How to Check Internet Speed on PC and Mobile

Sometimes when you download a file from the Internet, it takes a long time. You are assuming that Internet speed could be an issue. However, if this happens often, you may want to measure your connectivity speed and even monitor it. But how do we do this? In this article, we explain how to check the speed of the Internet on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.

You can measure the speed of the Internet if you are having network problems or if you feel that you are not getting the right speed as promised by your provider.

So let’s see how to know the speed of the Internet on any device. But before that, let’s first see how speed is measured.

How to measure the speed of the Internet

Internet speeds can confuse users. If we had started our article directly with how to measure Internet speed, even you would have thought your speed was bad. But this is not the case. Once you understand how speed is measured, you would stop cursing your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for lying to you.

For starters, there is a difference between the speed offered by your ISP and the actual download speed. Most Internet providers display speed in Mbps or Mb / s. Notice the little b. It’s quite important. Now, if you download something, you will notice that the download speed will have a capital B, that is, it will be MBps or MB / s.

You would think there should be no difference between the two. But it’s wrong. There is a huge difference. The small b in Mbps represents the bits, while the capital B in MBps is in bytes. The other letters are the same, i.e. M = mega, p = per and s = seconds.

In technical terms, a bit is the smallest unit of data or storage. So 8 bits is 1 byte. Alternatively, you can say that 1 byte has 8 bits. This means, 1 MB = 8 MB. As a result, your actual Internet speed will be lower than that indicated by your provider.

Fun fact: By default, files and storage size are often displayed in MB.

So if your ISP says you have an Internet speed of 20 Mbps, divide it by 8 to get the actual speed in MB. In other words, 20 MB / s ÷ 8 = 2.5 MB / s . Your actual download speed is 2.5 MB / s. Simply put, your promised Internet speed ÷ 8 = actual speed.

If you want to convert your download or the actual speed displayed in MB to that proposed by your supplier, ie Mb, you must multiply it by 8. So, real speed * 8 = Internet speed. In reality, the two speeds are the same. The difference is in the way they are presented.

Most speedometers display speed in Mbps. But if you are using a download manager, you will need to convert the speed to MB to get the real result. In summary, the higher the number of Mb / s, the faster your Internet connection.

Now that you can read your Internet speed correctly, it’s time to measure it.

How to measure Internet speed on PC and mobile

Measuring Internet speed is easy. You can do this via online tools using a browser or download an application.

In the first case, you just need to open any browser on your computer or mobile. Next, visit a speed test site. Some of the best sites are:

For the sake of simplicity, we will take the case of the Speed ​​Test site. Press the Go button to start the process if it does not start automatically. On some websites, you will see Start or Start buttons.

Wait a minute or two until the website has completed the test. You will see the results including download and upload speeds.

You can also search Google for “check internet speed”, and a Google speed test tool will appear. Click or tap Run speed test.

If you want a dedicated application to measure Internet speed, you can download the following applications.

Note: When using a speed monitoring tool, it will test the speed of the currently connected network. In other words, if you use Wi-Fi, its speed will be determined. If you want to check the speed of your mobile data, turn off Wi-Fi.

How to display Internet speed continuously on Windows and Android

Instead of opening the app or a website to check your Internet speed repeatedly, you can track it from your taskbar in Windows and the status bar in Android. Download and upload speeds will be displayed.

We have covered the subject in detail separately for Windows and Android. Learn how to display Internet speed in the Windows taskbar and in the status bar on Android.

How to get perfect speed test results

For the best results from your speed test, be sure to stop all network removal apps such as online streaming apps like Netflix, Torrent, or any other current download. You also need to measure at different times of the day to get an average speed.