Wifi speed test online: What factors affect Wifi speed & performance?

Occasionally, you will face a Wifi connection error that suddenly becomes slow for unknown reasons.

In this case, the solution to confirm if there is a problem with Wifi is a wifi speed test online.

However, sometimes in the speedtest Wifi, users often make mistakes that lead to erroneous results.

In the following article, MySpeed will introduce to you 5 mistakes when you check Wifi speed to avoid.

Wifi speed test online

Speedtest WIFI conducts 3 small tests: ping, download speed, and upload speed

To test speed wifi online, Speedtest WIFI will conduct 3 small tests: ping, download speed, and upload speed. 

• Ping test: this test is related to network latency. Latency is the amount of time it takes for a packet of data to travel from one computer to another over the network.

• Download test: check how fast Internet content is downloaded to your computer, including the time it takes to stream video on your computer or time for downloading files.

• Upload test: check how long it takes to transfer files or content from your computer to the Internet.

Speed in all download and upload speed tests are measured in megabits per second (Mbps), ping time in milliseconds (ms). 

There are many circumstances where you should test your network connection speed. For example, when you have just installed the network but want to check if the speed is correct with the carrier's plan; or when you watch movies or play games but the network is not stable. Whenever having problems relating to your network and you want to check Wifi speed, a wifi speed test is essential.

Wifi network speed test online

How to test my Wifi speed? On the market today, there are many online speed test services that can run directly on web browsers, such as:

• Speedtest.net: service provided by Ookla, which allows users to perform parallel stream tests to return exact result speed or single connection mode to simulate the process of downloading files of size big.

• Fast.com: If you want to experience the easiest online WiFi speed test, you can visit it. This helps you check the speed of watching movies on Netflix.

• Gospeedcheck.com: This service provides 3 separate tests to test upload and download speed, and ping time to test Wifi speed over a period of time. Besides, it keeps track of how it's doing which helps you easily to observe your Wifi.

Gospeedcheck.com keeps track helping you easily to observe your Wifi

You can read the previous article “website performance testing tools ” to find out the most suitable testing tool.

Factors impact Speedtest WIFI

In fact, speed test tools are pretty straightforward. However, there are many factors that can affect and slow down your Internet connection, interfere with tests, and return erroneous results.

Here are 6 mistakes when testing Wifi speed to avoid:

Wifi Speed Test Location

To get accurate Wifi speed test results, the location where you put your computer or mobile device to test may also affect. If you stand in different positions, different results will be returned. 

In addition, factors such as walls, windows, ... can also prevent or decrease the Wifi signal strength. Especially, broadcasting devices such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, ... more affect the Wifi signal.

Test Location also affects the speed check Wifi test a lot

Solution: choose the appropriate location to test, ideally put your computer or mobile devices in the same room or the location of the Wifi router for testing.

Perform Test On Slow Computer

The biggest mistake that many users make when using speed check Wifi is conducted on old computers or computers using old network cables or routers, not being able to use the Internet speed that ISP ( internet service provider) supports.

Modern network cables are capable of handling data rates of up to 1000 Mbps. On older computers, the network cable was only capable of handling speeds of 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps as well as backward systems can not afford to solve new advanced internet connections. 

Don’t run a speed test on old computers or computers using old network cables

Solution: Testing Wifi speed on several devices or replacing the old ones (suggested: Best router for 400 Mbps internet). Then average all the results from the tests on the devices to get the most accurate results. This limits the errors when using speed tests.

The application consumes a lot of bandwidth

One of the biggest problems users often overlook when doing an internet speed test is that the test device consumes a lot of bandwidth.

Solution: Find and close bandwidth-consuming applications on the test device.

Follow the steps below to check and close bandwidth-consuming, network-connected applications through Task Manager:

Step 1: Right-click on any empty space on the Taskbar, and select Task Manager.

Step 2: Select the Processes tab.

Step 3: Select the Network column to arrange the processes in order using the network connection.

Step 4: Save the processes at the top of the list, these are the processes that consume the most bandwidth.

Right-click on these processes, and select End task to close the processes. The next step is to run an internet speed test.

Internal Traffic

There are two types of network traffic that can have a negative impact on the Speedtest WIFI, including internal traffic and external traffic. Internal traffic refers to the number of devices connecting Wifi in your house, family.

Solution: stop all unnecessary devices connecting Wifi during the test. Make sure all members of your family disconnect from the Wi-Fi during the test.

External Traffic

Even your neighbors also affect the speed of your Internet connection. This is especially true if you live in densely populated areas where a lot of families live close together. Many people joining one internet line can cause congestion. 

This is similar to the slow, laggy internet situation in public places. To limit this cause, you should change the wifi password periodically so that if anyone knows the previous password, they will not be able to use your home wifi after changing it.

Change the wifi password periodically

Solution: Do multiple tests at different times of day and week. By taking a speed test multiple times that will give you different results, then taking an average result, you will get a more accurate overview of your actual Internet speed. 

Use a VPN when testing

Make sure you are not using a VPN application, proxy, data saver application, or anything else between your computer and the Internet. They can, and often, slow down your connection, so using them while testing will not provide accurate results. 

VPN (a virtual private network) is dependent on the speed of your connection to the Internet. Whatever the connection's speed, the VPN cannot be faster.  Moreover, checking Wifi speed while turning on VPN, the test will measure the VPN performance, not your real network. 

Solution: Turn off the VPN while using the internet speed test to have the most accurate testing result.

Turn off the VPN while using the internet speed test