Internet speed test

The test runs straight from your browser against the nearest server of Cloudflare's public speed test network, so the traffic never touches our servers.

• Download speed (Mbps): how fast data reaches you. Streaming, browsing and downloads depend on it.
• Upload speed (Mbps): how fast you can send data. It matters for video calls, cloud backups and live streaming.
• Ping (ms): the round-trip time to the server on an idle connection. Lower is better for games and calls.
• Jitter (ms): how much the ping varies. High jitter causes choppy calls even when the average ping looks fine.
• Latency under load: the ping while the line is busy. A big jump here is called bufferbloat.

The tool also shows speed in MB/s, which download managers display. 1 byte = 8 bits, so 100 Mbps is about 12.5 MB/s.

These are practical rules of thumb, the same thresholds the result summary uses:

Download speed	Good enough for
under 3 Mbps	Email and basic browsing; video will stall
3–8 Mbps	Browsing and SD video
8–25 Mbps	HD streaming and video calls
25–100 Mbps	A 4K stream or several HD streams at once
100+ Mbps	Several 4K streams and large downloads in a household

For upload, about 3 Mbps is enough for an HD video call; 20 Mbps or more makes cloud backups and live streaming comfortable. For gaming, ping matters more than bandwidth: under 30 ms is excellent, 30–60 ms is good, and above 100 ms you will notice lag.

Internet plans are sold as up-to speeds, and many things sit between the provider and your browser:

• Wi-Fi: distance, walls, interference from neighbors' networks and older routers can cut speed dramatically. Test once with an Ethernet cable to see what the line itself delivers.
• Other devices: a game update, a cloud backup or a 4K stream elsewhere in the house shares the same connection.
• The device: older phones and laptops, VPNs and some security software limit throughput.
• Time of day: busy evening hours can slow shared networks such as cable.

The built-in troubleshooter under the test detects your system and walks you through the fixes. Work through them in this order:

1. Cable vs. Wi-Fi: run one test on Ethernet. If the wired result is fine, the problem is Wi-Fi. Move closer to the router, use the 5 GHz or 6 GHz band nearby, and put the router in a central, open spot.
2. Restart the modem and router: unplug both, wait about 30 seconds, plug in the modem first, then the router.
3. Turn off the VPN and test again. A VPN routes traffic through a distant server and often lowers speed and raises ping.
4. Fix bufferbloat: if ping jumps by 100 ms or more under load, turn on QoS or SQM (smart queue management) on your router, set slightly below your measured speeds, and test again.
5. Check the device: on Windows 11, Settings › Network & internet shows whether you're on Wi-Fi or Ethernet; on a Mac, System Settings › Network. Low power modes on phones and laptops can also slow Wi-Fi.

If a wired test is consistently far below your plan after a restart, contact your provider with the results.

Your last 10 results are kept in this browser and listed below the test, so you can compare Wi-Fi and cable, different rooms or times of day. They are stored only locally; nothing is uploaded, and clearing your browser data deletes them.

On a fast connection a full test can transfer several hundred megabytes, because larger test files are needed to measure higher speeds accurately. Keep that in mind on a metered mobile plan or hotspot. If an ad blocker, a corporate firewall or a VPN blocks speed.cloudflare.com, the test can't run, and you'll see a message explaining that. To estimate how long a specific file will take at your speed, use the download time calculator.