Test your connection
Our own Ookla-powered server. Free, no sign-up, and no catch, then scroll down and we will tell you what the numbers actually mean, which is the part that matters.
Ready when you are
For the most accurate result, test on a computer plugged in with a cable rather than on Wi-Fi, and stop anything large that’s downloading.
Loads from kittsit.speedtestcustom.com. Nothing is contacted until you click.
What the numbers mean
Providers sell on the first one. Three of the other numbers explain almost every complaint we get called about.
Download
How fast data reaches you.The number providers advertise, and usually the least interesting one. Almost nothing a small office does is limited by download speed once you’re past about 100 Mbps, video calls use a fraction of it.
Upload
How fast data leaves you.The one that causes complaints. Video calls, cloud backup, sending large files, and hosting anything on site all depend on upload, and cable connections often provide a tenth of their download speed. If calls break up while everything else seems fine, look here first.
Ping / latency
How long a round trip takes, in milliseconds.Under 30ms is good, over 100ms is noticeable in a call. Latency is why a connection can be fast and still feel slow. Bandwidth is how wide the pipe is, latency is how long it takes anything to get through it.
Jitter
How much the latency varies.The most under-appreciated number on this page. Voice and video need a steady stream, so a connection with good average latency and high jitter will produce choppy calls and robotic audio while every other test looks fine. If your phones are bad and your internet seems good, this is usually why.
A good result doesn’t mean the problem is not real
This is the single most useful thing on the page. A speed test measures one device, at one moment, to one server. It doesn’t measure the wireless network the rest of your staff are on, the switch everything is plugged into, or the connection at four in the afternoon when it fails.
So a business gets a good number, is told by its provider that the line is fine, and is left with a problem nobody will own. In our experience most of those turn out to be the wireless network, an overloaded consumer router, a failing cable, or a saturated upload. None of which a speed test on one machine will show you.
If your connection tests well and still feels broken, that’s worth a conversation. We deal with the carriers directly rather than handing you a support number, and we test before we escalate.
Numbers look fine, internet still bad?
That is a network problem, not an internet problem, and it’s fixable. Tell us what you’re seeing.