How to Test Your Internet Speed
A simple, accurate way to measure your connection on any phone or computer, in under a minute.
Quick answer: open a speed test in your browser, close anything else using the internet, and tap Start. In under a minute you will see your download, upload, latency and jitter. Run it two or three times for a reliable picture.
Step by step
- 1. Pick your connection. Testing Wi-Fi? Stay on Wi-Fi. Testing mobile data? Turn Wi-Fi off so the test uses cellular.
- 2. Close other apps. Pause downloads, streaming and big uploads so they do not skew the result.
- 3. Tap Start. The test downloads and uploads real files and plots your speed live.
- 4. Read the four numbers. Download and upload (Mbps), latency and jitter (ms).
- 5. Re-test. Run it a few times, and in different spots, to spot Wi-Fi or congestion issues.
What the results mean
Download is how fast data reaches you (streaming, browsing). Upload is how fast you send data (calls, backups). Latency is the round-trip delay, important for gaming and calls. Jitter is how much that delay varies; low and steady is best. See Mbps, latency and jitter explained for detail. To judge whether your numbers are typical, compare them with the internet speed rankings by country.
Getting an accurate result
For the truest reading, test on a wired connection or right next to the router, close bandwidth-hungry apps, and compare a few runs. A single-stream test to a nearby server reflects what one real download or stream gets, which is what you actually experience.