Using testmy.net

[pokeys12]

Hello all and new here. I use a Viasat dish with up 25Mps. My speeds are no where near 25Mps. I'm wondering what is the best way to run a speed test, using the one supplied or by the manual one by setting what my provider speed is set to.

Thanks

[CA3LE]

Larger tests sizes are better but can become unnecessary if they're too large.

 

Here's an equation I use.  

(speed in Mbps / 8 * seconds you'd like the test to run for)

 

So on a 25 Mbps connection where we'd like the test to run for 7 seconds... 25/8*7 = ~22MB

 

So yes, picking the same size (in MB) as your quoted package speed (in Mbps) is pretty much the same... it will yield a slightly longer test time (8 seconds) than what TestMy.net deems as necessary for an accurate result (5-7 seconds).

 

But your connection isn't running at 25 Mbps down.

 

?t=u&l=50&q=pokeys12's Speed Test Results

 

When you're testing at the low (5.92 Mbps) using 25 MB

 

25/(5.92/8) = 33.78 sec

 

average (11.46 Mbps)

25/(11.46/8) = 17.45 sec

 

and the high (15.5 Mbps)

25/(15.5/8) = 12.9 sec

 

So 25 MB will take longer than necessary in your case.  Even when you're running on the high end.

 

Long story short...

A nice quick test will probably be to take your average and round it down a little.  Say about -10%, quickly in your head.  Call it 10 MB (remember MB is different than Mb).  If you end up testing 10 MB and it goes too quickly (that would be nice)... TestMy.net will forward you to a size it thinks will work better.  (By default this auto forwarding only happens if the test size is less than 12MB [3 MB for upload tests], there will be a user setting to control these defaults soon.  Auto test can do that too.)

 

Using TestMy.net you're able to take extra long tests if that helps you troubleshoot but for average daily testing something that's going to take 5-7 seconds is usually sufficient.  When in doubt, click "Test My Download Speed" or "Test My Upload Speed" (I think that's what you've already been using) and TMN will quickly figure it for you on a per-test basis.

 

[pokeys12]

Thanks for the info. My average download it 10 or so MB's. Upload is only 2-3 MB's. I'm not getting no where near the speed that I need say to stream TV. My laptop is not as fast as I think it should be. I may ditch VIasat and go with another carrier.