Wondering if your broadband’s having an off day?
Take 30 seconds to find out with Ookla Speedtest®.
It’ll check your download speed, upload speed and ping, then we’ll help you make sense of the results.
A broadband speed test gives you a snapshot of how your connection is performing on one device, in one place, at that particular moment.
Change the device, room or time of day and the numbers may change too.
Work through the checks below before you start to get a clearer, more reliable picture of your broadband performance.
Nobody does their best work while being pulled in five directions. Your broadband is no different.
Before running the test, switch off any VPN and pause streaming, downloads, updates and cloud backups. Close anything else using the internet in the background too.
With nothing else competing for bandwidth, your speed test result should be much clearer.
Start by testing over Wi-Fi near your router. Then, if you can, run a second test using an Ethernet cable.
If the wired result is much faster, your broadband is probably performing as it should and your Wi-Fi may need attention.
Remember that older devices, Wi-Fi standards, cables, adapters and Ethernet ports can all limit the speed your device can reach.
Run the test more than once using the same device and test server where possible. Try it in the morning, around lunchtime and again during the evening.
Look for patterns rather than one unusual result. If the numbers are broadly similar, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how your connection normally performs.
Ping measures how quickly your connection responds. It’s measured in milliseconds (ms), and lower is better.
Download speed measures how quickly data travels from the internet to your device. It’s measured in megabits per second (Mbps), and higher is better.
Upload speed measures how quickly your device can send data to the internet. This matters for video calls, cloud backups, livestreaming and sharing large files.
A speed test is a bit like a health check for your broadband.
Rather than giving you one overall score, it measures different parts of your connection, from how quickly it moves data to how responsive and reliable it is.
Here's what each result tells you.
Jitter measures how consistently data arrives.
Lower jitter helps keep video calls, livestreams and online games feeling smooth.
Higher jitter can make those same activities feel patchy, even when your download speed looks more than fast enough.
What is a good jitter?
Ping is the measurement you'll usually see on a speed test. Latency is the technical term for that delay, although some speed tests display it separately.
The lower the latency, the quicker your broadband reacts when you click, tap or send a request.
Ever clicked a link and wondered why nothing happened for a second? That initial delay is often down to latency rather than download speed.
What is a good latency?
Ping measures how quickly your connection responds after sending a request. It's measured in milliseconds (ms), and unlike download speed, lower is better.
Download speed measures how quickly data moves. Ping measures how long that journey takes there and back.
A low ping helps everything feel more responsive, especially online gaming, video calls and other real-time activities.
What is a good ping?
Upload speed measures how quickly your device sends information to the internet.
If download speed is all about bringing things in, upload speed is all about sending them back out. From video calls and cloud storage to sharing files and livestreaming, it keeps your data moving in the other direction.
It's perfectly normal for your upload speed to be lower than your download speed. Most broadband packages are designed that way because most people download far more than they upload.
What is a good upload speed?
As a guide:
Download speed measures how quickly data travels from the internet to your device.
It's the number you'll probably pay the most attention to because it affects so much of what you do online. Streaming your favourite series, browsing the web, scrolling social media and downloading files all depend on your download speed.
What is a good download speed?
As a general guide:
A great speed on paper isn't much use if your broadband still struggles when everyone's online. The real test is what happens during your busiest hour, not your quietest.
A speed test result and the speed attached to your broadband package aren’t quite the same thing.
Advertised speed is the headline or average speed used to describe a broadband package. It helps you compare services, but it doesn’t mean every device will display that exact number at every moment.
Estimated peak-time speed is an indication of the speed you’re likely to receive when networks are busiest. For home broadband, peak time is usually between 8pm and 10pm.
Minimum guaranteed speed is the lowest connection speed set out in your broadband information or contract. Check your service documents to find your figure and the conditions under which it should be measured.
Your speed test result shows the speed reaching one device through the setup you’re using at that moment.
If you test over Wi-Fi, the result can be affected by your distance from the router, walls, interference, the device itself and other people using the connection.
That’s why a lower Wi-Fi result doesn’t automatically mean your broadband is underperforming. Broadband brings the connection into your home; Wi-Fi carries it from the router to your devices. Read our guide to the difference between broadband and Wi-Fi for a closer look.
If repeated wired tests remain below the minimum speed stated in your service information, keep a record of the results and speak to your broadband provider.
You've run the test. The numbers are staring back at you. Now comes the question everyone asks.
"Is that... good?"
It depends less on the number and more on what you expect your broadband to handle.
A couple checking emails and catching up on a box set doesn't need the same connection as a family with four people streaming, gaming and video calling at the same time.
If your broadband handles everything you throw at it without buffering, waiting or arguing back, it's doing exactly what you need it to.
There's no single speed that's right for everyone. It depends on how many people are online, how many devices you're using and what you expect your broadband to cope with.
As a rough guide:
Every home is different, so treat these as guides rather than hard rules.
A slower-than-expected speed test doesn't always mean there's a fault with your broadband.
Sometimes the explanation is much closer to home.
Weak Wi-Fi signal
The further you are from your router, the harder your device has to work to stay connected. Thick walls, upstairs rooms and even where you place the router can all affect your speed.
Too many devices connected
Every phone, laptop, smart TV and games console shares the same connection. The more that's happening at once, the more noticeable it becomes.
Background downloads
Software updates and cloud backups often happen without you noticing. They're useful, but they can quietly eat into the bandwidth available for everything else.
Peak-time demand
It's perfectly normal for speeds to vary throughout the day. Testing at different times gives you a better picture than relying on a single result.
Router or network problems
If you've tested on more than one device, tried a wired connection and the results are still much lower than expected, it's worth restarting your router. If nothing changes, get in touch with your broadband provider.
When It's Worth Looking Into
Broadband speeds naturally go up and down throughout the day.
What matters is consistency. If your results are regularly well below what you'd expect, or your connection struggles with everyday tasks, it's worth taking a closer look.
Run a few tests over different times of the day, compare Wi-Fi with a wired connection if you can, and look for patterns rather than one-off results. That gives you a much clearer picture of how your broadband performs and whether there's anything that needs attention.
