Check the network data transfer speed. How to check your Internet connection for stability. What factors affect connection speed?

Internet channel bandwidth or, more simply put, Internet speed, represents the maximum number of data received by a personal computer or transmitted to the Network in specific unit time.

Most often you can find data transfer speed measured in kilobits/second (Kbps; Kbps) or in megabits (Mbps; Mbps). File sizes are usually always specified in bytes, KB, MB and GB.

Since 1 byte is 8 bits, in practice this will mean that if the speed of your Internet connection is 100 Mbps, then the computer can receive or transmit no more than 12.5 Mb of information per second (100/8 = 12.5). This is simpler. can be explained in this way, if you want to download a video whose volume is 1.5 Gb, then it will take you only 2 minutes.

Naturally, the above calculations were made under ideal laboratory conditions. For example, the reality may be completely different:

Here we see three numbers:

1. Ping – this number means the time during which Network packets are transmitted. The lower the value of this number, the better the quality of the Internet connection (it is desirable that the value be less than 100ms).
2. Next comes the speed of receiving information (incoming). This is exactly the number that Internet providers offer when connecting (it is for this number of “Megabits” that you have to pay your hard-earned dollars/hryvnia/rubles, etc.).
3. The third number remains, indicating the information transfer speed (outgoing). Naturally, it will be less than the speed of receiving data, but providers are usually silent about this (although, in fact, a higher outgoing speed is rarely required).

What determines the speed of an Internet connection?

• The speed of the Internet connection depends on the tariff plan set by the provider.
• The speed is also affected by the technology of the information transmission channel and the load on the Network by other users. If the overall channel capacity is limited, then the more users are on the Internet and the more information they download, the more the speed drops, since there is less “free space” left.
• There is also a dependence on the loading speed of the sites you access. For example, if at the time of loading the server can provide data to the user at a speed of less than 10 Mbit/sec, then even if you have a maximum connection tariff plan, you won't achieve more.

Factors that also affect Internet speed:

• When checking, the speed of the server you are accessing.
• Setup and speed Wi-Fi router, if you are connected to the local network through it.
• At the time of scanning, all programs and applications running on the computer.
• Firewalls and antiviruses that run in the background.
• Settings for your operating system and the computer itself.

How to increase internet speed

If there is malware or unwanted software on your computer, then this may affect the speed of your Internet connection. Trojan horses, viruses, worms, etc. that got into the computer can take part of the channel bandwidth for their needs. To neutralize them, you must use anti-virus applications.

If you use Wi-Fi that is not password protected, then other users will usually connect to it and are not averse to using free traffic. Be sure to set a password to connect to Wi-Fi.

Parallel running programs also reduce speed. For example, the simultaneous use of download managers, Internet messengers, and automatic operating system updates leads to an increase in processor load and therefore the speed of the Internet connection decreases.

These actions, in some cases, help increase Internet speed:

If you have a high Internet connection, but the speed leaves much to be desired, increase the port bandwidth. This is quite easy to do. Go to the “Control Panel”, then to “System” and to the “Hardware” section, then click on “Device Manager”. Find “Ports (COM or LPT)”, then expand their contents and look for “Serial port (COM 1)”.

After that, right-click and open “Properties”. After this, a window will open in which you need to go to the “Port parameters” column. Find the “Speed” parameter (bits per second) and click on the number 115200 – then OK! Congratulations! Now your port throughput speed has been increased. Because the default speed is set to 9600 bps.

To increase speed, you can also try disabling the QoS packet scheduler: Run the gpedit.msc utility (Start - Run or Search - gpedit.msc). Next: Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - Network - QoS Packet Scheduler - Limit Reservation throughput- Enable - set to 0%. Click "Apply" and restart the computer.

It would seem that there are no problems on your computer or laptop, you paid for the use of Internet services a couple of months in advance, but the page with the necessary information periodically refuses to work, or downloading a movie is like moving a snail.

Most likely your computer has problems with the speed of your Internet connection.

The problem is that most Internet providers slightly embellish the actual numbers during connection. For example, if your contract specifies Internet speeds of 100 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s, then most likely the true speed will be significantly lower. But don't despair, today you will learn how to check serves in minutes.

What is speedtest

So it's time to find out real speed using a special test called speedtest.

Speedtest– a special test designed to check data transmission.

There are a number of sites that allow you to measure Internet connection indicators, incoming and outgoing, and determine the so-called Ping (the time from the moment a signal is sent from one computer until it is received by another computer). Below, we will talk in more detail about several examples of such services.

But, in addition to online services for checking, there is also a built-in method. It lets you know necessary information by using the settings on your PC (personal computer).

For example, the Windows 10 operating system is used. There are 2 methods for checking in different operating systems.

Method 1

So, to measure the Internet using basic operating system tools you will need:

Right-click on the Internet icon in the lower right corner of the screen.

In the window that appears, select “Open network and Internet settings.”

Then you need to open the “Configure adapter settings” item.

In the window that opens, select the Internet connection and double-click with the left mouse button.

We are looking for Internet connection speed.

Important! In some versions of Windows 10, as well as in Windows 7.8 operating systems, this path may look slightly different. But the actions are basically the same.

Right-click the Internet icon and click Network and Hardware Center

In the “Connections” column, select your Internet connection.

And what we need is revealed window with speed graph.

Important! This method has a significant drawback. No matter what the computer shows, in reality it can still be significantly lower.

Online services

Some options on your computer may slow down the process of checking your Internet connection speed. Therefore, it is strongly recommended:

• close all possible programs and all tabs in the browser (except for the required speedtest tab for testing).
• disable antivirus on your computer
• right-click on the taskbar to launch “Task Manager” and check the downloads (if any, disable them)
• check 3 times (this will increase the accuracy of the results)

So, the leader of the nomination is the Speedtest website. net

3. speedtest.net

As soon as you visit the site, the program immediately determines your exact location and indicates your Internet provider.

You can also create here account, which allows you to have access to check histories and their results.

Using the page is not difficult - you just need to click the “Start” button in the very center of the screen. Here we must pay tribute to the site’s interface - it is very simple and easy to use, as they say, nothing superfluous.

As soon as you press the desired button, the service immediately begins scanning and calculates all the necessary data.

And literally in a minute you get the expected result: ping – signal transmission time, receiving time (data about how you receive information from the server to your computer), sending time (sending data to the server).

You can find out more about what Ping is here:

Advice! This site should be used with ad blockers enabled (for example, Adblock). Because without auxiliary utilities, working with this site is not very pleasant, due to the large and annoying amount of advertising.

By the way, speedtest from the same developer exists as an application on the phone, which is installed in the simplest way - using the Play Market. This application allows you to check the Internet on your smartphone.

• nice site interface
• quick check
• possibility of creating a personal account
• ability to track inspection history
• there is a phone app

• annoying advertising

Ukrtelecom Speedtest

One of the simplest assistants for checking your Internet connection. Simple and tasteful - no unnecessary information.

One of the advantages is that there is nothing superfluous on the screen. Absolutely White background and clear numbers. All you need to do is click the Start button at the top of the screen.

The check is carried out quickly and more or less accurately.

In a matter of seconds, all the necessary numbers are in front of you: download- download from server to computer, upload- speed of sending from computer to server, ping- time from the moment a signal is sent from one computer to the signal is received on a second computer, jitter- unwanted random deviations of the transmitted signal.

• user-friendly interface
• no advertising
• ease of use
• high efficiency

• no registration option
• there is no way to track previous scan histories

speedmeter.de

Website from German developers. In my opinion, the interface is not very user-friendly. Despite the fact that it won’t be difficult to complete the check, we see the “Forward” button at the top of the screen. And the verification itself, in fact, happens right here.

But below is the text in full German, which contains information about this speedtest.

This may be confusing, but the site does its main task well - everything you need to check is provided in Russian.

• high speed checks
• true numbers

• the site does not always accurately show your location (it may confuse the city). But this does not affect the IP address, it is reliable
• most of the information is in German
• inconvenient interface

Voip Test

This site is entirely English language, which may cause some difficulties. But at the same time, he does his job perfectly key task– check your Internet connection.

If on previous sites only a special verification page opened before us, then In addition to speedtest, there is a number of other information here.

But this does not affect the verification in any way.. Moreover, using this site you can observe how the indicator arrow moves during the test. Allows you to brighten up the waiting time, although it already takes very little time.

To start working you need to click the “Start” button.

The necessary results appear on the screen at lightning speed.

• high tempo
• the date and time of the inspection is indicated

Negative:

• the site is entirely in English

Ukrainian Speedtest

A site from Ukrainian developers with convenient and simple functions. But, again, there is unnecessary information.

To start testing, click the “Test” button.

Positive:

• ability to track Internet changes during the verification process
• high tempo

Negative:

• extra information on the site
• advertising (without blocker)

So, we have reviewed some of the most popular internet testing sites and listed their advantages and disadvantages. Now I propose to recall the most important indicators of these resources in the table:

Computer utility

In addition to the built-in method for checking the Internet and online resources, there are also special programs for the computer.

One such program is speed-o-meter.

Speed-o-meter shows the current network load. Indicators are updated every second. Using this program, you can determine what speed is used at specific moments when using the Internet.

The program measures the incoming and outgoing speed of the Internet connection. The utility provides information in graphs, where the necessary incoming and outgoing data are marked in different colors. After installation, the program will start automatically when you turn on the PC (personal computer).

To install this program, you need to follow the link below and select the “Download” button.

Positive:

• quick installation
• small consumption resources
• no advertising
• ease of use

Negative:

• high probability of downloading an infected file

Conclusions and video instructions

So, today we took a look at some of the most popular and high-quality sites for checking the Internet. Now you know that checking the Internet will not be difficult.

There are many others special resources, which allow you to obtain the necessary information. But in general, they are very similar, and use the same methods to check the Internet connection. This article lists the most simple services.

And in addition to online services, there are also special programs for checking the Internet. Such programs can be easily installed on a PC (personal computer).

Hello!

I think that not everyone is not always happy with the speed of their Internet. Yes, when files load quickly, online videos load without jerks or delays, pages open very quickly - there is nothing to worry about. But in case of problems, the first thing they recommend doing is checking your Internet speed. It is possible that you simply do not have a high-speed connection to access the service.

How to check Internet speed on a Windows computer

Moreover, it is important to note that despite the fact that many providers write quite high numbers when connecting: 100 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s - in fact, the real speed will be lower (almost always the contract specifies the pretext Up to 50 Mbit/s, therefore you won’t get close to them). We’ll talk about the ways in which this can be checked further.

Built-in tools

Do it quickly enough. I’ll show you using Windows 7 as an example (in Windows 8, 10 this is done in a similar way).

Note! Whatever figure Windows shows, the real figure may differ by an order of magnitude! It shows, for example, 72.2 Mbit/s, but the actual speed does not rise above 4 MB/s when downloading in various downloader programs.

Online services

To determine exactly what the actual speed of your Internet connection is, it is better to use special sites that can perform such a test (more on them later in the article).

Speedtest.net

One of the most popular tests.

As for speedtest.net, this is a very popular service for measuring Internet connection speed (according to many independent ratings). It couldn't be easier to use. First you need to follow the link above, and then click on the “Begin Test” button.

Next, in about a minute, this online service will provide you with verification data. For example, in my case the value was about 40 Mbit/s (not bad, close to the real tariff figures). True, the ping figure is somewhat confusing (2 ms is a very low ping, practically the same as in local network).

Note! Ping is a very important characteristic of an Internet connection. If you have a high ping, you can forget about online games, since everything will slow down and you simply won’t have time to press the buttons. Ping depends on many parameters: the remoteness of the server (the PC to which your computer sends packets), the load on your Internet channel, etc. If you are interested in the topic of ping, I recommend that you read this article:

SPEED.IO

A very interesting service for testing connections. How does he captivate? Probably several things: ease of checking (press just one button), real numbers, the process takes place in real time and you can clearly see how the speedometer shows the speed of downloading and uploading a file.

The results are more modest than in the previous service. Here it is also important to take into account the location of the server itself with which the connection is being made for testing. Because in the previous service the server was Russian, but in this one it is not. However, this is also quite interesting information.

Speedmeter.de

Many people, especially in our country, associate everything German with precision, quality, and reliability. Actually, their service speedmeter.de confirms this. To test, just follow the link above and click one button “ Speed ​​test starten".

Voiptest.org

A good service where it is easy and simple to select a server to check, and then start testing. This is what captivates many users.

By the way, a great way to test your Internet speed, in my opinion, is through various popular torrents. Take a file from the top of any tracker (which is distributed by several hundred people) and download it. True, the uTorrent program (and similar ones) show download speed in MB/s (instead of Mbit/s, which is indicated by all providers when connecting) - but this is not scary. Without going into theory, the file download speed, for example 3 MB/s* multiplied by ~8, is sufficient. As a result, we get approximately ~24 Mbit/s. This is the real meaning.

* - it is important to wait until the program reaches the maximum score. Usually within 1-2 minutes when downloading a file from the top rating of a popular tracker.

That's all, good luck everyone!

Find out internet speed for free

Disable download programs!

For the most accurate results, it is recommended to disable programs for downloading files (emule, flashget, bittorrent, etc.), Internet radio, email clients, IRC, ICQ, Google Talk and other programs that use Internet traffic. After this, all you have to do is click the “Start Test” button. Ideally, it is better to repeat the test several times and compare the data obtained.

What is an Internet connection speed test?

High today Internet connection speed- one of the most important factors for ensuring high-quality and comfortable work on the Internet.

The Internet speed test allows you to check the status of the channel and measure its functionality. Thanks to our test, you can find out and check the real connection speed provided by your Internet provider! You can also tell other users about this by leaving yours. After all, it’s not uncommon for one speed to be declared, but we get a completely different one!

What determines the speed of an Internet connection?

Connection speed varies depending on many factors. This is a type of communication line (fiber optic communication lines, cable lines communications, etc.), provider, number of visitors on this moment and others. If the result obtained deviates from the one declared by the provider by an amount greater than 10%, network problems are likely, for example, an accident on highways and main routers. If this happens, simply repeat the test after some time.

Internet speed test determines:

1. Incoming Internet speed

   – broadcasting data from the Internet to your personal computer.

2. Outgoing internet speed

   – broadcasting data from your personal computer to the Internet

3. Quickly find out PING

   - your ping from the provider to the verification server.

4. Test time

   - time when the speed test was performed.

Hello, site readers IT lessons. Today we will deal with the popular question “ How to correctly measure the speed of an Internet connection?»Everyone is interested in knowing if we get those megabits per second for which we paid and why sometimes files or sites are loaded well, oh-oh-very slowly ...

In this IT lesson you will need the knowledge gained in the previous two lessons: “” and “”

Of course, you would like to press one button and quickly find out your speed... this is also possible, but the accuracy will be low. In addition, you need to take into account some factors that affect the data transfer speed and the result of its testing.

The lesson is big, if you need to find something specific, you can use the content:

What affects Internet speed?

First, let's look at what can affect the quality of Internet connection speed measurements. And there are many such factors:

• Speed, with whom you contact when checking your Internet speed (this can also include the speed of access to the site from which you are downloading something)
• Speed ​​and settings, if your computer is connected to the local network through it
• Working on the computer at the time of verification
• Antiviruses and firewalls running in the background
• Computer and operating system settings

In most cases, the most important item on this list will be the first item - server speed. Let me give you a few illustrative examples.

Example 1.
If you connect your computer to the local network using a cable (twisted pair), then connection speed with another computer on the same network(in your city) will be very large, for example, 70 Mbit/s .

Example 2.
Now we measure the speed between our computer and some server at the other end of the country. Maybe we'll get about 20 Mbit/s .

Example 3.
Let’s imagine that all 800 regular readers of the IT-lessons website connected to this server at once and began downloading different files. Communication speed with a busy server will decrease and for you it will be, for example, 3 Mbit/s .

Example 4.
Now let's try to download the file from a server in another country, for example, in Australia, we get less 1 Mbps!

Now, I think it’s clear that the measured speed depends on which server you chose to test: its location, its own maximum speed and his workload. That is, you need to understand that:

The speed of all servers (containing sites and files) is different and depends on the capabilities of these servers.

The same applies to other points (for example, the connection speed will differ when connecting to the network directly or through a router, and will also depend on the characteristics of this router).

How to improve verification accuracy

It is advisable to follow these steps if you want to get the most accurate result of checking your Internet connection speed. If approximate measurements are enough for you, you can move on to the next section of the lesson.

1. Connect network cable directly to the computer(V )
2. Close all programs, except for the browser (in which there should be one bookmark with this IT lesson)
3. Stop programs downloading in the background(torrent clients, download managers, etc.), except those you chose to test Internet speed
4. Temporarily disable your antivirus (don't forget to turn it on later), because... in some cases it may affect online test results.
5. Launch Task Manager (hold down the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys at the same time) and go to the “Network” tab. Make sure the network is not overloaded (“Network Usage” should be less than 1%). If the network is being actively used, a program or Windows may be updating. In this case, wait until the downloads finish or restart your computer.

Network usage in task manager (green line jump - process of checking Internet connection speed)

In addition, every the measurement must be carried out several times to improve testing accuracy.

How to measure Internet connection speed

There are several ways to measure the speed of your Internet connection. Let's consider them in order of increasing complexity of use.

1. Online services

Since we are now at the “Beginner” level, we will consider the first method in detail, and for experienced users I will briefly describe the remaining two.

Method 1. Measuring speed using online services

This is the one the easiest way to measure“Press one button and find out everything quickly.” The accuracy is relative, but the simplicity is attractive. 🙂

note that online tests have different accuracy!

I will tell you only about the most popular services.

SPEEDTEST.NET

Let's start with the most popular and most accurate online Internet speed test(and it’s free, too). I will dwell on it in more detail and advise all readers of the site to use this method first.

Here's a quick guide:

2. Find the button " Start checking" and press it:

Click the "Start Scan" button

3. At the end of testing, you see three results:

First number indicated by the word “Ping” (read “ping”), means network packet transmission time. The lower this number, the better the connection quality (preferably less than 100 ms).

The second number is the data acquisition speed. This is exactly the figure that providers advertise when connecting (it is for these megabits per second that you pay your honestly earned rubles/hryvnia/dollars/yuan :)).

The third number is the data transfer speed. As you can see, it can be noticeably lower than the receiving speed, but the provider is silent about this (but, in most cases, high outgoing Internet speed is rarely required).

If you want to measure the speed of your Internet connection to a specific city, then select it on the map (all major cities on the planet are available) and click the “Start Test” button again.

This way, you can check the examples I gave for yourself.

The creator of the “speed test” has another interesting online service that checks Internet connection qualityhttp://pingtest.net/.
On the company's main website there are many more interesting opportunities for testing network connections http://www.ookla.com/.

Other online Internet speed testing services

The principle of operation for all services is the same: press a button, wait, get a number... but the results are different.

2. Add several downloads from different fast file servers, for example this (test archive) and this (Linux distribution)

3. Set it in the settings maximum number of threads(sections for downloading)

4. We monitor the maximum speed file uploads:

The maximum speed achieved is highlighted in the image with a red rectangle.

Method 3. Measuring speed using torrent trackers

If you know how to use torrent trackers, then this method can show the actual maximum download speed provided by your provider.

What speed do you need to download movies?

We have learned how to measure the speed of data transfer over the Internet, now let’s see where this can be applied.

Let's say we want to download average quality movie, which usually takes 1.4 Gigabytes. Let's calculate at different speeds:

• Speed 100 kbps– about 32 hours (it’s better not to wait for the movie to download using the mobile Internet)
• Speed 1 Mbit/s– This movie will take 3 hours to load
• Speed 3 Mbit/s– 1 hour download
• Speed 15 Mbit/s– less than 15 minutes to load
• Speed 50 Mbit/s– about 4 minutes
• Speed 100 Mbit/s– about 2 minutes

Compare with time music downloads(for example, an mp3 file in good quality, about 10 MB):

• Speed 100 kbps– less than 15 minutes of loading
• Speed 1 Mbit/s– 1.5 minutes loading
• Speed 3 Mbit/s– 0.5 minutes

At the same time, it is worth remembering that there is a guaranteed speed and a speed not guaranteed by the provider (we dealt with this in the IT lesson).

Bottom line

So, today we learned how to check the speed of the Internet (Internet connection) in three ways. We learned that in addition to speed, we also need to take into account the quality of communication, which is indicated by “ping” (we will deal with this separately). They also clearly assessed what speed would be sufficient to download a movie. Thus, we have completed the topic of units of measurement of information and data transfer speed. What's next?

Have you already guessed? Of course, a test! This time there will be few questions, but I advise you to re-read (including this one). If you're ready, here you go

Copying prohibited, but you can share links.