How does internet speed test work?

Internet Speed Matters

With the world moving towards 5g where everything will be connected from your car to your washing machines, it is time to acknowledge the internet revolution. The speed of the internet can decide the fate of a nation. From gaining access to top professors of the world to making people happy with the funny cat videos, undoubtedly the internet is the modern highways of today’s world.

While we celebrate the success of the internet, we tend to overlook the internal components of the modern infrastructure. With this article, today we will discuss the way speed tests of the modern infrastructure – the internet. While most of the speed test results take upload speed, download speed and ping (latency) into consideration, other factors simply cannot be overlooked.

The tests aren’t always true –

Most service providers send sample files of small sizes, which are no barriers for the computer itself. They are easier to process in comparison to other contents like pictures or streaming videos. Such components take more time to process for the modem and hence, the general speed tests aren’t that effective.

You and your location –

If you connect with a server that is physically more nearer to you than the servers that might be on a different continent altogether, your speed test will vary. Your speed tests hence can’t be trusted completely, as your internet service provider (ISP) will try to connect to servers that are located in proximity.

Is there something else in mind –

Conducting speed test while you are using other apps that are consuming your bandwidth should be avoided. It drastically affects your test results. Hence one should always close other apps consuming your internet bandwidth before taking the speed test.

Is it peak time? –

Popular websites like social media websites cater to the needs of millions of users at a time. While the evening hours might have more traffic to the websites, the nights (like three am) might have users in few hundreds. Hence a proper time should also be considered while doing speed tests for your satisfaction.

Do you have the best devices –

A lot depends on the type of device you are using today. If you are using a device that is five years old and is irrelevant to today’s standards, your speed tests are bound to be weak and irrelevant.

Summing up all, speed tests are not only about sending a few bytes of data to your nearest server. It involves a lot of things that need to be followed while trying to conduct a speed test on your service provider.