You've got two options.
Spend the next ten minutes wondering if your broadband's having an off day. Or spend the next 30 seconds finding out.
We've chosen Ookla Speedtest® because it's one of the most trusted ways to check your connection.
It'll measure your download speed, upload speed and ping, then hand the numbers over to you.
The test gives you the numbers. We'll help you make sense of them.
Running a broadband speed test takes less than a minute. Getting a result you can trust takes about 30 seconds longer.
A speed test is only ever a snapshot of what's happening at that exact moment. If your broadband's already being used by other devices, your result won't reflect what your connection can do on its own.
Before you hit 'Go', it's worth stacking the odds in your favour.
If someone's halfway through downloading the latest game release or every TV in the house has decided it's movie night, your connection already has plenty on its plate.
If you can, pause anything that's likely to use a lot of bandwidth before running your test.
You're not trying to make your broadband look better than it is, you just want to see what it can do without unnecessary distractions.
Most people check their broadband speed over Wi-Fi, and that's exactly what we'd expect.
Just remember that when you test over Wi-Fi, you're also testing your wireless connection. Things like walls, floors, your distance from the router and even where you're standing can all affect the result.
If you have a laptop with an Ethernet port (or an Ethernet adapter), try running a second speed test using a cable. This gives you a much clearer picture of the broadband connection coming into your home.
If your speeds are significantly faster over Ethernet, it's a good sign that your broadband is performing as it should, and that your Wi-Fi connection may need a little attention.
Broadband isn't exactly the same every second of every day.
Run a test first thing in the morning, another during lunch and one again in the evening.
If the numbers are broadly similar, you've got a much better idea of how your connection performs than you would from a single result.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
