Your connection’s latency is tested by sending a signal, called a ping, to the network server and back. Just remember to turn it back on after the test.
If your security software is interfering with your speed test, turn it off for the duration of the test. This will interfere with your test results. Occasionally, security software will flag a dummy file if it’s an unrecognized file type. The dummy files used during speed tests are small and harmless. To test upload speed, it does the same thing but in reverse.
The size of the file divided by the download time gives you your megabits per second (Mbps). The speed test measures how long your computer takes to download the file through your AT&T internet connection. When you start the speed test, it will prompt your computer to download a dummy file. How does the AT&T internet speed test work?
This speed test also includes all the insights you need as an AT&T customer to make meaningful comparisons with your speed test results. Some internet speed tests use servers that are farther away, which can make your latency seem higher than it actually is. This AT&T speed test uses nearby servers to deliver the most accurate results possible. Basic video streaming also works on one device.
It works best if you stick to doing internet research, sending emails, and checking the news. Your connection is fast enough to get the job done-just as long as the job isn't too big. That's good! But if you need faster load times, there's plenty of room to upgrade. Your connection qualifies (or almost qualifies) as the FCC's definition of broadband: 25 Mbps. Most online activities work great for you, but things might slow down if too many people start streaming in 4K or downloading large files. Not too slow and not too fast-that's how you roll. You also have the bandwidth for intense online gaming, if that's your thing. With speeds like this, several people can stream at the same time. There's not much that can slow your connection down. How does it feel to be on top? You can stream live sports in UHD in every room, download huge files in minutes, and connect tons of devices. That said, you will start to notice high ping if you're trying to make split-second decisions in an online multiplayer game, and it can also cause annoying delays during video call conversations.Your speed is faster than % of our speed test results. In most cases, ping differences are pretty minor, enough so that you won't notice them without running a speed test. Your ping might also rise slightly if you're connecting through something like a mesh router or a range extender, where your data needs to make multiple wireless jumps before reaching the modem. Ping will go up if you're connecting to a server that's very far away, or if there's some sort of interference somewhere in the connection. Think of it like a round-trip flight time for your internet connection. Simply put, the ping number is the time that it took for your device to send a signal to whatever distant server you connected to during the speed test, and then receive a response. In addition to showing you the current upload and download speeds for whatever device you're running the test on, most internet speed tests will also give you a figure called ping, which is a latency measurement measured in milliseconds. That's not surprising, but it might make a slight impact on your results depending on the strength of your connection at the time of the test. You can even run the Ookla speed test on an Apple TV.Īll of that said, Ookla does display banner ads while you run basic speed tests. In addition to the website and the smartphone apps, Ookla also has apps that you can run on Windows or on Mac. Most recently, the service released a video-specific speed test that measures your network's ability to handle 4K video streams.
Ookla's done a good job of keeping up with the times by adding new features and capabilities over the years. Incidentally, Ookla's speed test is also the one we use when we're testing Wi-Fi routers.
Popularity aside, we like Ookla for having everything a basic user needs from a speed test: accuracy, the ability to view your speed test history (when you create an account), a wide array of servers to connect to, and even a handy app for speed testing from your Android or iOS device. One of our favorites is the Ookla speed test, which has a strong reputation for consistency and for being one of the first speed tests on the web.