A broadband speed test is a way of checking your current DSL internet connection to see if it is performing to the standards that your internet service provider states as the expected speed of your connection. The broadband speed test is conducted by sending and receiving packets of data to servers located around the world.

In order to carry out a broadband speed test, you must either use software designed for that purpose or access one of the many internet websites that can test your connection for you via public internet connected servers around the world.

To conduct a broadband speed test, follow these steps:

-Initially, you must either load the desired test software or visit an internet web site that offers testing facilities.

-Next, the application may then ask you where you want the test data to be sent, whether it be in your country of residence or somewhere the other side of the world. However, a lot of applications have a default server that the test will be carried out on.

-Once you click ‘Go’, the application will first establish a connection with the server and attain a Ping speed. This is the amount of time it takes for the server to respond to a packet or request. The ping speed, or latency, will nowadays be under 100 milliseconds for internet service providers in developed countries connecting to each other and ideally under 300ms if you are in or connecting to an internet service provider located in a developing country.

-After the latency test will come the download speed test. The server you are connecting to will now send packets of data to your computer. The speed at which the data is received will identify your download speeds.

-The next test will be an upload test. Data packets will then be sent from your computer, up to the server. The speed at which they are received will ascertain your data upload capacity.

-The maximum speeds for uploads and downloads will be taken from the highest speed at which the data was transferred from and to your computer.

Be sure to remember that distance plays a big factor in the speed of your connection. The further away you are from a particular server, then the more wires and gateways and bottlenecks there are to reduce your internet speeds.

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