In average, the internet speed worldwide is going up in a steady pace. When people are demanding faster and faster internet, they tend to accuse their Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that restrict their limitations. People keep asking: "is my internet fast enough?"
Unlike with the reliable performance of electricity and water, people wonder if they actually not receiving the advertised internet performance from their ISP. This is because internet speed varies from time to time - you may have fast and reliable internet on specific time while on other times it runs at a snail pace. To check whether you have the speed you want or not can be done with a couple of simple tests.
To begin with, review the last monthly invoice/bill from your ISP. What speed have you subscribed for? Speeds generally range from as low as 128Kbps up to 100Mbps, but those results will also vary between regions and providers. If the exact speeds aren't listed on your invoice, you may need to verify it with your ISP.
Once you have the exact downstream and upstream speed you've subscribed to, it's time to test your internet connection. When testing your download and upload speeds, you should expect your final results to reflect over 80 percent of the service speed you subscribe to, which allows 10-20 percent for overhead.
The next step is to test your internet service quality. Sometimes, increased latency or packet loss is the real cause behind slow bandwidth speeds and the substandard performance of connection-intensive services, like YouTube for instance. If you use a wireless connection, consider testing by plugging your computer into your modem or router with a direct ethernet connection to see if that improves the performance.
Once you all of the results, you should be able to see if something isn't quite normal. You may contact your provider for information about you line quality. If your service speed test result is less than 80 percent of your subscribed rate, there might be something wrong with your physical connection or your provider's equipment.
If your service is performing as advertised, but you're still not sure, you may have simply outgrown your service package. Providers update their package offerings regularly and, if you signed up for your internet service months ago, you may want to contact them to make sure you're getting the best service they have to offer you within your service package.
If you’re still unsatisfied with the performance of your connection, verify that you are subscribed to the best service package for you. In many cases, spending just a little more per month on your broadband can dramatically improve your speeds and provide a better experience in all internet activities.
The Amount of Overhead
Beside network and CPU performance, there is also a natural amount of overhead that may cause slower internet speed than expected from your broadband service. When data is being transferred across a network, some of it is information required for routing the message and describing the content. This extra data is referred to as overhead. Overhead acts like an envelope with the message as its container. Overhead makes for a larger amount of data that must be transmitted.
Regarding this, the final bandwidth may be decreased slightly to take all of this into account. Accordingly, in these circumstances you can expect only approximately 80-90 percent of your subscribed speed when testing using most web-based speed tests.
Looking at the Security of Wireless Network
Wireless network has been a device that is common in many offices and houses. To make sure that the line is secured, protect it with a password. Without it, someone else could be connected and utilize your bandwidth causing a significant speed decrease.
You may also check the signal's strength - the higher it is, the better. outer in your home, make sure that it is secured with a password. If not, it is possible that someone else could be connected and utilizing your bandwidth, causing your connection to appear much slower.
Background Services, Programs and Devices
Modern operating systems use many services that work on the background. Beside programs, these services could be using bandwidth on your local network, impacting the result of upload and download, degrading it to a substantial amount. To optimize your result, verify that no other applications and services are running on your computer that could be sending and receiving data.
Also check other computer(s) connected to the network, as well as other internet connected devices such as DVRs, gaming consoles, smartphones, tablets and others.
Install antivirus with firewall capable to secure your computer. The more a computer is exposed to the internet, the chances for it to be infected with malicious programs get higher exponentially. Malicious programs may use your connection and decrease its performance.
The Number of People for Connection
Broadband subscription usually advertises speeds with "up to", which is not a guaranteed minimum rate. Typically, this is because the connection you subscribe to also shared with other users in your area, or at least routes through shared network hubs in the region you are at.
Usually, the internet speed decreases on work days in office hours, and decreases more during the evening towards the night. And on weekends, some may see their internet speed varies. Most of the time, internet speed is at it's top performance when less people are using it: around midnight onwards.
Slightly slower than expected speeds aren’t always due to network issues. Remember to factor in your CPU load, which could be a cause for intermittent slowness. CPU load should always be lower than 80 percent for optimal internet speed performance.
Conclusion
There are many possibilities that affect the speed of your internet connection. From your ISP, network and your computer. But the overall quality and speed of speed is still largely determined by the capabilities of your ISP.
Always get new updates from your IPS and see what they have to offer. During a certain amount of time, ISP may give discounts or a speed boost for specific packages, and usually you won't know about these offers unless you keep yourself updated with their latest information.