How To Test Your Router Speed

Having a good router at home is much more important than you think. Nowadays, a router is not just about connecting your computer or your laptop to Wi-Fi anymore.

A good router will maximize internet speeds and connect all the smart devices in your home.

As well as with other tech products, there are good and bad Wi-Fi routers on the market. Some of them won´t give you fast internet, some of them won´t even give you a stable connection.

What Is A Router Used For?

A router is a hardware device used in computer networking that transfers or routes data to different destinations base on their addresses. It functions as a gateway between the internet and all devices connected to it. Simply put, your router handles network traffic. In most common home network scenarios, you need a modem to connect to the internet, and then you need a router to dispatch the internet information to your devices.

Wireless router (most common at-home networking) provides Wi-Fi access to laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other devices with Wi-Fi capabilities. It may also provide standard Ethernet routing for a small number of wired network devices.

There are also Wi-Fi routers that can act as a combination router and modem. These devices will convert an incoming broadband signal from your ISP.

 

Let’s suppose you already have a router at home and want to test if it gives you the best possible internet speed you can get in your location.

How To Test Your Router Speed

Checking the speed of your router is a quick and easy process. There are dozens of websites that let you test the speed for free.

What You Are Testing?

When we are speaking about testing your home Wi-Fi network, we’re looking for two basic measurements: download and upload speed. There is also a third term you will see while you run an internet speed test: ping. Basically, it is the response time of your Wi-Fi network. A crucial measurement for online gaming. The result is in milliseconds, and a lower number is better.

Internet Speed Test Services

The easiest and quickest way to test your Wi-Fi speed is to use free, browser-based tests such as speedtest.net, fast.com, peedtest.telstra.com or openspeedtest.com. All these apps work on a similar principle by downloading and uploading a small amount of data and then measuring the transfer speed.

All you need to do is clicking the button and then watch the needle move. In about 20 seconds you will see your download, upload, and ping results, all related to the transfer speed of your router.

 

How To Test Your Router Speed

Ideal Wi-Fi Condition For Test

For the best results, you want to make an ideal environment for testing.

Check if your router is unobstructed. Find if no one else is using all the bandwidth through streaming or online gaming.

Close all open web pages, pause all downloads or updates. Now, you are ready to test your router speed.

Test The Connection Between Your Computer And Router

You can do it easily with a ping command in Windows.

  • Click start
  • Enter cmd in the search field
  • Enter ipconfig, and look for IPv4 address.
  • Enter ping, the IP address of the router you have found next to the IPv4, and press Enter. For example “192.168.1.1” for TP-Link or Asus router, “192.168.0.1” for Netgear. Find more router´s IP addresses – A List of Common Default Router IP Addresses

After a few seconds, you should see results like this:

  • If “Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss)” displays – The connection is good and the signal successfully reached the router.
  • If “Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)” displays – The connection is faulty and none of the signals did reached the router.

 

 

Tip: If you want to improve the Wi-Fi speed between your computer and router, take the computer closer to the router or remove any physical obstructions and interferences between these two devices.

There are hundreds of wireless routers on the market and finding the right one isn’t easy. That´s why we’ve gathered two of the best Wi-Fi routers worth your money that will definitely meet all your requirements.

 

 

Google Wifi

Google Wifi
Get awesome wireless performance

Google Wifi is one large step to the future of wireless networking and proof that we are facing a mesh revolution. Google Wifi is the most straightforward router on the market. It is easy to set up, has stellar performance, reliability and it looks fantastic. View GOOGLE WIFI on Amazon.

 

 

 

TP-Link Archer C5400 router

TP-Link Archer C5400
Great speed and coverage

The Asus RT-AC86U is a reliable, competent router that does extremely well at long distances where competitors fall short. It combines security and gaming enhancements with excellent customizability and a built-in stand. View ASUS RT-AC86U on Amazon.

 

 

 

RECOMMENDED

 

 

Sources

  1. What Is a Router and How to Use One, MakeUseOf 
  2. Router, Computer Hope 

 

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Nechstar team. We aim to highlight products and services you might find interesting, and if you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners, including Amazon.

Leave a Comment