The 5 best internet speed tests

TL;DR

The 5 best internet speed tests are:

  1. RealSpeed ★★★★★
  2. Down at a Glance ★★★★★
  3. Google Fiber ★★★★★
  4. M-Lab ★★★★★
  5. Your ISP's speed test ★★★☆☆

This list is based on thorough research into the qualities of speed tests.

The results of our standardized test have determined this top 5 of speed tests.

If you are looking for a speed test with a specific goal in mind, use the Interactive Speed Test Advisor.

 

1. RealSpeed

https://samknows.com/realspeed/ RealSpeed 0 5/5 stars ★★★★★ Hans van der Graaf

What RealSpeed does is brilliant. This speed test measures your router's internet speed and your device's internet speed. By doing this you know the speed delivered by your ISP and the speed you have at your device.

Creating RealSpeed took years of preparation. Before this speed test was rolled out, millions of routers have been equipped with the SamKnows Router Agent in recent years.

However, it was worth the wait. Almost immediately after the release of the RealSpeed speed test, this speed test is our number 1, because RealSpeed immediately makes it clear whether your home network is the bottleneck.

Accurate

RealSpeed measures both the Internet speed of your router and the Internet speed of your device with great accuracy. RealSpeed is that good that we wonder if you should use another speed test.

No VPN test possible

The only negative we've encountered so far is that RealSpeed ​​doesn't work when you use a VPN connection.

 

2. Down at a Glance

https://down.zomdir.com/ Down at a Glance 0 5/5 stars ★★★★★ Hans van der Graaf

Down at a Glance is ideal for quickly and accurately measuring your internet speed.

Down at a Glance is based on M-Lab's official NDT-7 Javascript client library.

M-Lab is known as an extremely reliable and accurate speed test.

Our experience with speed testing has allowed us to improve M-Lab's speed test in a number of areas, making Down at a Glance one of the most accurate, fastest, most accessible, and data-efficient speed tests available.

Our comparison of M-Lab and Down at a Glance clearly shows the similarities and differences between the two speed tests.

Down at a Glance has to share this second place with True Speed at a Glance. The biggest difference between both speed tests is that Down at a Glance measures the advertised speed while True Speed at a Glance measures your true speed.

Note that the Ultimate Speed Test Test and Down at a Glance/True Speed at a Glance are part of the same ZOMDir project.

 

3. Google Fiber

http://speed.googlefiber.net/ Google Fiber speed test (The original -) 0 5/5 stars ★★★★★ Hans van der Graaf

The combination of speed and accuracy makes the original Google Fiber speed test the best speed test there is.

This speed test was developed for Google Fiber customers. Google Fiber is a Gigabit internet provider in the United States. However, anyone with an internet connection can use this speed test.

When you're not on the Google Fiber network, you'll get a warning that "Performing a speed test on your mobile network may result in data charges." Because Google Fiber is faster than most other speed tests, in practice the amount of data that is used will be less than these speed tests.

Google Fiber measures the most important features of your internet connection, namely download spped, upload speed and ping time. There is a clear indication when the speed test is finished, the measurement results are clearly displayed.

Fast and accurate

With on average 16 seconds to complete, Google Fiber is one of the fastest speed test there is. Besides that Google Fiber is a very accurate speed test.

No secure connection

It's hard to find anything negative about Google Fiber. Perhaps the only thing is that no secure connection is used.

 

4. M-Lab

https://speed.measurementlab.net/ M-Lab speed test 0 5/5 stars ★★★★★ Hans van der Graaf

M-Lab is a very accurate speed test, it is part of an open source research project. By using the M-Lab speed test you contribute to this research project. Measurement Lab (M-Lab) is a measurement platform that provides one of the largest collections of public data on Internet performance.

M-Lab has a clear privacy policy that you must accept before starting the speed test.

In short, M-Lab collects your IP address (personal data according to the GDPR ), What your browser leaks and your measurements.

Besides the download speed and the upload speed, also the test server, the latency and the retransmission percentage is shown as a result.

Note that M-Lab is the only speed test which measures the retransmission percentage.

10 seconds per test

This speed test tries to transfer as much data as it can in ten seconds (both up and down). As a result, the results are available within a fixed time.

On a narrow screen, scrolling is required to restart

On narrow screens you have to scroll up to restart the speed test. After a test the "Again" button is not visible. You have to scroll up to see the "Again" button.

 

5. Your ISP's speed test

https://www.speedtest.net/ Your ISP's speed test (Probably an Ookla clone) 0 3/5 stars ★★★☆☆ Hans van der Graaf

Ookla's speedtest.net is the gold standard for speed tests. This is because the vast majority of ISPs recommend this speed test or offer a clone of the Ookla Speedtest.

No wonder that the Ookla Speedtest is the most recommended speed test there is. However Ookla's speed test is not the best in any of the tests conducted for the Ultimate Speed Test Test. Because the speed test uses cookies, shows ads (the clutter free score is dramatic) and is not too fast, the Ookla speed test scores less well than it could.

Your ISP usually offers an Ookla clone without ads. This immediately makes such a clone a lot more attractive than the original.

Not that such a clone is a good speed test. The only reason to use this speed test is to collect hard data to be able to file justified complaints with your ISP about the delivered speed. Make sure you test correctly.

Much more speed tests

Of course there are much more speed tests. For an overview of tested speed tests, go to our speed tests page.