Broadband Speed Checker

It’s important when you buy a broadband connection that you are getting exactly what you pay for. Most telecoms companies will advertise that your broadband speed can be “up to 20mb” or “up to 50mb” and this can be misleading for you whenever you experience sluggish or slow internet connections.

Using the tool above, we aim to give you an accurate measure of your broadband speeds at the time of you pressing “Start Test”. This broadband speed tester hosted by ITS is able to determine the speeds on a range of broadband types, including ADSL, cable, fibre optic connections and even wireless broadband connections.

How to get an accurate broadband speed reading

To get a truly accurate result of your broadband speeds it is recommended that you do the following:

• Plug your device in – If possible, plug your device into an ethernet connection, this provides a more stable reading.
• Stop all downloads – If you are downloading any files in the background, or updating any programs, pause them until the test finishes. This is to ensure that only the test information is being transmitted.
• Streaming services – If you are streaming Netflix, YouTube, or playing games online, this could have a negative impact on the test. These programs use bandwidth and will affect the rate at which the test information is transmitted.
• Time of day – Your broadband speeds are usually lower in the evenings between 6 and 10 pm due to the volume of users online.
• Concurrent Users/Devices – If you have more than one device connected to the network at the time of testing, disconnect or turn them off to get the most accurate reading of your broadband speeds. Background programs from other users could negatively impact the speed.

How the broadband speed checker works

In order to determine how fast your broadband is, the tool will first download a file from a dedicated server located near to you. This is determined automatically.

Data on the internet is sent via “packets”, and the tool will be downloading dummy packets of data in order to determine the time taken to complete a round-trip of downloading information from the server. This is usually done by “pings” sent to the closest server.

Once the download test has been completed, the tool will then upload dummy packets of information to the server to test how long it takes for your connection to upload information.

Why is my broadband speed slow?

If you determine that your broadband speed is slow as a result of using the speed checker tool, it could be down to a number of reasons:

• If you are testing wirelessly, the signal could have been interfered with. Ensure there are no microwaves or other devices that emit wireless signals currently switched on.
• Ensure your device is plugged in correctly.

If you have double-checked all of these things and you find that your broadband speed is still slow, get in touch with your broadband provider to see if there is an issue with the line.

If you are still not satisfied after calling the provider, give ITS Limited a call on 0800 316 2970 or fill in our contact form to the right and we will do our best to help you out.