When it comes to internet, more speed = more possibilities. Whether it’s streaming the newest series on Netflix or going into a work call without having stress about dropouts, you need internet speed. And after all, you don’t want to be held back by internet that slows you down.
In about 30 seconds, you’ll be able to get an inside view of what’s going on with your internet connection. Pretty cool, right? Let’s dig right into it.
How do you go about checking how speedy your internet is?
There’s a huge number of handy speed tester tools online, but your best bet is to check if your internet provider has a speed test for you to use. Reason for this is that it’ll give you a more accurate reading of your router, narrow down the culprits behind any speed issues, devices, or WiFi. Of course, you’ve got the My Lit Fibre App, which gives you the ins and outs of your full-fibre and check the speed of your connection anytime, anywhere. If not, there are tools out there like Ookla for you to give a try.
It’s also worth mentioning that if you’re consistently getting slow internet and you’ve got the speed tester to back you up, you might be able to get out your current broadband contract without having to pay any early termination fees depending on your provider. Give them a call and discuss what options you have – plus, we are here to help if you need. We don’t want to toot our horn too much, but full-fibre is the fastest technology in the world of internet so with us you can forget about internet slowing you down.
Let's decode what some of those commonly used tech terms mean...
• Ping: The time it takes for a piece of data to travel from your phone, laptop, or tablet, to the server and back. Having a low ping is great and means that data travels quickly on your device.
• Upload: The time it takes for your device to upload photos, emails, videos, and any other files to the internet or social media.
• Download: The measurement for how quickly your internet can load smooth streaming, gaming, downloading, website surfing, or anything your heart desires.
• Lag: A delay in getting information back over to your device. It’s the term commonly used to explain that annoying feeling when your internet slows down, e.g. paused video call, choppy audio, or a game cutting out for a few seconds.
• Jitter: The variation in time that it takes for data to travel from one point to another. So, in other words, when your connection is up and down and pretty unstable.
If you’re now all clued up on some of the internet jargon, head over to our Jargon Buster and have the chance to be named a Jargon Busting Wizard.
And for bonus points... Have a read about our handy article on symmetrical speeds, which means getting equal speeds for both upload and download.