How to Check Broadband Internet Speed

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By Ty Arthur
eHow Contributing Writer

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Check Broadband Internet Speed

The speed your computer connects to an Internet source is not a stationary rate. Your Internet connection speed can vary greatly depending on how many other users are connecting to the same Internet Service Provider at the same time. If you want to know your computer's upload and download speed for sending and receiving any type of data on the Internet, you can take advantage of free speed testing Web pages.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Go to the Speedtest website, a free service that tests your Internet connection speed. Wait for the Web page to locate the speed test server that is nearest to your computer's physical location.
Step 2

Starting the Download Speed Test.

Click on the yellow star next to the name of the computer server to specify you want to use that server for the initial test. Click on the "Begin Test" button at the top of the Web page to have the test server send a small piece of test data to your computer.
Step 3

Wait for the test data to arrive at your computer, then check the "Results" box to see the rate of your Internet connection's download speed. Click on the "Upload" button to send a small piece of test data back to the server.
Step 4

Wait for the test data to finish transferring, then check the "Results" box to find your Internet connection's upload speed.

Tips & Warnings

You don't have to choose the test server closest to your location. You can choose any of the server's in the list of available test servers. You might also want to run the test multiple times from different servers because if there is a large amount of network congestion between your location and the test server you chose, your results might be incorrect. The heading in the "Results" box labeled as "Ping" tells you the amount of time, in milliseconds, it takes for data to travel from your computer to a test server, then back to your computer.
Make sure to clear your Web browser's cookies and Internet history before running the speed test again from the same test server. If you run the speed test from the same server multiple times, your results will get faster as your Web browser caches the temporary Internet files associated with that server.

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