Long waiting times for downloads? Quite a few have doubts as to whether they are really making full use of the bandwidth of their DSL connection. If you’re not sure whether everything is going according to plan with your connection, you should measure the transmission rate of your Internet access: we’ll show you how it’s done.
Who doesn’t know this: You start a larger download and have to wait what feels like an eternity until the file has finally landed on your home computer. Quite a few have doubts as to whether they are really making full use of the bandwidth of their DSL connection. If you are not entirely sure whether everything is going according to plan with your connection, you should measure the transfer rate of your Internet access: You can use a web app for a quick overview or a freeware download for long-term supervision of the line.
Fast measurement of the transmission rate: DSL speed test from CHIP
A very simple and reliable way to measure your own Internet transfer rate is the CHIP DSL speed test. Thanks to HTML5 technology, the test works in all modern browsers.
- Before the test, close all open programs and browser tabs to ensure that the tool has the full range available. If possible, you should also turn off or disconnect other devices connected to the network.
- Then open the CHIP DSL Speedtest in your web browser or click on the button that appears. The measurement begins with a simple click on the green “Start test” button. The best server in your area is automatically selected, the ping value and the download and upload speed are visualized in a very attractive way.
- When the results are in, you can repeat the test to rule out errors. If you have previously registered, you can also save the measured values and compare them after several measurements.
Speed test with money-back guarantee
You can find an official federal solution for measuring the DSL speed with the broadband measurement of the Federal Network Agency. On the one hand, the site is guaranteed to be free of advertising, and on the other hand, by participating in the network test study, you can contribute to a better result in the comparison of providers.
An amendment to the Telecommunications Act a few months ago also meant that the software can be used to reduce payments to the provider if the connection doesn’t deliver what it promises. To do this, you must take at least 30 measurements on three different days with the measurement campaign and send the data to your provider.
This is how experts measure the DSL speed: NetSpeedMonitor
The quick test is not enough for you, but you want to be able to see at any time how well your network is really performing? In this case, we recommend the freeware NetSpeedMonitor, which clicks into the Windows taskbar and permanently displays the current transfer rate or the daily and monthly data consumption. A must for all network admins with Windows computers!
- First you need to download and run the NetSpeedMonitor installer file.
- After the installation you will see the new tool in the right area of your taskbar. Hover over it to see more information about your connection, such as data usage for the current session, today, and the current month. The active network card is also named here.
- Right-clicking on the widget brings you some quick access options, such as deactivating data monitoring and under “Data traffic” a link to a tabular overview of Internet use over the past months. The settings can also be accessed in this way.
- In these you will find many customization options, which makes the tool highly recommended. In addition to settings for displaying the speed in KBytes or MBytes, Traffic can also be exported to an SQLite database and imported again later. You can also customize the layout of the toolbar here.
But too slow?
If the results, regardless of which test, deviate significantly from the DSL speed promised by your provider, you should consider the possible causes. A simple reason can of course be other bandwidth guzzlers in the network, but a connection via WLAN instead of the classic network cable can also have a strong inhibiting effect. If neither of these are the cause for you, you should contact your provider.
DSL Speedtest:Test your download and upload speed