#INTERNET SPEED TEST COMCAST PROFESSIONAL#
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His years of project management experience included a focus on Linux and macOS applications and troubleshooting, giving him intimate professional knowledge of all three major desktop operating systems. Josh Hendrickson was the Editor-in-Chief of Review Geek and a former How-To Geek Staff Writer with over a decade of experience.īefore writing for How-To Geek, Josh did project management, quality assurance testing, and sysadmin work at IDM Computer Solutions, which makes the popular UltraEdit text editor. It's fine if you just want to brag about how great your ISP is (that's the idea), but it's bad for getting an idea of your real-world speeds. That means you'll get a faster result than you might with a Netflix or Google speed test. Their tests are optimized for ideal conditions, using servers close to you that are often maintained on the same ISP network you're testing from.

However, you probably shouldn't rely on an ISP-generated speed test. Your ISP might also offer a speed test, like Comcast, Spectrum, or AT&T. The difference in server locations is why you likely see different speed results when trying different tests, like Ookla's, Netflix's, or Google's. In that scenario, your results may reflect a faster performance than your real-world usage. So, while your speed test may show incredibly fast streams, you might find that downloading a program is very slow if the server hosting the data is far away. Much of it is on computers far away-sometimes across the country or in another country. Businesses know that proximity makes a difference, and that's why some, like Netflix, use a content delivery network to bring the data closer to you.īut the entire internet isn't close to you. That proximity is an optimal situation, so the data doesn't have as far to travel. Often the closest server might be incredibly close-perhaps even in the same city. Speed tests sound simple, but it's much harder than it might seem to measure how fast your connection is accurately.Ĭonsider the first step of the process: choosing a test server.

#INTERNET SPEED TEST COMCAST DOWNLOAD#

For instance, our local ISP offers a plan with a 500 Mbps download speed, but 125 Mbps upload speed.

Usually, the download speed features prominently, but if you dig into the details, the ISP typically specifies a slower upload speed for each level. Measuring the latter two is essential because most ISPs make separate promises for download and upload speeds. But if you see 10 Mbps, then you're not getting what you pay for, and it's time to call your ISP.Ī Speed test measures your ping, and download and upload speeds. The catch is the promises your Internet Service Provider (ISP) makes nearly always include the phrase, 'up to.' This gives an ISP wiggle room-if it promised you 'up to 30 Mbps,' and you consistently only get 28 Mbps, then the company can say it's kept its promise. The service you connect to often limits your download and upload speeds based on the plan you chose, local congestion, any throttling rules it has, and so on. An internet speed test is the best way to get an idea of how fast your connection is right now.

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