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How to measure your internet speed

How to measure your internet speed
Mike Braun

Mike Braun

  • Updated:

After paying an obnoxiously high price for fast internet speeds, you hop on your laptop only to be subjected to painfully slow speeds. What’s going on?

Internet speeds

Measuring the speed of our internet connection is important. Whether we think that there’s a problem or we simply want to check how it is at that precise moment, speed rules. We scoured the internet and found the best tool for measuring your internet speed, and what the data means. Luckily, our internet was running pretty fast.

How to calculate it

internet cables

To find out what speed we have in a specific moment, you must conduct a speed test. There are dozens of options, but Google has the easiest one to find. Google “internet speed test,” and just click the button at the top of this page.

The Google speed test works with Measurement Lab and transfers a data packet of fewer than 40 megabytes.

The process lasts less than 30 seconds and we recommend closing programs that are slowing you down. In addition, the test works better if the connection is via cable instead of Wi-Fi.

If you really want to make your computer run faster, we would recommend MacPaw. Don’t be fooled by the name, MacPaw products are available for both Mac and PC. 

What does each value mean?

The speed test has two results: the download and the upload. The download refers to the speed data moves from the web to our computer.

Internet speed test

The upload, on the other hand, is the opposite process. Our PC is responsible for sending information through the network to the servers that are performing this speed test.

With the combination of both figures, you can get a decent idea of how fast your internet is performing.

What is latency?

Latency measures how quickly you get a response from the server. Low response times are important for real-time apps, like video calls and online gaming, according to Google.

Latency is expressed in milliseconds since the values ​​obtained are very small. However, latency can make a big difference. If you’re into online gaming, poor latency means your game will be very laggy. 

Try a VPN!

If you’re looking for a decent VPN service to try out on your computer, we would recommend Express VPN. By clicking this link, you can get 15 months of Express VPN for the price of 12!

Mike Braun

Mike Braun

Mike Braun is a technology editor for Softonic. He spent his childhood being frustrated by Battletoads, then moved on to being frustrated by that lava level in Aladdin for Sega Genesis. A graduate of Florida State University, he now lives in Portland where he's working on a science fiction novel series and drinking too much coffee.

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