Category: broadband

There are several steps you can take to do a complete broadband connection test. The good thing is that all of these steps are completely free and you can do them right from your home computer without having to install any crazy software. All you will are couple things, the first of which is a broadband connection. Secondly you are going to need to have the latest version of Flash installed. You may be able to get away with earlier versions but it is best to simply install the most recent version. Lastly you need to have some kind of web browser. Once you have all those things you are all set to run your broadband connection test.

Stages Of You Broadband Connection Test

The first step of your broadband connection test is to confirm your speed. Whichever website you have decided to use to run your broadband connection test should have a broadband performance test that will test your speed. By speed I mean the amount of information you can upload and download. Usually with broadband this should be a readily predictable number and may or may not be guaranteed by your service provider.

In any event, to run the test you will be sending data back and forth to a server and the program will measure how long it takes. Usually the test only takes about 30 seconds at most, with some being even less then that. The report will then spit back to you a bunch of numbers that will form the basis of your broadband connection test. Make sure that these fall within the parameters of what your were looking for as far as throughput is concerned. If they are not, then you can contact your Internet Service Provider and have them take a look to see why.

The next step in your broadband connection test is to test the health of your connection. While you may be able to get a very fast speed, that does not always mean that your connection is staying up and staying connected reliably. There can be a number of factors that will cause your connection to go up and down, but the most common is poor wiring. The website should have a program that will test your wiring. Use this and troubleshoot any issues you may have here. That should be just about it for your broadband connection test. If you have any problems simply contact the test page and they should be able to help you.

If you are having issues with your internet connection you need to perform a broadband bandwidth test or a broadband connection test. In order to do so you need to find a website that offers a reliable broadband bandwidth test. I prefer to use a web page called DSLReports. The are many reasons why I choose this site, but probably the biggest is because they have been around for so long and I am just familiar with them. There are many other good free broadband bandwidth test sites out there so do not feel you have to use them, it is just a suggestion if you are not sure where to go.

Running Your Broadband Bandwidth Test

After you go to www.dslreports.com you should see a link at the top that says tools. Here you will find everything you need to test your internet connection. You should see a link there that says speed test. This is probably the best initial broadband bandwidth test as it will give you an overall measurement of the health of your system. The test is completely free and only takes a couple seconds. The first screen you get after selecting the test gives you a selection of servers to choose from. Just pick the one that is closest to you and has available connections.

Once you do that the test should begin. If you have any troubles getting to this part check the Frequently Asked Questions section of the web page to see if your problem is listed there. The biggest mistake people will make is that they do not have the correct versions of Flash installed on their system. Flash is a completely free program that allows the broadband bandwidth test to run on your computer. You need to have at least version 8 installed. You can have a higher version to run this broadband bandwidth test, but the minimum is 8.

So the server has been picked, the program is running, now it is time to take a look at what all the numbers mean. The first number you should see is your download rate. This is measured in kilobits per second. Most people know of files measured in kilobytes, so you need to convert this number over. The quick and easy way is to divide it by 10. This will give you your kilobytes per second download rate. Divide that number by 1000 to get your megabytes per second download rate. That is it, it really is that easy.