Everything you need to know
If you're serious about getting into speed tests, you need to know what a speed test measures, why speed tests give different results and which factors makes a speed test excellent.
Perhaps the best summary can be found at the Did you know that ... page.
What a speed test measures
With a speed test you measure the bottleneck link between you and the speed test's test server.
That is you measure the bandwidth of the link with the lowest capacity...
Read more at What a speed test measures.
Why speed tests give different results
When you test your internet speed with different speed tests, you will get different results even if you have the same test conditions.
The standard explanation for this is that each speed test is programmed in a unique way. However that is probably not the only reason ...
Read more at Why speed tests give different results.
What makes a speed test excellent?
If you want to rate speed tests, you need to know what criteria the rating is based on.
After performing several speed tests, the conclusion is that an excellent speed test has the following characteristics ...
Read more at What makes a speed test excellent?.
Results of the ultimate speed test test
It is not easy to unambiguously determine what the best speed test is. This depends on the importance you assign to a criterion. Think of criteria such as: usually the best, the most accurate, the most climate-friendly or the most accessible.
The most accurate speed test
Which speed test is most accurate depends on the speed you measure (or expect to measure).
M-Lab is the only speed test that appears in the top 3
of most accurate speed tests for every speed tested.
Read more at the most accurate speed test.
The most privacy-friendly speed test
While testing online privacy of speed tests, we found that every speed test we tested that places cookies is not GDPR compliant. The number of privacy-friendly speed tests is therefore limited. Well known privavy-friendly speed tests are: Cloudflare, Fast and Google Fiber.
The most usable speed test
While testing the Usability of speed tests, we concluded that there are a lot usable speed tests. Well known usable speed tests are Cloudflare and Fast.
The most climate-friendly speed test
Speed test loads a lot of data to measure your download speed. Due to the widespread use of speed tests,
they contribute significantly to global CO2 emissions. It is therefore preferable not to use a speed test
if it is not really necessary. Should you use a speed test? Then use Internet Speed at a Glance or ...
Read more about climate-friendly speed tests.
The most accessible speed test
The accessibility of speed tests can be measured in many ways, the disabilities, like color blindness, low vision, tremors and loss of fine muscle control, and the WCAG guidelines determines what should be measured. Our advice for the most accessible speed test is based on 24 different tests.
All speed tests
The main findings of each tested speed test are available at the Speed tests page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you prefer a list of questions and answers regarding speed test, then you should read the ultimate speed test test FAQ.