Speed varies greatly.
Speed varies greatly.
I just switched to a gigabit router-modem package. Photos attached: https://imgur.com/a/vNqII0N. Some sites claim 12mbps, others 250 Mbps. My speed test shows 250, Chrome extension says 700 Mbps. Cox says everything’s fine. I know a few Mb differences, but hundreds? They can’t come into homes due to the pandemic. Confused about what to do.
Speed tests don't always show the true picture. Using various servers gives an incomplete view. It might be an issue with the method, so consider adjusting how you test. Have you checked by downloading a fairly big file to gauge performance around 100MB/s?
Loaded a file from Steam, reached a limit of 30. Attempted to download BFV from the source, got 11MB.
@Windows7ge @piratemonkey The speed test extension showed task manager reaching 990 Mbps, whereas Cox's site capped at 260 Mbps. Both locations were in Louisiana. This is quite confusing.
The best method to measure Internet performance is with a dedicated app, like Speedtest.net on a wired machine or a line-based reader. Using a browser or any WiFi-connected device won’t provide reliable results. Even on my tablet, the Stand-Alone test shows much slower speeds than expected. This discrepancy happens because the app selects servers randomly, not always your ISP’s location. A single test might show servers as being far away—sometimes just a few miles, other times over six miles. On my desktop, I consistently connect to my ISP’s server, achieving around 935 Mbps on fiber. Web browsers add extra load from ads and traffic, usually reducing accuracy by 30-40%. While Ookla is often cited, results differ widely. Even with the mobile app, which claims high accuracy, it still struggles with overhead, especially when using data-heavy features. When I move to offshore servers, the added latency further impacts precision.