How this speed test works
When you press GO, your browser runs three short measurements against the Cloudflare data center closest to you:
- Ping (latency). Twenty tiny requests are sent one after another and timed. The middle value (the median) is your ping, and the average change between one ping and the next is your jitter.
- Download. For about 10 seconds, several parallel connections download incompressible test data as fast as your line allows. The first moments, while the connections speed up, are ignored, and the rest is averaged.
- Upload. The same for about 10 seconds in the other direction: your browser sends random data and the server counts what arrives, then discards it.
While the download and upload run, the test keeps pinging in the background. The rise in ping under load is called bufferbloat, and it explains why video calls stutter when someone else in the house starts a big download.
What the numbers mean
| Measure | What it tells you | Good result |
|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | How fast data reaches you: streaming, web pages, downloads | 25+ per person |
| Upload (Mbps) | How fast you send data: video calls, cloud backup, live streaming | 10+ |
| Ping (ms) | Delay of a round trip to the server; matters for games and calls | Under 30 |
| Jitter (ms) | How much the ping varies; high jitter makes calls choppy | Under 10 |
| Bufferbloat | Extra delay when the line is busy | Grade A or B |
What is a good internet speed?
For most homes, 100 Mbps download and 10–20 Mbps upload is comfortable: it covers several 4K streams, video calls and gaming at once. A single person who mostly browses and streams in HD is fine with 25 Mbps. Households that download large games, back up photos to the cloud or work from home with big files benefit from 300 Mbps to 1 Gbps, and from faster upload. Use our internet speed calculator to add up your own household.
Ping matters as much as speed for some uses. Competitive online games feel responsive below about 30 ms and start to lag above 100 ms. Video calls tolerate up to about 150 ms one way, but jitter above 30 ms causes frozen frames and robotic audio. Our ping test runs a longer series to catch spikes.
Why is my speed lower than my plan?
- Wi-Fi. The most common cause. Walls, distance and neighbors' networks can cut Wi-Fi speed by half or more. Test once on Wi-Fi next to the router and once with an Ethernet cable to see the difference.
- Other devices. Streaming, game updates and cloud backups on other devices share the same line. Pause them for an accurate test.
- Your device. Older phones, laptops and Wi-Fi adapters may top out at 100–300 Mbps even on a gigabit plan. Browser extensions and VPNs slow the test too.
- Time of day. Shared cable and mobile networks slow down in the evening when everyone is online.
- Bits and bytes. Plans are sold in megabits per second (Mbps). Download managers show megabytes per second (MB/s), which is 8 times smaller: 100 Mbps is 12.5 MB/s. Our Mbps to MB/s converter does the math.
- Overhead. Network protocols use roughly 5–10% of the line, so a 100 Mbps plan typically measures 90–95 Mbps at best.
How to get a faster, more stable connection
- Restart your modem and router; it clears memory leaks and can move you to a better channel.
- Place the router high, central and in the open, away from microwaves and thick walls.
- Use the 5 GHz or 6 GHz Wi-Fi band for speed close to the router; 2.4 GHz reaches farther but is slower.
- Plug in game consoles, TVs and work computers with Ethernet where you can.
- For a large home, a mesh Wi-Fi system usually beats a range extender.
- If your bufferbloat grade is C or worse, turn on Smart Queue Management (SQM) or "QoS" in your router settings.
- Test at different times. If the speed is consistently far below your plan over a cable, contact your provider with your results.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this internet speed test?
The test uses several parallel connections to the nearest Cloudflare data center and ignores the ramp-up at the start, which is the same approach as other major speed tests. Results between tests normally differ by a few percent. Bigger differences usually come from Wi-Fi, other devices on your network or a busy time of day, not from the test.
What is a good download and upload speed?
25 Mbps download is enough for one person streaming in HD; 100 Mbps comfortably serves a family with 4K streaming and gaming. For upload, 10 Mbps covers HD video calls, while 20 Mbps or more helps with cloud backups and live streaming.
What is a good ping?
Under 20 ms is excellent, 20–50 ms is good for gaming and calls, 50–100 ms is acceptable for most things, and over 100 ms is noticeable in fast games. Ping depends on the distance to the server, your Wi-Fi and how busy your line is.
Why does my result differ from other speed tests?
Each service tests against different servers, uses a different number of connections and averages the result differently. Testing to a server in another city adds latency and can lower the speed. Run tests one after another on the same device and connection to compare fairly.
How much data does a speed test use?
It depends on your speed, because the test runs for a fixed time. At 50 Mbps a full test uses about 100 MB; at 500 Mbps, about 1 GB. On a metered mobile plan, keep that in mind before testing often.
Is 100 Mbps fast?
Yes, for most households. 100 Mbps lets you stream 4K on three or four TVs at once, or download a 50 GB game in a little over an hour. Gigabit (1,000 Mbps) mainly helps with very large downloads and homes with many heavy users.
Does a VPN affect my speed test?
Yes. A VPN sends your traffic through its own server first, which usually adds ping and lowers speed. Turn the VPN off to test your actual line, or leave it on to see the speed you really get through the VPN.
Speed results depend on your device, browser, Wi-Fi and network conditions at the time of the test. For a complaint to your provider, run several tests over a wired connection at different times of day.