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Your last tests
Internet speed test
Speed of Bits measures your download speed, upload speed and ping in about twenty seconds. The test starts the moment the page opens. No app, no account, no advertising.
The short version. Download is how fast data reaches you, and it governs streaming and page loads. Upload is how fast data leaves you, and it governs video calls, backups and sending files. Ping is the round trip delay in milliseconds, and it governs how responsive everything feels. Most connections have far more download than upload, and that gap explains most of the frustration people blame on "slow internet".
The shape matters more than the number
Every speed test hands you a download figure. That figure is the least interesting thing about your connection, because almost every problem people actually notice is an upload problem — the video call that freezes the moment you start talking, the backup that never finishes, the document that takes ten minutes to send.
So Speed of Bits draws both directions on one shared scale. Download rises above the centre line; upload falls below it. Neither half is rescaled to flatter itself. If your download is twelve times your upload, the picture shows that gap at true size — and names it.
That ratio is the most useful fact about a connection, and it is the one nobody shows you. Read more about why upload is slow →
It remembers, so you can see decay
The real question behind a speed test is rarely "how fast am I?" It is "is this getting worse?" One number cannot answer that. A history can.
Speed of Bits keeps your last twenty results on your own device, in your browser, with no account and nothing sent to any server. Come back in a month and you will see whether your line has quietly degraded, or whether the evening slowdown you suspected is real. Clear it whenever you like.
What counts as good
| Activity | Download | Upload | Ping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browsing, email | 5 Mbps | 1 Mbps | Any |
| HD streaming | 10 Mbps | 1 Mbps | Any |
| 4K streaming | 25 Mbps | 1 Mbps | Any |
| Video calls | 5 Mbps | 5 Mbps | Under 60 ms |
| Online gaming | 10 Mbps | 3 Mbps | Under 40 ms |
| Cloud backup, large uploads | Any | 20 Mbps+ | Any |
| Busy household, 4+ people | 100 Mbps+ | 20 Mbps+ | Under 60 ms |
Full guide to what speed you actually need →
How the measurement works
- Parallel streams. A single connection usually cannot saturate a fast line, so the test opens several at once and sums the bytes.
- Slow-start is discarded. Connections take a moment to reach full speed; the earliest samples are thrown away rather than dragging your result down.
- Median ping. Latency is the median of eight round trips, so one unlucky packet cannot skew it.
- Measured against a global edge network, so the server answering you is usually close by.
- Incompressible data. The test transfers random bytes, so nothing along the path can compress them and inflate your score.
Getting an accurate result
- Close other tabs, downloads and streams first — they compete for the same line.
- Test over Ethernet to see what your line can really do. Wi-Fi is often the true bottleneck.
- If you must use Wi-Fi, move closer to the router and prefer the 5 GHz band.
- Test at several different hours. Evening congestion is real, and one result is a snapshot, not a verdict. Why evenings are slower →
Frequently asked questions
What is a good internet speed?
For browsing and HD video, 25 Mbps download is comfortable. For 4K or a household of several people, 100 Mbps or more is better. Upload matters separately: 10 Mbps upload is a practical floor for reliable video calls, and anything under 5 Mbps will make calls and large file transfers feel painful no matter how fast your download is.
Why is my upload speed so much slower than my download speed?
Because your provider designed it that way. Cable and DSL deliberately allocate most of the line's capacity to download, since most people consume far more than they send. A ten-to-one ratio is completely normal. Fibre is usually far closer to symmetric. This is not a fault, and your provider will not fix it, because it is working as intended.
What is ping and why does it matter?
Ping is the round trip time for a small packet to reach a server and come back, in milliseconds. It decides how responsive a connection feels rather than how much data it can move. Under 30 ms is excellent, 30 to 60 ms is good, and over 100 ms makes calls and games feel laggy regardless of bandwidth.
Why is my result lower than the plan I pay for?
Advertised speeds are the maximum under ideal conditions. Wi-Fi loss, an ageing router, distance from the access point, other devices, and peak-hour congestion each take a cut. Test over Ethernet to remove the most common cause. If a wired result is still far below your plan, that is worth raising with your provider.
How much data does a speed test use?
A full run transfers real data — often several hundred megabytes on a fast line — because that is the only honest way to measure throughput. On a metered or mobile plan it will consume part of your allowance, so avoid running it repeatedly on mobile data.
Is Speed of Bits free, and does it need an account?
Completely free. No account, no sign-up, no app. It runs entirely in your browser, shows no advertising, and sets no tracking cookies.
Does Speed of Bits store my results?
Your history is saved in your own browser's local storage, so you can see whether your connection is degrading. It is never uploaded to a server and never linked to an identity. Clear it any time with the button above.