Download large file test bandwidth

Of course, a smaller file will require shorted download time too. Download speed is the amount of data that is transferred per second between two Internet-connected devices. It may be expressed in various units which are multiples of a BIT - the smallest unit in computers. Those are bits, Kilobits, Megabits, Gigabits and so on. To convert Kilobits to Megabits you have to divide them by To convert the Megabits to Gigabits you have to divide them to again and so on.

The download speed is determined by your service provider and the hardware limits of the connection. For example the highest download speed of a Base-T connection is Megabits. Of course that speed is the maximum that can be reached on such hardware and may be slower based on the Internet plan that you have signed for. You can check your download and upload speeds at SpeedTest. The download and upload speed are usually different. In most cases the upload speed is much slower than the download speed.

If the two are equal we call such connection symmetric. Jitter Test: Jitter is measured in milliseconds and is indicative of the delay in time that the data takes in travelling to its destination. Speed test Measure the speed of your Internet connection. How to get the most accurate results Stand next to the modem when running a speed test to reduce interference from other devices and electronics.

Use a trusted browser, such as Google Chrome. Download speed is most relevant for people who are consuming content on the Internet, and we want FAST. Your test results are stored on our servers to allow us to report on the average speeds of each of the providers. This helps other visitors to our site to decide which is the best broadband provider for their needs, as do any ratings you leave for your provider.

Rating your provider or entering your postcode are optional, the test will work without these. However if we have your postcode then we're able to show you the estimated speeds for your line and which technologies are available in your area. This allows you to better understand your speed in context and determine whether you have a fault, or if you're just experiencing the speeds expected in your area.

Broadband speed is generally measured in megabits per second. This is written as 'Mbps' or just 'Mb', sometimes this is also referred to as 'meg' or 'megs'.

A 'bit' is a single binary digit of data. There are 1,, bits in a megabit. Most computers measure filesize in 'bytes' rather than bits. Bits tend to be abbreviated to lower case b while bytes are abbreviated to upper case B, so a MB is very different to a Mb.

There are 8 bits to 1 byte, bytes to the kilobyte and kilobytes to the megabyte. This means that there are actually 1,, bytes or 8,, bits in a megabyte. File transfer speed, as reported during a download, is likely to be measured in megabytes per second rather than megabits per second, which means this is more than 8 times slower than you might expect if you thought megabits and megabytes were equivalent. In reality a 38Mb fibre broadband connection can only download a file at 4. However for most webpages that's immediate loading, and for the average music album download, that's approximately one track per second.

You'd also be able to download the average standard definition movie in just 3. Obviously on a 76Mb connection these times are roughly halved or a little over. We often get asked why broadband speed checkers sometimes report download speeds slower than the maximum theoretically possible at a property.

We've compiled a list of some of the causes of slow broadband connections. You can use our broadband speed test to test your speeds at any time. We suggest you try speed tests a number of times over a period before reporting issues to your providers technical support. If you're a heavy downloader then faster speeds will certainly allow you to download more files more quickly.

If you stream videos, TV shows and films over your connection then download speeds of 5Mb or over should allow high definition content without buffering. However if you live in a home with more than one Internet user, perhaps other family members or housemates, then you can quickly discover that you need several times that at times when everyone's using your connection, especially if more than one of you wants to stream video.

If you currently experience regular buffering of videos and slowdowns when other people are using your connection then you'd also very likely benefit from a speed upgrade. If you're not currently using a cable or fibre service then switching from standard broadband to a superfast connection will most definitely produce a significant speed improvement.

If you're already on cable or fibre and on a slower package, this speed reduction is likely to be artificially enforced.

Switching to a package with a higher speed limit will likely see a significant increase in your speeds. On Virgin Media cable services this is likely to always be the case, as their lines are rated to be able to achieve the maximum speeds. On a fibre to the cabinet service such as BT Infinity , your distance from the street cabinet can reduce the maximum speed that your line can support.

If you're currently on a half speed up to 38Mb service and currently seeing less that 38Mb then it's unlikely that you'll be able to benefit from switching to a faster package. If you get the full 38Mb then you still may not get the full 76Mb when you upgrade but instead get a lower figure between those two, determined by your line length. If you're unsure about this, your provider will be able to give you an accurate estimate of the maximum speed your line can support.

If you're only able to switch from one standard phoneline broadband service to another then speed changes are unlikely to be as significant as switching from one broadband technology to another. However if you're on a smaller budget provider then factors such as traffic management and peak time congestion may be slowing you down either due to artificial limits or the supplier's network capacity being saturated. In this case switching to a more expensive small provider with a better reputation, or switching to a larger supplier who has invested in their network capacity to allow them to advertise a 'truly unlimited' service may result in faster download speeds at peak times i.

However this is unlikely to be a very significant improvement, no more than increasing your evening speed to what you're currently able to achieve at off peak times like the early morning. If this is the case then LLU providers like TalkTalk or Sky may have put their own equipment into your exchange, allowing you to possibly get increases in speed of more than double. However the size of this increase will depend on line length in terms of distance from the telephone exchange.

If you're currently seeing maximum speeds of 7. But if you're a very long distance from the exchange you may see no increase, or only a small increase of 0. Our availability checker should be able to give you some idea of the speed difference you'll likely see and your new provider must give you an accurate estimate of speeds before you sign up. An error may result from having the speed test open in more than one browser tab or window.

Please try again later. To prevent this error, and get the most accurate test results, close all other browser tabs and windows before running. Why is the location I usually pick missing from the City list? We first complete a latency test to our servers, and if a server does not respond within a specified time frame, it is not included in the City list.

A slow response can be caused by latency or packet-loss between the client and server, or particularly high Internet usage during peak hours. Do try the test again in a little while. In which browsers does the Speed Test work best? For best results, use the most recent version of your favorite browser. Change your Cookie Settings or. Since , we offer monitoring solutions for businesses across all industries and all sizes, from SMB to large enterprises. We believe monitoring plays a vital part in reducing humankind's consumption of resources.

Our products help our customers optimize their IT, OT and IoT infrastructures, and reduce their energy consumption or emissions — for our future and our environment. Customer Login. Search Search. Network bandwidth test. Jump to the topic of your choice What is bandwidth? Test your bandwidth in 5 easy steps The advantages of a professional monitoring tool 3 types of sensors that every sysadmin needs Tip: Everyday bandwidth tests.

What is bandwidth? Find out more here: What is bandwidth? A firsthand look at a PRTG bandwidth test. Live Traffic Sensor. Packet Sniffer Sensor. Step 1: Prepare your bandwidth test Create three HTTP Advanced sensors to access files on servers operating at different speeds, such as one that houses a static website.

Step 2: Perform your bandwidth test Let the sensors run for a few hours at intervals of a few minutes each. Step 4: End your bandwidth test If they run for too long, bandwidth tests can generate enormous amounts of data. Step 5: Expand your test to monitoring This kind of test only checks your bandwidth at a specific moment in time. Bandwidth at a glance — A case study PRTG is used by more than , administrators worldwide — and nearly all of them use it to monitor their traffic and bandwidth.

Keep a constant eye on your network — even while on the go. So you tested your bandwidth The advantages of a professional monitoring tool.