Understanding internet speed and what the numbers mean is important when using today’s technology.
Learning to test your internet speed can also offer good insight into how well your devices will work.
How is internet speed measured?
Internet speed is measured in bits per second, generally Mbps and Gbps. What this means is that the data being sent and received from the internet to your device travels at these speeds. This data is web pages, emails, and everything you upload or download.
It is important to recognize the difference between Megabits and Megabytes, and the difference between Mbps vs Mb/s.
One megabit equals 0.125 of a megabyte, or in simpler terms 8 bits equals 1 byte. This means 8 megaBITS per second will be equivalent to 1 Megabyte. a 100 Mbps plan will give you 12.5 megabytes of data per second.
To gauge the speed of a plan you can simply divide the number of Mbps a plan offers by 8. Another example being a data plan offering 200 Mbps. 200 divided by 8 would be 25 megabytes a second. All computer data measurements are divisible by 8.
Mb/s, megabytes per second, is generally used as the metric when downloading things from the internet.
Internet Plans and Promotions
Internet providers will offer different speeds with their different plans. Below is an example of a current promotion from Xfinity. These plans and prices are always subject to change and availability.
The cheapest option shown at 300 Mbps would be good for users who mostly browse the internet or stream videos. 300 Mbps will load webpages quickly and should usually provide skip free videos.
The next step goes straight to one gigabit. If you have more than 2 people or devices uploading and downloading at the same time, you may want to opt for a higher speed like this. For users who are downloading lots of data, or if you live in a busy household, 400+ Mbps at a minimum should work. Congestion and Infrastructure and wireless use may lead to you needing a faster plan.
The speeds shown are your maximum speed, and you will not always experience that speed. In addition, many plans have different upload and download speeds. Most of our consumption of content on the web is downloaded, but you will want to think about your own use and check whether these speeds meet your needs.
How to test your internet speed
A great website we recommend to test your internet speed is speedtest.net by Ookla.
A Speedtest messages a server of a network near to the one you are connected to. This is called pinging.
Once you click on GO it will take a few seconds to calculate the speed.
It will also ask if it can use your location for a more precise reading. Tap allow if this is okay for you.
This is a result example.
Download speed is the data received from the remote server to your computer. For this specific test it was just about 155 mbps.
Upload speed is how quickly you can send data to other computers, websites and servers. Your Upload speed is generally slower than your download speed.
The Ping measurement means how quickly your computer could verify that the IP address (i.e. the other server) it is connecting to exists. Since we are close to the servers in Boston it does it in 10 milliseconds.
Connecting to places further away increases the ping, and in turn can increase the time of upload or download to those servers.
Gaming offers a good example of how distance affects your speed. Many online games require lightning fast reaction times. Connecting to a server far away will delay your inputs and result in worse game play.
For example if you connect to a server in Australia from the US, your ping might be 300 m/s. Your inputs will be delayed by 300 m/s while someone local might have 10-30 m/s of ping.
Usually, you are not choosing the server you connect to, it is done automatically.
It is useful to test the internet speed on different devices in different locations in your house in order to see the actual internet speeds you are receiving.
The effect of Wireless Connectivity
Directly plugging into the router through an ethernet cable is the best way to maximize the speed of the plan you have purchased from your provider. Unfortunately, this is not always convenient.
Wireless connectivity is convenient because it works on every device in every location, but unfortunately it slows down your internet speed.
When you are using Wi-Fi, the speed will be a little slower. How much difference depends on the quality and type of wireless adapter used, distance from the router, as well as area congestion and infrastructure.
WiFi adapters are getting better and offering better speeds, but still can not compare to being plugged in.
This is an important principle to understand, because if you run a speed test on your 400 mbps plan and only get back 200 mbps from the test, its generally because you are connected wirelessly. This is where running speed tests in multiple locations from multiple devices gives you the clearest picture.
If you have questions about understanding internet speed, or our services, just call or email. We’re happy to assist you! Feel free to use our contact form to send us a message. Thank you!