TL;DR
The 5 best internet speed tests are:
- RealSpeed ★★★★★
- Google Fiber ★★★★★
- M-Lab ★★★★★
- Internet Speed at a Glance ★★★★☆
- Your ISP's speed test ★★★☆☆
This list is based on thorough research into the qualities of speed tests.
Think of it as a summary of studies like The best speed test, The most accurate speed test, Climate-friendly speed tests and tests like Clutter-free speed tests.
This top 5 replaces our previously published top 10.
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 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. Google Fiber
http://speed.googlefiber.net/ Google Fiber speed test (The original -) 0 5/5 stars ★★★★★ Hans van der Graaf 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.
3. M-Lab
https://speed.measurementlab.net/ M-Lab speed test 0 5/5 stars ★★★★★ Hans van der Graaf 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.
4. Internet Speed at a Glance
https://speedtest.zomdir.com/ Internet Speed at a Glance 0 4/5 stars ★★★★☆ Hans van der Graaf Hans van der Graaf
Internet Speed at a Glance is ideal for quickly checking internet problems.
Note that the Ultimate Speed Test Test and Internet Speed at a Glance are both part of the same ZOMDir project.
Reason enough to be critical of this speed test in this speed test study.
However, Internet Speed at a Glance was created for a reason. Namely, providing insight as quickly as possible as to whether the internet speed is acceptable. Since Internet Speed at a Glance is programmed as a Progressive Web App (PWA), it is possible to install it on your phone as a separate application. As a result, it can be quickly checked at all times whether the internet speed is acceptable.
Climate friendly
This is the fastest speed test there is. The webpage is less than one third in size compared to the average size of a webpage. Hence this speed test loads extremely fast. This small footprint makes this the most climate friendly speed test.
Result is a range
The measured speed test is not given exactly, but the range within which the measured speed falls.
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 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.