- The objective of this test is to remove as many variables as possible, in order to obtain results that reflect your true connection capacity to your provider.
- Disable the WiFi on your router (you will need to be able to login into your router to do this, see manufacturer’s instructions.) *
- Disconnect all hardwired devices from the router, such as printers and switches.
- Connect just your computer with a network cable, aka cat5, cat6 or ethernet, to your router’s LAN ports. **
- Disable any background activities such as Apple Photos, Dropbox, or Google Drive sync.
- Head to Speedtest.net and test your speed 3 times.
* If you can’t disable the WiFi on the router, make sure you are logged into it with the network cable, then temporarily change the Network Name (aka SSID) which will cause all wireless devices to disconnect. Don’t forget to change that back when you are done testing.
** If you do not have a network cable or a wired network connection on your computer, try to make sure that during the tests, the only device that connects to your router is your computer. However, the speed test may reflect your WiFi negotiations speeds, and not your provider, and because many variables impact your WiFi connectivity, this can drastically change from test to test. Just walking to another room can lower your speed by 50% or more. When possible, hard-wire to the router to run this test.