Making Sense of a Broadband Speed Check
Getting a handle on all the jargon of broadband is always a bit confusing but it really is worth getting to know your stuff. The truth is, making sure you get the best broadband deals and the most out of them requires getting a basic knowledge of what to expect from your provider and how to measure if you are getting it.
So you have done your test and you know your speeds, but what do those digits actually mean? Broadband speed is measured usually in Megabits per second. This is usually abbreviated to Mb, Mbps or Mb/sec. These are all the same thing. Its important not to get Mb's (megabits) mixed up with MB's (megabytes) as MB's are about eight times as big as Mb's. If you download anything you will notice that file sizes from things like music and movies are measure in MB's.
Dial up internet is so much slower than Broadband that it is measured in Kilobits per second. This is usually abbreviated to either K, Kb, Kbps or Kb/sec. There are 1000 Kilobits in a Megabit.
So some useful things to know are roughly how much big downloads can be-for instance a single music track would be around 4MB and an album would be anywhere between 40MB and 5MB.A feature film would around 700-000Mb, although the DVD quality ones can be in the Gb's (Gigabytes). If you want to game online- World of Warcraft is the most popular online game but also games like Splinter Cell are widely used- then you can expect to download between 4 MB and 40MB an hour. Keep this in mind when you are selecting your broadband package as many service providers will limit downloads.
For some people 2GB a month is plenty to browse with, however if you are gaming or downloading then you should look at a higher limit. Otherwise your speed may be capped by your provider once you have exceeded your limit. For instance if you have a 20Mb connection you may find it capped to 512Kb once over the download limit. Other providers will charge per Mb downloaded in excess of your cap.
Now what about the speeds? These days your line speed can be anything from 512Kb to a whopping 24Mb. This is what is advertised by service providers. You have to use a broadband speed checker to make sure that your area can receive this high speeds though, otherwise you may be paying for it and not using it.
So you have done your test and you know your speeds, but what do those digits actually mean? Broadband speed is measured usually in Megabits per second. This is usually abbreviated to Mb, Mbps or Mb/sec. These are all the same thing. Its important not to get Mb's (megabits) mixed up with MB's (megabytes) as MB's are about eight times as big as Mb's. If you download anything you will notice that file sizes from things like music and movies are measure in MB's.
Dial up internet is so much slower than Broadband that it is measured in Kilobits per second. This is usually abbreviated to either K, Kb, Kbps or Kb/sec. There are 1000 Kilobits in a Megabit.
So some useful things to know are roughly how much big downloads can be-for instance a single music track would be around 4MB and an album would be anywhere between 40MB and 5MB.A feature film would around 700-000Mb, although the DVD quality ones can be in the Gb's (Gigabytes). If you want to game online- World of Warcraft is the most popular online game but also games like Splinter Cell are widely used- then you can expect to download between 4 MB and 40MB an hour. Keep this in mind when you are selecting your broadband package as many service providers will limit downloads.
For some people 2GB a month is plenty to browse with, however if you are gaming or downloading then you should look at a higher limit. Otherwise your speed may be capped by your provider once you have exceeded your limit. For instance if you have a 20Mb connection you may find it capped to 512Kb once over the download limit. Other providers will charge per Mb downloaded in excess of your cap.
Now what about the speeds? These days your line speed can be anything from 512Kb to a whopping 24Mb. This is what is advertised by service providers. You have to use a broadband speed checker to make sure that your area can receive this high speeds though, otherwise you may be paying for it and not using it.
Broadband Speed Links
- Broadband Speed Check
- Use our free broadband speed check to see how fast your internet is really going.
- Compare Faster Broadband
- Start faster Internet Browsing today! We have given each Broadband Provider a rating out of 5 to show which provider we think offers best value for money, good service.
