Cox Speed Test Tips

(es)Your Internet connection is a crucial part of your everyday life. You use the Internet to connect to friends and family, accomplish work tasks, learn about the world around you and relax. But is your Internet connection fast and reliable? Internet speed, known as bandwidth, is a measure of how fast your Internet connection can transfer data packets each second. Typically, this speed is measured in megabits per second, or Mbps. The higher the Mbps, the faster your Internet connection runs. While you may need only a few Mbps to seamlessly use an email application, resource-intensive tasks like streaming 4K video content require a significant amount of data transfer. In practice, most people use multiple programs or perform multiple activities simultaneously. For example, you may play a competitive online game while streaming Netflix on your smart TV. Alternatively, you may check emails while running five work applications. So, high speeds on online tests may not translate into fast performance if you use many different devices and programs. When you use the Internet, data flows in two directions. Almost every digital interaction requires you to both download and upload data. And most Internet speed tests measure both your download speed and upload speed.

Conducting an Internet speed test is incredibly easy to do, offering insight to your download and upload speeds across any Internet provider. It will give you an accurate picture of your speeds during a specific period of time. Generally, a speed test has your Internet-connected device download and upload test packets of data to a few different nearby servers. Then, it measures the speed of both the download and upload process. Afterward, the test excludes the two fastest and two slowest response times and gives you an average of your overall download and upload speed. In addition to your upload speed and download speed, the Cox speed test will also measure your ping times and jitter. Ping is a measure of how long it takes your device to connect to the test server. Jitter is a measure of how consistent your Internet speeds are during the testing process. To use the Cox speed test, click the button at the top of the page to get started.

If you notice your speeds are slower than advertised by your ISP, consider performing the following actions before running the test again.

• Restart your modem and router.
• Stop all Internet use except for the speed test.
• Clear your browser's cache.
• Restart your computer.
• Use a wired connection.
• Move your router to a different location.
• Disconnect other Internet-connected devices.
• Choose a newer modem and router.
• Change Internet browsers.
• Use a different computer or device.