Broadband speed tests are a way of finding out if your internet speeds match the speeds advertised by your internet service provider. The only way of doing this is by sending and receiving packets of data to and from a server that is accessible on the World Wide Web. In order to carry out a broadband speed test, you must either use software designed for that purpose or access one of the many internet websites that can test your connection for you via public internet connected servers around the world. To conduct a broadband speed test, follow these steps:

-First connect to the web site or load the software you want to use to test you broadband speed.

-Some applications will then ask you what area in the world you would like to test the data transfer speeds with your connection. Though with most applications, there is a default server attached to the website or software that you are using.

-Stage 1 of the test will be the latency test. Latency, or ping, is the time, in milliseconds, it takes for data packets to get from one sender to a receiver. Ping speeds can range quite drastically depending on the internet connection infrastructure of the country in question. Good latency speeds are generally around 20 to 45ms in developed countries, whereas countries that have yet to build a good data transfer infrastructure, the latency could easily be over half a second.

-After the latency test will come the download speed test. The server you are connecting to will now send packets of data to your computer. The speed at which the data is received will identify your download speeds.

-The next test will be an upload test. Data packets will then be sent from your computer, up to the server. The speed at which they are received will ascertain your data upload capacity.

-The highest upload and download speed that your connection reached will then determine your maximum possible connection speed for that particular server.

Be sure to remember that distance plays a big factor in the speed of your connection. The further away you are from a particular server, then the more wires and gateways and bottlenecks there are to reduce your internet speeds.

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