Internet Provider

20 No Nonsense Internet Speed Testers

Posted by admin on 03/25/2010 | 0 Comments

Help! My Internet Provider is not giving me the Speeds I Paid For!

How many times per day do you wonder if you are getting all of the Internet bandwidth that you purchased from your high speed Internet provider? Well the only way to know for sure is to put your connection to the test with one or preferably more of the many available and free tools online that will measure your upload and download speeds. Many people experience issues with their Internet and just aren’t sure where to go to test their connection. We prepared a list of 20 of the best internet speed testers to help you get to the bottom of your high speed internet connection conerns.

• Audit My PC – One of the most comprehensive and free Internet speed testers. You can easily add this functionality to your website as well if you want to give people the chance to test their speeds from your site.
• My Speed Test – Despite a couple of pop-up ads this is another good broadband speed tester that is free to use. It’s very simple to use but seems to take a little longer than some of the other tools.
• Speed Test – This is another cool widget that you can install on your own website very easily to monitor upload and download speeds. It is also a free tool.
• CNET – CNET asks you a few questions about your service and then provides you with a testing tool. You can download their desktop tool to continuously monitor your internet speeds. This is really useful if you are having issues with your broadband provider.
• Speed Matters – This is a good looking website where you can test your speeds after providing them with an email address. We recommend that you use a free email service or email account where you don’t mind receiving streams of email ads.
• Broadband.gov – The purpose of the Consumer Broadband Test is to help people get information about the quality of their broadband connection. You anawer a few questions on this government site and then can test your connection.
• Voip Review – This testing tool has a great interface and is fun to use you can also get a gauge for whether your broadband connection matches with the type of connection you are supposed to have (dsl internet versus cable internet, etc.)
• DSL Reports – If you are interested in testing the speed of your mobile phone or just want a simple text based speed test for your computer then this is the tester for you to use. It isn’t fancy, but it is effective.
• Bandwidth Place – This is a huge speedometer style internet speed test that is free and a no questions asked experience. It also generates a simple results report for you to cut and paste and send to your internet provider if need be.
• Internet Frog – This looks like a reused widget, but it’s always good to have multiple places to go when you want to test your connection. This is a great tool which makes it easy to see what speeds you should be getting versus what you are getting.

What is Internet connection speed?

When we mention Internet connect speed we are talking about the bi-directional data transfer rates between your computer and the Internet. In short, how much time it takes for your computer to download something from the Internet or upload something to the Internet. This is normally measured in megabits per second (Mbps). In the case of a DSL connection with a 1Mbps connection it should take you 10 to 20 seconds to download a 1 MB file. On a 28.8 bps modem, that same file would easily take 4 to 5 minutes to download. As you can see, the difference is staggering and can dramaticially impact productivity at home or at the office. It’s always a good idea to keep your internet provider honest by periodically running an Internet speed test and reporting any variations from what you are actually paying for every month.  Here are more free internet speed testing tools:

• McAfee – They don’t JUST offer a great anti-virus program they also have a fun and free internet speed tester to go along with their other utilities for optimizing your Internet experience. This one really explains Internet speeds well in every day terms to make it easy to understand by everyone.
• Test Internet Speed – Right at the top of the page and about as no nonsense as a speed test gets. This is a site that lives up to its name and simply gives you a quick place to test your speed. They also provide some system scan tools in case the connection speed is not your problem.
• Verizon High Speed Internet – You gotta love it when an internet provider is bold enough to put a speed tester right on their site for their users. If you have Verizon and think you have speed issues testing here would be pretty good support for an argument with their customer service team.
• PC Pitstop – Okay so this is just a great name for a site so it had to be put onto the list. This is another free tool that you can use to test your connection speed, NOTE: you want to start by selecting a server in the middle of the page not with the Download Now button (unless you want to run a system scan to fix other problems on your PC).
• Bandwidth.com – Well these guys will give you a free test but will also likely hit you up with a request to make a proposal on replacing your internet provider. They are focused on business internet usage but the test will work for the same for everyone.
• Vonage – For those that don’t know, Vonage offers an alternative phone service to anyone with a broadband Internet connection. Of course, you have to have a decent Internet connection for their service to work and accordingly they provide this speed test tool.
• TestMy – This site has a bunch of tools around testing your internet connection including some handy techno term conversion calculators that can help you compare your bytes to your kbps.
• Xmission – Your mission should you choose to accept it is to make sure you have Flash installed so you can run this really cool internet speed test.
• Speed Test Pro – If you are more of a technical guy and you know what MRTG is, you will love this speed test. It’s a desktop application, but it’s totally free so if you have a windows PC you might really like this one for continuous connection testing.
• ZDNet – Just tell this little widget where you are testing from home, work, etc. and it is off to the races testing your speeds with a unique interface. ZDNet also has compiled some great information about broadband in general to share with visitors to this tester.

Recommendations for Complaining to Your Internet Provider

So if you have ran several of the tools and have identified a potential problem you are ready to contact your internet provider and have them take a look for themselves. They most likely will have a utility for you to run or if possible will access your router and run tests of their own. When you complete a ticket request with them (or send an email or chat with them online), you should have your test results and where you ran the tests handy. If they have a speed tester on their site, it will save you time if you test with it and use its results in your complaint. Bottom line, support your argument don’t just call them up and ask them why your high speed Internet connection is too slow. Tell them exactly how slow it is versus what you are paying for. You also want to read any fine print on your contract that covers the actual range of speeds that they really are committing to when you sign up with them.

10 Ways You Know Your Internet is SLOW!

Posted by admin on 03/23/2010 | 0 Comments

1. Text on Web pages appears as Morse Code
2. Images arrive via the USPS
3. You believe a heavier cable might improve your connection
4. You post a message to your favorite forum and it displays a week later
5. Your credit card expires while waiting for your online order to submit
6. ESPN Web site exhibits “Heisman Trophy Winner” …for 2008
7. You`re still in the middle of downloading that popular new game, “Tetris”
8. Everyone you talk to on the `skype` sounds like Forrest Gump
9. You receive e-mails with stamps on them (snail mail)
10. When you click the “Send” button, a little door opens on the side of your display and a pigeon flies out.

If you know any more slow internet jokes be sure to share them with us at blog@internetprovider.net.