The Cibertek Blog

Most of us have broadband connections at home nowadays.  In fact, sometimes the home internet connection is faster than the work connection.  But how do you know if you’re getting the speed or bandwidth you paying for?  Most people pay an internet provider for some level of connection to the internet; the more you pay the more bandwidth or speed you get.  So checking to make sure you’re getting what you pay for seems like a good idea to me.  My favorite site to do this is Speedtest.net.

Here is what Speedtest.net is all about:

Speedtest.net is a broadband speed analysis tool that allows anyone to test their Internet connection. Ookla provides this service for free to anyone curious about the performance of their connection to and from hundreds of locations around the world. Whether you test just for fun or you really need to certify and validate the true speed of your Internet connectivity, Speedtest.net is the place to be. You can view all of your historical results, share them easily, and even compare them to others in your immediate area or around the globe.

My advice, use Speedtest.net to test your download speed and your upload speed from your computer to the internet using a direct connection (use a Ethernet cable not WIFI).  Run the test every few weeks or if you notice a change in your internet speed.   Running the test regularly will establish a baseline for your connection so when something goes wrong,subsequent tests have more validity.  If you notice a slow down or decrease, contact your internet provider, tell them you have been using Speedtest and you have noticed a change.  There could be something wrong with your line or modem and most likely they will troubleshoot it or they may already know there is a problem and fix it straight away.

Case in Point:

My provider (I will disguise there name: SCUMCAST), knew there was a problem with their networking equipment in the neighborhood but getting them to admit that was a challenge.    I was paying for 12Mbps download but one day I noticed that my internet speed just seemed slower.   Originally I thought it might have been a virus but all my AV scans were coming up clean.  Plus, everyone on the home network was experiencing the same issue regardless of which computer they used.  I spoke to SCUMCAST about it but their only answer was to try to send out a technician at the most inconvenient time as possible and at the same time never actually admitting there was anything wrong.  So I used Speedtest.net and sure enough, my connection registered 3Mbs on average and armed with that info, SCUMCAST suddenly “knew what the problem was”.   This had been going on for weeks but it wasn’t until I started to investigate with Speedtest and then complained to customer service with my “Speedtest report” as my proof, that they did anything about it.  I am not saying Speedtest was the reason they went into action but it did help validate my complaint and help validate that they actually fixed the problem.

Turns out SCUMCAST had upgraded the main networking switch in my neighborhood and for some reason my modem wasn’t compatible with it.  They knew this could happen all along of course but kept it quite for some reason.  Anyway, they sent me a new modem and after installing it, my Speedtest.net report showed 12 – 16Mbps consistently.  Happy ending.

Also, checkout the Speedtest.net iPhone app so you can test from everywhere you go.