Download: The time it takes to pull data, measured in megabits per second (Mbps).
#Att wifi speed test free
If you've used any of the free speed test tools out there (see Lifewire's updated list of the top free internet speed test sites), you'll likely recognize the terms Download, Upload, and Ping: Screenshot taken Jan 24th, 2019 of Speedtest by Ookla results. But, now that you've tested your WiFi speed, how do you interpret your WiFi speed test results? How is WiFi speed measured? Testing speed on a regular basis allows you to pinpoint performance trends, isolate which devices may be causing issues for your wireless network, and ensure no one is stealing your bandwidth. Satellite internet providers are HughesNet and Viasat (and soon to be Starlink).There are many reasons as to why you should be regularly testing your WiFi speed at home and, not for just the obvious instances where you find your WiFi signal strength is weaker than normal. Think about it: all the information you send and receive has to go to space and back.
Satellite internet is usually the slowest type of internet due to its high latency. Examples of some DSL internet companies are CenturyLink and Frontier. A few notable cable providers are Xfinity, Spectrum, and Cox.ĭSL internet can handle top speeds around 100 Mbps, but it usually performs slower than that because the wires carrying your internet data are older and more prone to interference over long distances. It doesn’t have symmetric upload speeds, and cable connections can slow down when a lot of people in a neighborhood are on the same network at the same time. Examples of fiber internet providers are Google Fiber, Verizon Fios, and CenturyLink Fiber.Ĭable internet is also a fast connection type with top speeds up to 1,000 Mbps. Notably, fiber internet connections give you much faster upload speeds than other types of internet. Let’s go through the main types of internet and how they affect speeds:įiber internet is the fastest type of internet currently available.
#Att wifi speed test download
With a fiber internet connection, you would usually get equally fast upload and download speeds.ĭifferent types of internet connections can affect your speeds in a few different ways, mainly in speed or distance limitations, network congestion, or high latency. The exception to these asymmetrical speeds is usually fiber internet, which tends to be more generous with upload bandwidth than other types of internet. So if your internet plan says 100 Mbps, your upload speed would be 10 Mbps. Internet providers usually give you 10% of your download speed as your upload speed.
That’s fine for most because you don’t normally send as much to the internet as you get from it.īut for people who upload a lot of files, photos, or YouTube videos for work-or households where there are multiple video calls going on at the same time-you’ll want to make sure your upload bandwidth can keep up. Many internet providers advertise download speeds but keep upload speeds a little more hidden because they can be much slower than download speeds. But upload speed-the speed at which you can send data to the internet-is also important. This helpful video from Xfinity can help you visualize the bandwidth requirements for different tasks like checking your email, streaming, and making video calls.įor most of this article, we’ve been talking about download speeds-the speeds that determine how fast you can receive data from the internet. In our opinion, it’s better to have a little extra bandwidth than to get stuck with a little less than you regularly need.Ĭheck every internet plan in your area to find the speeds you need. Giving yourself a bit of wiggle room isn’t going to hurt either. That’s 5–25 Mbps for streaming, 3–10 Mbps for Instagram, and 3–5 Mbps for web browsing.
#Att wifi speed test tv
If you have multiple connections going at the same time, you also want to make sure you have enough bandwidth for every connection to run smoothly simultaneously-otherwise your network will slow down when multiple people get online.įor example, if you’d potentially have a smart TV streaming Netflix, a smartphone scrolling through Instagram, and a laptop looking up the best takeout in your area at the same time, 20–30 Mbps would work. Likewise, video streaming resolution affects how much internet speed you use-standard definition Netflix has a minimum requirement of only 3 Mbps, but streaming in 4K could easily use up 25 Mbps. Checking social media could mean a brief look on Twitter, or it could be endlessly scrolling through TikTok (which would use more bandwidth). The amount of bandwidth any online activity can use depends on a few factors.
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