Many companies now, especially those with DSL and cable, are advertising speeds of upwards of a megabit or more. But what does “internet speed” really mean?
Let’s break it down:
“Mega” means millions.
A “Bit” is the basic unit of information or data–a binary digit– a single unit that is either 0 or 1. (You can remember it by using the bold letters from the words in combination.) Everything on the Internet and all information and software on your computer is composed of bits.
“Megabits per second” is often abbreviated Mbps.
So it breaks down into how quickly millions of bits can be delivered to, or from, your computer each second.
Internet connections are usually broken down into two speeds: download and upload. For most people, it’s the download speed matters most— that how quickly you will be able to experience all the web sites, emails, sound files, video streams, and telephone calls. It makes a big difference in your internet experience.
Upload speed measures how fast your computer sends data to the Internet. Unless you frequently send large volumes of or huge email or other files — or run a server of some sort – this speed likely isn’t critical.
It’s a good idea to run occasional internet speed tests, and track the history of the results so you can detect any problems. If your speeds don’t match the promises made by your Internet Service Provider (or ISP) — or they decline — it’s worth investigating.
Speedplexer can help you do that, and because it’s a desktop application, once you’ve downloaded it you don’t have to do more than simply double-click the icon in your system tray. There is no registration required, and you can run as many tests as you like for free!
Tags: Internet Experience, Internet Speed, Internet Speed Tests
Thanks for the info, very helpful!!