How do I test my broadband speed properly?
Most speed tests measure your wifi, not your broadband — how to test the thing you are actually paying for.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 20 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Test with an ethernet cable plugged into the router, with everything else disconnected. A test over wifi measures your wifi, which is usually the slower link and is not what your contract covers.
If you intend to complain to your provider, the test has to measure their part of the connection. Over wifi, on a phone, while three people are streaming, measures your house — and that is the result they will dismiss.
Step by step
- Use an ethernet cable if you possibly can.Laptop plugged directly into the router. This is the only way to measure the broadband itself rather than the wifi between you and it.
- Disconnect or pause other devices.Phones, tablets, televisions, consoles, cameras. Background activity on a busy home network makes any measurement meaningless.
- Close everything on the test device too.Cloud sync, streaming, updates. Test with nothing else running.
- Test several times across the day.Morning, afternoon and evening. Peak-time performance is what matters most, and a single test at 10am tells you nothing about 8pm.
- Use your provider's own test if there is one.For a complaint, their test is the one they will accept. Third-party tests are fine for your own information.
- Understand the numbers.Download for streaming and browsing, upload for video calls and sending files, latency for video calls and gaming. A high download with terrible latency still feels bad on a call.
- Compare against the guaranteed minimum, not the headline.Advertised speeds are typically "average" figures. Your contract should state a guaranteed minimum, and that is the number that gives you rights.
- Record the results.Date, time, method, and the numbers. A pattern of results over a week is what supports a complaint; one screenshot does not.
Tips
- If wired speeds are fine and wifi is slow, the problem is inside your house and the provider will correctly say so. Fix the coverage instead.
- Latency matters more than raw speed for video calls. A connection with 20ms latency and modest speed feels better than a fast one at 200ms.
- Persistently below the guaranteed minimum, after giving them a chance to fix it, can create a right to leave without penalty. Keep the evidence.
Questions people ask
Why is my speed test slower than what I pay for?
Most often because the test ran over wifi rather than the broadband itself. Test with an ethernet cable and nothing else connected before concluding anything.
What speed do I actually need?
Less than most packages sell. Streaming and browsing need modest download; video calls need decent upload and low latency. More people at once is what raises the requirement.