How to run a speed test that tells us something useful
Test over a cable rather than wireless, with nothing else running, and note the upload figure as well as the download. A wireless test during a busy office measures the wireless, not the connection.
Most speed tests people send us measure the wrong thing. Not because they did it wrong, but because a test over wireless in a busy office tells you about the wireless, and that is rarely where the problem is.
Do it this way
- Use a computer plugged in with a network cable if you possibly can.
- Close everything else — video calls, cloud backups, streaming. One large upload can consume the whole connection.
- Run our speed test from the link on the website, so the result is measured against a server we can compare with.
- Run it three times, a minute apart, and note all three. A single number tells you almost nothing.
What to record
- Download and upload speeds — both, every time
- Latency or ping, if the test shows it
- The exact time you ran it
- Whether you were on cable or wireless
Why upload matters more than people expect
Video calls, cloud backups and hosted phone calls all depend on upload. A connection with excellent download and thin upload feels broken during a meeting while the speed test still looks respectable. If calls break up when the office is busy, upload is the first place we look.
If it is slow at one time of day
Note when. A connection that is fine at eight and poor at eleven points somewhere quite different from one that is slow all day, and the pattern often identifies the cause on its own.
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