pound per month for an internet service that gives them their own dedicated access point into the internet. Everyone else has to share an access point at the exchange, with the ISP's contention ratio indicating the number of users sharing a common access point. Many 'budget' ISPs only offer a contention ratio of 50:1 (meaning that 50 people effectively share their internet service). At peak times of the day, when everyone wants to use the internet at once, that can mean that everyone gets reduced speeds. Some ISPs recognise that certain services (such as video streaming) won't work below given speeds, so they prioritise streaming traffic.
So, if others in your area (using the same ISP as you) all have homes full of people watching Youtube, iPlayer, NetFlix, etc, there will be very little capacity left for your normal web browsing. So that might explain why you're getting lower speeds at certain times of day. (Even so, that's a hell of a drop in speed that you're experiencing, which is quite a bit greater than I'd normally associate with contention ratio problems).
Better ISPs offer better contention ratios, with 1:30 being considered quite good and 1:20 (or better) being exceptional. (My own ISP uses a 1:12 contention ratio but, unsurprisingly, it's not cheap!).
So, as I've indicated, it seems likely that your ISP needs to be chased up about the quality of the service which you're receiving. However there is another possibility and that's interference on the radio channel that your router is using. It could be that one or more of your neighbours is using the same channel. Alternatively, they could be using electrical apparatus (such as a TV, computer, monitor or printer) which is generating interference on the relevant channel.
So I strongly recommend connecting your computer to your router with an Ethernet cable. (That's just for a trial period - I'm not suggesting that you need to permanently rearrange everything in your house!). If the problem persists, you'll then know that you're getting a poor service from your ISP (and that it's time to start hassling them about it!). If the problem goes away, you'll know that it was related to interference on your router's channel, so that you can then seek to change it. (Tell us the make & model if you need instructions).
If you're using a copper-wired phone cable then 4.39Mbps is a perfectly reasonable figure if your ISP is providing you with 'ADSL Max'. (That's the standard service that BT provides to its own customers and wholesales to other ISPs). However if you can persuade them to upgrade your service to 'ADSL 2+' (which is what I've got) that will effectively give you two connections into the internet at the exchange, thus roughly doubling your speeds.
If you're getting vastly different speeds at different times of day though, that suggests that your ISP has a pathetic 'contention ratio'. Big businesses and large organisations pay hundreds of pound per month for an internet service that gives them their own dedicated access point into the internet. Everyone else has to share an access point at the exchange, with the ISP's contention ratio indicating the number of users sharing a common access point. Many 'budget' ISPs only offer a contention ratio of 50:1 (meaning that 50 people effectively share their internet service). At peak times of the day, when everyone wants to use the internet at once, that can mean that everyone gets reduced speeds. Some ISPs recognise that certain services (such as video streaming) won't work below given speeds, so they prioritise streaming traffic.
So, if others in your area (using the same ISP as you) all have homes full of people watching Youtube, iPlayer, NetFlix, etc, there will be very little capacity left for your normal web browsing. So that might explain why you're getting lower speeds at certain times of day. (Even so, that's a hell of a drop in speed that you're experiencing, which is quite a bit greater than I'd normally associate with contention ratio problems).
Better ISPs offer better contention ratios, with 1:30 being considered quite good and 1:20 (or better) being exceptional. (My own ISP uses a 1:12 contention ratio but, unsurprisingly, it's not cheap!).
So, as I've indicated, it seems likely that your ISP needs to be chased up about the quality of the service which you're receiving. However there is another possibility and that's interference on the radio channel that your router is using. It could be that one or more of your neighbours is using the same channel. Alternatively, they could be using electrical apparatus (such as a TV, computer, monitor or printer) which is generating interference on the relevant channel.
So I strongly recommend connecting your computer to your router with an Ethernet cable. (That's just for a trial period - I'm not suggesting that you need to permanently rearrange everything in your house!). If the problem persists, you'll then know that you're getting a poor service from your ISP (and that it's time to start hassling them about it!). If the problem goes away, you'll know that it was related to interference on your router's channel, so that you can then seek to change it. (Tell us the make & model if you need instructions).
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