Hello! I am often asked what the Internet speed is measured in and how it can be checked. In fact, everything is quite simple. We will consider some of the nuances in the current publication.
To begin with, let's see in what units of measurement the speed of connection with the global network is calculated and what is the practical use of these numbers. Look further, there will be an example.
Internet speed units with example
The two most common units of measurement are:
- Kilobits per second (Kbps);
- Megabits per second (Mbps).
talking plain language the more, the faster. Let's move on to an example, for calculations in which the following values \u200b\u200bare used:
- 1 Megabit (Mbps) is equal to 1024 Kbps;
- 1 Megabyte (MB) is equal to 1024 Kilobytes (KB);
- 1 Kb is equal to 8 Kbps.
Let's say the connection speed is 4096 Kbps - that's exactly 4 Mbps. If you translate into Kb and Mb, then you get 512 Kb / s and 0.5 Mb / s, respectively.
Let's explain on a common situation. Suppose there is a file whose size is 700 MB. With the speed considered in the example, it can be downloaded in approximately 23-24 minutes. I calculated it simply - 700 divided by 0.5 MB and then by 60 seconds.
I note that many different parameters affect the speed values. We won’t delve into professional subtleties now, I’ll just say that the specific connection speed at any given time depends on them. That is, it can change over time.
Internet connection speed calculation
In what it is possible to measure the speed of the Internet, we looked at the numbers of various units of measurement. Now I'll tell you how to check the speed of connection to the global network. However, first you need to know that the connection speed is divided into 2 types:
- incoming;
- outgoing.
The first shows the speed of information transfer from the Internet to the user's computer, the second - vice versa.
You can check quickly enough. For example, here or here. If desired, the possibility of required tests You can find it on other sites, but the listed options, I think, are quite enough.
Do not be surprised if the speed parameters differ slightly from each other with each new check. This is usually normal. Why this happens is explained above.
Remote work and internet speed
Distant work designer, video processing specialist and in some other areas of employment may be associated with the need to transfer, upload large volumes data. As you can see, speed is important here. network connection, as they affect the lead time for a particular order.
What do you think, in general, in the network you can get normal income? I will say this: in fact, even for beginners, huge prospects open up if you forget about myths and take a serious approach to learning first and then to work. By the way, I will immediately please you - training in individual professional areas lasts not 5-10 years, but several weeks or months.
For starters, you should familiarize yourself with at least the in-demand professions of working on the network. You can find out about them at free online marathon.
Interested in learning more about computer literacy or remote work? This blog has already published a lot of real useful information. I am preparing new materials. If you wish, you can follow the events on the blog on social networks. Did thematic groups, pages.
You can also sign up for a free newsletter on e-mail by choosing the topic you are interested in. Until communication.
Netizens often ask what speed of the Internet channel is considered normal, what it depends on, and how to increase it. There is no single answer to these questions. Normal, or optimal data transfer rate is a relative concept.
Let's see why.
What is speed measured in
Bandwidth, or Internet channel speed, is an indicator of the amount of data that has been received or transmitted to the network per unit of time.
The amount of information transmitted over the network is measured in kilobits or megabits per second.
Abbreviations allowed:
- 1 kilobit/second - Kbps or Kbps
- 1 megabits/second - Mbps or Mbps
Important! If the baud rate is to be specified in bits, then the data size is in bytes (kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes).
For example, an HD video file weighs from 700 MB to 1.4 GB, in Full HD format - from 4 to 14 GB.
On a note!
1 byte = 8 bits.
1 megabyte = 8 megabits
1 megabyte/second = 8 megabit/second
Reasons for low internet speed
The explanations for why a movie takes a long time to load or a game “lags” are different.
- Internet service provider.
AT tariff plan specified conditions that real life may differ. - The number of users of the communication channel.
As the audience grows, the load on the channel increases. - Equipment.
A low-quality router is able to "eat" part of the traffic. - Loaded with unnecessary "junk" programs.
- Virus infection.
- Your device settings.
- Programs running in background. These include antiviruses and extensions that block ads.
Table: what this or that Internet speed is suitable for
Additional “aggravating” circumstances may affect the throughput of the channel. For example:
- The problem is not on your side - the server of the site from which you download or watch the series is overloaded. At the time of peak load, it will not be able to transfer data faster, even if your data plan allows you to receive it at a higher speed.
- The home channel is occupied by several users.
If at the same time someone from the home “cuts” into a multiplayer online games y, the other just received a video call, and you are trying to download a series, then everyone will feel the deterioration in the quality of data transfer.
How to measure internet speed
Exist different ways measure real speed internet on a computer.
1. Take measurements using the Speedtest.net program.
Click on the "BEGIN TEST" or "Start" button and the program will present the results in the form of a graph.
Speedtest measures 3 indicators:
- Ping - means the time that the signal passes from your server to someone else's and back. The smaller it is, the better quality internet connections. It is generally accepted that ping should not exceed 100 ms (milliseconds).
The gaming audience is sensitive to this indicator. The less ping, the less pause in the game. - Download speed (incoming) is the most important parameter for the user and the base one for the provider. It is for this indicator that the provider forms tariff plans. The higher it is, the more expensive the package of services.
- Upload speed (outgoing) - this indicator is of interest to the user in lesser degree- it has little effect on the boot process. Outgoing bandwidth is always lower than incoming, which looks logical.
2. To see the picture in dynamics - during the day, week, month - use the DU Meter utility. This is a professional tool, it is used in website performance testing. After the trial period expires, the service becomes paid. Download DU Meter: du-meter.en.com
Important! High-speed Internet does not always mean / guarantee a high-quality and stable connection.
An average throughput of 256 Kbps, but with good ping, is more comfortable than 100 Mbps, but with pings of half a second.
What speed do you need
Not all users know that they themselves are able to influence the increase in speed home internet. If after monitoring it is not up to good, try a few steps:
- Clean your computer of unnecessary bandwidth-hungry programs.
- Set your wifi password to without fail so that "uninvited guests" cannot connect to you.
- Unload your device as much as possible - turn off all currently unused applications, close unnecessary tabs, exit messengers.
- Increase the port bandwidth on your device, which is 9600 bps by default.
Step-by-step instructions for users of devices on Windows OS.
Serious interest in the subject internet connection speed usually occurs after or blogging in the process of them. This is due to the need to learn and, as a rule, increase the loading speed of the site, which depends, among other factors, to a large extent on internet speed. In this article, we will briefly consider what is incoming speed, outgoing speed, and most importantly, let's deal with units of data transfer rate, the concept of which is very vague for many novice users. In addition, we present simple Internet connection speed measurement methods through the most common online services.
What is it internet connection speed? The speed of an Internet connection is understood as the amount of information transmitted per unit of time. Distinguish incoming speed (receiving speed)- the speed of data transfer from the Internet to our computer; outgoing speed (transmission speed)- the speed of data transfer from our computer to the Internet.
Basic units for measuring internet speed
The basic unit for measuring the amount of transmitted information is bit(bit). Taken as the unit of time second. So the transmission speed will be measured bps Usually operate in units "kilobits per second" (Kbps), "megabits per second" (Mbps), "gigabits per second" (Gbps).
1 Gbps = 1000 Mbps = 1,000,000 Kbps = 1,000,000,000 bps.
On the English language basic unit for measuring the rate of information transfer, used in computer science- bits per second or bps will be bits per second or bps.
Kilobits per second and, in most cases, Megabits per second (Kbit / s; Kb / s; Kb / s; Kbps, Mbps; Mb / s; Mb / s; Mbps - the letter "b" is small) are used in technical specifications and contracts for the provision of services by Internet providers. It is in the given units that the speed of the Internet connection is determined in our rate plan. Usually, this speed promised by the provider is called the declared speed.
So, amount transmitted information is measured in bits. The size of a file being transferred or located on a computer's hard drive is measured in bytes(kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes). Byte (byte) is also a unit of quantity of information. One byte is equal to eight bits (1 Byte = 8 bits).
To make it easier to understand difference between bit and byte, can be said in other words. Information on the network is transmitted bit by bit. Therefore, the transfer rate is measured in bits per second. Volume the same stored data is measured in bytes. That's why download speed of a certain volume measured in bytes per second.
File transfer speed used by many user programs(downloaders, Internet browsers, file hosting) is measured in Kilobytes, Megabytes Gigabytes per second.
In other words, when connecting to the Internet, the tariff plans indicate the data transfer rate in Megabits per second. And downloading files from the Internet shows the speed in megabytes per second.
1 GB = 1024 MB = 1,048,576 KB = 1,073,741,824 Bytes;
1 MB = 1024 KB;
1 KB = 1024 Bytes.
In English, the basic unit for measuring the speed of information transfer - Byte per second or Byte / s will be byte per second or Bytes/s.
Kilobytes per second are referred to as KBytes/s, KB/s, KB/s, or KBps.
Megabytes per second - MB/s, MB/s, MB/s or MBps.
Kilobytes and Megabytes per second are always written with capital "B" both in Latin transcription and in Russian spelling: MB / s, MB / s, MB / s, MBps.
How to determine how many megabits are in megabytes and vice versa ?!
1 MB/s = 8 Mbit/s.
For example, if the data transfer rate displayed by the browser is 2 MB/s (2 megabytes per second), then in megabits it will be eight times more - 16 Mbps (16 megabits per second).
16 Megabits per second = 16 / 8 = 2.0 Megabytes per second.
That is, to get the speed value in "Megabytes per second", you need to divide the value in "Megabits per second" by eight and vice versa.
In addition to the data transfer rate, an important measured parameter is reaction time of our computer, denoted ping. In other words, ping is the time it takes our computer to respond to a sent request. The lower the ping, the lower, for example, the waiting time required to open a web page. It is clear that the lower the ping, the better. When measuring ping, the time it takes for a packet to pass from the measuring server is determined. online service to our computer and back.
Determination of Internet connection speed
For speed detection Internet connection, there are several methods. Some are more accurate, others are less accurate. In our case, for practical needs, I think it is enough to use some of the most common and well-proven online services. Almost all of them, in addition to checking the speed of the Internet, contain many other functions, including our location, provider, the reaction time of our computer (ping), etc.
If you wish, you can experiment a lot by comparing the measurement results of various services and choosing the ones you like. For example, I am satisfied with such services as the well-known Yandex internetometer, as well as two more SPEED.IO andSPEEDTEST.NET.
The Internet speed measurement page in Yandex Internetometer opens at ipinf.ru/speedtest.php(picture 1). To increase the measurement accuracy, select your location with a marker on the map and press the left mouse button. The measurement process starts. Results of the measured incoming (download) and outgoing (upload ) speeds are reflected in the pop-up table and on the left in the panel.
Figure 1. Internet speed measurement page in Yandex internetometer
The SPEED.IO and SPEEDTEST.NET services, in which the measurement process is animated in a dashboard similar to a car one (Figures 2, 3), are simply pleasant to use.
Figure 2. Internet connection speed measurement in the SPEED.IO service
Figure 3. Internet connection speed measurement in the SPEEDTEST.NET service
The use of these services is intuitive and usually does not cause any difficulties. Again, incoming (download), outgoing (upload) speeds are determined, ping . Speed.io measures the current speed of the Internet to the company's server closest to us.
In addition, in the SPEEDTEST.NET service, you can test the quality of the network, compare your previous measurement results with real ones, find out the results of other users, compare your results with the speed promised by the provider.
Along with the above, the following services are widely used:CY- PR. com, SPEED. YOIP
Prostoweb decided to learn the secrets of measuring and globally checking the Internet speed offered by your ISP with the help of special programs and testing services: Speedtest or Speedtest, 2ip.ru, Realspeed. What is my internet speed? - after all, this question worries many Internet users. Let's study the internet speed test together!
How is internet speed measured?
Therefore, in reality, “the speed or measurement of the speed of the Internet” is nothing more than the speed of data transfer on the network, which depends on many factors.
This speed is measured in physical units, as the ratio of transmission time to the amount of information transmitted. Many have heard about indicators such as Kbps, Mbps, Gigabits / s, they, like the speed of a car, show how quickly it will “reach” us desired file from a web or web page.
A byte is a unit of storage and processing of digital information.
- 1 Byte = 8 bits. It is to the byte that all the large amounts of information that are calculated in computer technology are given.
- 1 kilobyte (KB) = 1024 bytes.
- 1 megabyte (MB) = 1024 KB. It is used to measure the volume of storage media.
- 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1024 MB.
Data transfer speed (connection speed) is measured in kilobits per second (Kbps). Megabits per second (Mbps) = 1024 Kbps.
Beginning Internet users often confuse kilobits with kilobytes. Therefore, let's look at an example. Imagine that, in our tariff plan, the Internet speed is 0.5 Mbps or 512 Kbps (Kb) per second. If we translate the speed into kilobytes, we get 512 Kbps / 8 = 64 Kbytes / s. Just such top speed should be expected when displaying download speeds in download managers or torrent clients.
In reality, the speed will always be slightly lower than stated in the tariff plan of your provider. If you need to convert from one connection speed unit to another, use the online calculator to help you with this.
For clarity of connection speed indicators, let's imagine a typical web page that takes 100 kilobytes, a song - an average of 3072 kilobytes (3 megabytes), a movie - 1572864 kilobytes (1.5 gigabytes). Let's make a table of dependence of download speed on Internet speed.
Download speed | 56 kbps | 256 kbps | 1 Mbps | 16 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Web page | |||||
Song | |||||
Movie |
How to test internet speed
In most cases, you have to pay for the speed of Internet access. And the higher it is, the more expensive it will cost us. The main thing that every user should be worried about is whether we really get what we pay for. To check and control the speed of the Internet, there are several groups of software products.
Online tests
These are sites that host scripts that show your speed relative to any site. It should be noted that the readings of these sites give an error. Even with two consecutive tests, you can get results that differ by 20-30%. To improve the accuracy of tests, you must turn off all programs that consume traffic. And also choose the tester that is closest to you geographically. It is useful to take some measurements different time days, given that test servers can be loaded into certain time stock.
The most famous free sites for testing Internet speed:
- http://speedtest.net/ - one of the most famous services for testing the speed of the Internet connection. To start the test, click "Begin Test" and get the download speed and file upload speed.
- http://2ip.ru/speed/ - hoster that provides great amount tests and comprehensive information about your connection.
- http://www.speedtest.com.ua/speedtest-net.htm - a simplified version of speedtest.net.
- http://www.speedtest.com.ua/ - also a simple speed test on the Ukrainian domain. Press the "Start Test" button.
- http://realspeed.co.kz/ - another Russian-language tester.
- http://www.numion.com/YourSpeed/ - this tester can show summary statistics for 25 measurements and also allows you to check speeds against servers in different countries peace.
Programs for determining and testing Internet speed that require installation on a PC
There are very few such programs, because it is better to test the Internet download speed between your computer and a remote server, which are the sites described above.
In the third millennium, the Internet quietly became an indispensable phenomenon in every home and in popularity came close to its competitor - television. Today, even older people make a choice in favor of the global network, because, unlike television, there is freedom of choice and endless possibilities. It often happens that the user is not satisfied with his Internet speed and asks a logical question - "What Internet speed is considered normal?". It will not be possible to answer it unequivocally, no matter how much you would like to. First of all, you need to determine several purposes for which you need the global Internet. And then, based on the goals, determine the speed.
We will not delve into discrete mathematics to learn in detail what a measure of Internet speed is. It will be enough to say, so as not to mislead some, that Mbits and Mbytes are different units measurement information. And since users are more familiar with the usual megabytes, we give the following analogies:
- An Internet speed of 512 Mbps equals the speed of downloading any file of 64 kilobytes in 1 second.
- 6 megabits of the declared speed by the provider will equal about 750 kilobytes per second.
- Internet with 16 Mbps will download 2 megabytes per second of information from the network.
What Internet speed is considered good for mobile devices
For mobile devices, such as a tablet or phone, a speed of 1 Mbps will be enough. Although this may not be enough if the user is going to perform several online tasks at once, i.e. watching movies, downloading files, etc. Usually, mobile content is several times smaller, which is why it also requires fewer resources than web versions of sites and applications. One Mbit is quite enough for other tasks, for example, for talking in Skype and other instant messengers. We can firmly say that this speed is quite normal for mobile devices.
What should be the speed of the Internet for online games and watching movies
Games and movies online are the most Internet-consuming tasks for a computer. Not always the speed you paid for is normal for watching a movie online in HD quality. And there are no fraudulent actions on the part of the provider. The thing is that there is not a single Internet provider that could provide a round-the-clock stable speed of transmitted information. This is facilitated by various factors - from the elementary load of the network, to the capabilities of your computer and location on the network.
More often it is gamers who turn to this question, because for effective and interesting game they just need to use a stable internet speed. Known figures for the speed of data transfer over the network, which are necessary for the most popular online games.
- For those who love the fantasy world of World of Warcraft, 512 Mbps will be enough.
- World of Tanks and Dota games are at the same level of Internet consumption - up to 1 Mbps.
- For Counter Strike, half a Mbit is also enough.
It is also worth considering the type of data transfer. If you have a 16 Mbps package connected via satellite signal, then it is likely that a 10 Mbps Internet connection that is connected via cable will be better and faster. This is due to the fact that the wireless connection is characterized by a large loss of data packets during transmission.
Internet Service Tariffs
To watch movies in different quality today it is necessary to know the approximate desired speed Internet.
- To watch videos with a 360p broadcast type, you need an Internet connection with a speed of about 1 Mbps ().
- To watch the broadcast with 720p, 5 Mbps will be enough.
- To view online video in Ultra HD 4K quality, you need more than 30 Mbps.
For what purposes do you need an Internet speed of more than 30 Mbps
At the moment, there are faster connections, but they are correspondingly expensive. Not every ISP is capable of providing speeds over 30 Mbps. First of all, such speed will be needed for those who have expensive and powerful devices, televisions with high resolution, computers with great performance that allow you to play demanding content. Users who often upload various videos, programs, games of large volumes to the network also need high speed. Therefore, the concept of normal Internet speed depends primarily on your tasks.
Anyone who uses the Internet for informational purposes only - visit social networks, Internet magazines, reading books online, a speed of 1 Mbps of a quality connection (with minimal packet loss or low ping) will be enough.
For those who are more demanding on the global network, say, the middle segment (and such users most of) - infrequent downloading of files, watching Youtube videos and online movies, using online games, etc. A speed of 10 Mbps will be sufficient.
How to measure internet speed
In order to measure the speed of the Internet and determine whether it is low or normal for you, there are special online services and programs (). The easiest way is to use online services, because for this there is no need to download to your computer junk files and take up space hard drive. For the test to be as accurate as possible, you need to adhere to some conditions:
- Connect the cable directly through the network interface (network card) to the computer on which you will check the speed.
- On the computer being checked, you need to close all programs that are currently running. You also need to turn off all kinds of utilities that can run in the background, usually they are anti-virus firewalls and torrent clients that run with the computer.
- Open "Task Manager" and finally make sure that no downloads are in progress.
One of the popular services for checking the speed of packet transmission over a network is the service http://speedtest.net/ru/.
- To test your Internet, follow the link and click on the big button in the middle "Begin Test" (Begin Test).
- After that, the verification system will connect to the nearest server located to your place of residence and carry out all the necessary procedures to determine the speed.
- At the end of the test, you will see on the monitor all the information on your connection, namely: the number of lost packets (ping), incoming and outgoing connection speed and your current IP address.
Service Speed Test
Another similar service, which is available at https://2ip.ua/. Here you can also check the speed by clicking on the button home page"Test". It is noteworthy that sometimes the test results between these two services differ and the difference in places is large. But it cannot be said unequivocally that the services powder the brains of users, because the conditions and methods of verification may vary. Not to mention other factors influencing the result - the location of service servers, network congestion in present moments etc.
Service 2ip
Can't name exact number Internet speed in Mbps, which would be suitable for each user and would be considered normal. You need to choose a package with a certain speed based on your needs.
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