Are you getting the internet speed you’re paying for?
It’s an important question. After all, your internet service provider offered you a plan with a high-sounding download speed number, and you’re probably paying more money every single month to get that instead of the cheaper, slower option.
But are you actually getting the speed you were promised? There’s only one way to find out.
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Your new internet speed test resource
The web is filled with all sorts of different tools for testing the swiftness of internet connections. You may have used the popular Speedtest.net, Netflix’s Fast.com, or Google’s built-in speed tester (just search “speed test” on Google).
➜ If I had to recommend one resource for this purpose, though, I’d encourage you to look past those commonly cited tools and instead check out Cloudflare’s Internet Speed Test. Millions upon millions of websites rely on Cloudflare’s services to power their content delivery, which gives the company an interesting edge in this manner of measurement. Plus, the Cloudflare test gauges speeds with a variety of different measures while also looking for relevant connection quality issues.
⌚ The test takes about 25 seconds to run.
The whole thing happens on the web, and it’ll work equally well in any browser and on any device. Just head to the site and run a test. The tool will do the rest!
All simplicity aside, there are a few things you should know to get the more accurate possible result:
- First, don’t do anything else with your internet connection while running the speed test. For the best results, the speed test should be the only thing happening online for the entire time that it’s active.
- Second, ensure you have a good local network connection. If you have a weak Wi-Fi signal, for example, you may see slow speed results and other errors that are actually just related to those Wi-Fi problems. A strong Wi-Fi connection should be fine. But, for the best possible results, consider plugging a computer into your router with an Ethernet cable and skipping Wi-Fi entirely.
And take note, too: You’ll virtually never see identical results from one speed test to the next. You’re always measuring the speed between your device and a remote server somewhere—so it’s not just about the “last mile” internet speeds your internet service provider provides. The speeds of connections between other systems along the way also weigh into this measure and can cause minor fluctuations along the way.
I’m happy to report that I’ve never had an internet service provider stiff me on connection speeds. I’ve always seen the speeds I’m paying for—in fact, they’ve more often been a bit higher!
If you do see a surprisingly low number, though, it’s worth investigating. Here are some things to check:
- Run a speed test with another tool, like Speedtest.net, to compare and see if the results are consistent.
- Ensure no other devices are using your internet connection while running the test.
- Ensure you have a good connection on the device you’re testing on. (And, again, remember: Wi-Fi can inherently only be so fast—especially if you have an older device that doesn’t support the latest Wi-Fi standards!)
If you’ve given it a look and the numbers don’t check out—for example, if you’re paying for a 600 Mbps connection and you’re only getting 300 Mbps in the speed tests—you may want to contact your internet service provider.
Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and assume there’s nothing nefarious going on, they may well have something misconfigured on their end and need to upgrade your connection—or there may be a problem with the wiring that needs to be addressed somewhere along the way.
Whatever the case may be, you’re officially now armed with the power of accurate knowledge—and with the tool you need to make sure you’re always getting what you pay for when it comes to your all-important yet completely intangible internet access.
- Cloudflare’s Speed Test tool is 100% web-based. It works right in your browser on both phones and computers—no downloads or installations required.
- The site is fully free and doesn’t even have ads.
- Cloudflare says it may share some anonymized information about your connection—like your internet service provider, speeds, and general geographic location—with its public internet performance database. But that’s it.
Ready to find even more useful tech treasures? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an AI-powered supertool that transcribes your brain—and another off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!
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