How to check your internet speed and improve it

Picture this: you’ve had a long day and all you want to do is kick back, relax, and watch Kath & Kim for the 15^th time. You get all set up on your couch and press play, but are greeted by the dreaded loading circle of doom!  

It sucks when your streaming is loading at a snail’s pace, or when your character is running on the spot when gaming online. In these moments of frustration, you could be tempted to rush into rearranging your home network or upgrading your router.  

Before jumping into action, comparing speed test results to the speeds of your internet plan can save you money. If your results aren’t reaching your plan speeds, upgrading to a higher plan won’t really help. 

How do I run a speed test? 

To test the speed of your internet connection, you can use websites such as Speedtest.net or Fast.com. Fast.com is run by Netflix, and is the recommended option for testing your internet’s streaming performance, as the test will check your connection to Netflix streaming servers. Aussie Broadband customers can also use speed.aussiebroadband.com.au.  

Running a speed test from a device that’s connected by a network cable (or ‘ethernet’ cable) will display the highest speeds possible on your network. Alternatively, running tests from your smartphone from different areas in your home helps measure the speed and range of your Wi-Fi connection.  

To use Speedtest.net, you can follow these steps: 

1. Open a browser on your phone or computer and go to https://speedtest.net/. 

2. Click on the Go button in the middle of the page. 

3. Watch and wait for the test to complete. 

4. Once the test is finished, you will see your download and upload speeds as well as your ping time (latency). If you’re experiencing speed issues in a specific room or area, run the test again in a few different locations to compare the results and signal strength.

What do my speed test results mean? 

Most speed test websites and apps will display your results for download speed, upload speed, and the ping (latency) for each direction. Here’s what they mean for you:  

• Download speed is the most relevant result for various ways we use the internet – particularly when using streaming services, browsing websites, and accessing files stored in the cloud. 

• Upload speed is more applicable when it comes to uploading files to cloud storage, voice and video calls, and sending large email attachments.  

• Ping is a term to describe a signal that is sent from your device to the speed test server. 

• Latency is the measurement of time (in milliseconds) it takes for data to travel from your device to the test server and back again.  

How can I improve my internet speeds? 

Speed issues can happen for a few reasons, maybe you have you too many gadgets hogging the bandwidth, your phone line may have been damaged by mother nature, or your router may be past its prime from the demands of a modern Australian household. 
 

If your internet is performing poorly when connected to Wi-Fi, but performing normally when plugged in with an ethernet cable, there are extra steps you can try to specifically improve the reach of your Wi-Fi. This includes things like upgrading your modem (or router), adding Wi-Fi ‘extenders’ around the house, changing the settings on your device, or moving your router to a more optimal location.  

There are countless solutions for maximising the speed of your internet plan, depending on your individual circumstances.

For more detailed information and step-by-step instructions for maximising your internet speeds, be sure to check out our comprehensive guide for Improving slow internet speeds in our Help Centre.

What is a 'good' internet speed? 

When troubleshooting a slow connection, it’s good to figure out whether your internet plan and modem (or router) is suitable for your household’s online activities. If you’ve got 5 people in your house trying to game and stream content on a low-speed connection plan, it won’t be fun having to compete for more megabits per second! 

The first step towards improving your internet speeds is having a rough idea of what is a ‘good’ speed is for your online activities.  

• If you use the internet for email, social media, listening to music, or surfing the Web, then a speed test result of 5Mbps per user is more than enough.   

• If you’re jumping on YouTube or Netflix to watch high-definition (HD) video content, you may need about 10Mbps for each person streaming while connected to your internet. 

• If you’re looking to play (and download) games online; watch 4K and ultra-high-definition (UHD) movies; or if you’ve got a home office where you’re heavily using high quality images or videos, cloud services, video conferencing, and a VPN – the ideal speeds are upwards of 20Mbps for each user with these needs. 

The above estimates are measured per user. If you’ve got multiple people in the household, then each person is going to use a portion of the total speeds you can achieve.  

For example, if you’ve got two people watching Netflix at the same time, and a third person who is working from home, then you’ll want to see some speed test results on your connection that are around 30 to 50Mbps (depending on your individual circumstances).  

If you’re on a Mobile Broadband plan or facing some network congestion during peak periods – a speed test might not tell the whole story. You could experience variations of high and low speeds, which will impact the quality of your online experience.  

What is a good download and upload speed when gaming? 

Speed tests don’t always reflect your internet performance when playing online games.  

In fact, you don't need a lot of upload and download speed to play games online – typically, speeds of at least 10Mbps are optimal. For most game servers located in Australia, you can expect a ping test result of 10 to 50 milliseconds (ms). What’s more important for online gaming is having a connection with low latency, as speed won’t fix laggy gameplay if your latency in-game is high.