Testing your Internet. Are you getting what you pay for and is it enough?

Internet connectivity, now and in the near future.

We are constantly being pitched sales ads about entertainment and internet connectivity options.  Dish versus cable, WiFi, Fiber, and streaming.  Your bandwidth is a constant and with the increasing demands being placed on it by more and more connected devices you may be seeing some performance degradation in your online experience.

Although the theoretical peak bandwidth of a network connection is fixed according to the technology used, the actual amount of data that flows over it (called "throughput") varies over time and is affected by higher and lower latencies.

If you only Facebook, email or surf the internet, you can probably get by with a low-end plan from your internet service provider (ISP).  However, if you have multiple TVs streaming Netflix, Prime, Hulu, and other entertainment services and more than 1 computer, you need all the bandwidth you can get.  Don't forget the smartphones, Alexa(s), Google Home, and Ring doorbells live streaming video to your phones, Alexa devices, and computers.

Bandwidth is analogous to the plumbing in your house.  Just like larger plumbing pipes have the ability to increase the flow of water in your house, increased bandwidth allows for a larger flow of data to and from your connected devices.  Too little bandwidth can cause slow performance, choppiness even stoppage on your TVs, computers, and devices.

How to test your Internet Speed.  The following link is to a site that will accurately measure your internet speed and give you an idea of your present bandwidth.  It also measures latency.

https://speedof.me/

Excessive latency creates bottlenecks that prevent data from filling the network pipe, thus decreasing throughput and limiting the maximum effective bandwidth of a connection. The impact of latency on network throughput can be temporary (lasting a few seconds) or persistent (constant), depending on the source of the delays.

https://www.lifewire.com/latency-on-computer-networks-818119