It’s safe to assume that in 21st century, one of the most important things in our lives is the internet connection on our computers or mobile device. Subsequently, we feel quite jealous of every single Kbit of our internet speed and as soon as something feels off we fall into the state of absolute panic. In these moments, we transform into genuine IT experts quite resourceful in internet malfunction diagnostics. The absolutely first thing we do is check the speed of our internet, but unfortunately, our methods of doing so are not always as accurate as we would like them to be. With this in mind, here are 5 tips that are definitely going to make your future speed tests much more efficient.
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Restarting Your Modem
First thing you should do, before you even try with the speed test is to restart your modem, as well as your router. The thing about these two devices is that they function in pretty much similar way in which your computer does. The more your modem and router work, the greater the chance of a minor fluke appearing. By restarting or rebooting it, there is a chance that a problem will go away on its own. The difference in performance doesn’t even have to be that significant, but it is always good to know that your internet is operating on its maximum capacity.
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Restart Your Computer or Phone
Another thing you need to restart before testing are your computer or your phone. In order for your internet to perform admirably, every single part of the line must pull its own weight. Like with the modem or router, the more your computer or phone work the greater troubles they encounter. Because of this, just restarting it all and starting fresh might be the right way to go. Furthermore, there is one more thing you need to pay attention to. If your computer internet is underperforming, you might want to see what your phone is doing (if it is on the Wi-Fi on the same modem).
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Don’t Multitask While Testing
Next thing you need to keep in mind, is that when you are testing, you shouldn’t do anything else on your computer or phone. Sure, some may think that this only counts with things that you do on the internet, but in 2016 it is nearly impossible to tell which functions need internet. The reasons behind all of this are quite self-explanatory. Imagine doing an internet test while streaming the movie in the background or while downloading at the full speed. Not a pleasant sight and most definitely not an accurate one. Any good speed test is quite quick, which means that this abstaining from internet use will not be a significant sacrifice on your side.
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Always Go for HTML5 Based Test
Now, the title alone is quite self-explanatory. The most efficient way to test your internet is via HTML5 test and not a flash based one. Flash alone syphons a lot of your internet speed, which makes these tests into something closer to a guesswork than an actual exact measurement. Furthermore, the best thing about going with HTML5 is that you don’t need to waste your money on premium (especially when most of your fears may be unfounded) when you have great free internet speed test options out there.
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Change Your Wi-Fi Password
Last, but not the least important is that you might want to change your Wi-Fi password. We already talked about this when we mentioned that your phone might be stretching your connection thin, but that is still your phone that we are talking about. However, if someone managed to crack your code (or worse yet if you don’t have one) this might be the root of all your speed problems. So, if you tried absolutely everything and nothing worked, you might want to just try and change your password.
In the end, you must understand that no internet speed test is 100% reliable and that there can always be a discrepancy here and there. As you can see from this short list, most of these errors are not caused by the test, but by your own hardware, software or even internet-stealing-neighbors. Like always in life, if you want your internet to work flawlessly you need to work on it quite a bit.
Raul is a B.Sc. in Innovative entrepreneurship and has a lot to say about innovations in all aspects of digital technology and online marketing. While he’s not enjoying football and great food, you can find him on Technivorz.com
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