If you suspect something’s amiss with your home network, the first thing you might do is run a speed test from sites like speedtest.net or fast.com—or even the newer Orb speed test tool featured here last May.
But those tests don’t tell the whole story, because they only check the speed of your internet connection. They won’t tell you how quickly data can actually move around your home—which is important if you’re troubleshooting Wi-Fi problems or figuring out what internet speeds your router can handle. If you’re paying for gigabit internet, for instance, you’ll want to make sure your Wi-Fi network can keep up.
To see what’s really going on with your Wi-Fi, consider using a tool that only tests the speed of your own local network and cuts the internet out of the equation entirely.
That takes us to today’s Cool Tools treasure.
This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!
Time for your Wi-Fi checkup
For a speed test that strictly works within your local network, use OpenSpeedTest’s self-hosted server.
➜ OpenSpeedTest’s server software measures the connection speed between any two devices on your home network, independent of the external internet connection speeds.
⌚ It takes about five minutes to install the server app on one device and access the speed test on another.
☝️ To test the maximum speeds your router allows, you’ll need an ethernet cable and a computer with an ethernet port (or a high-speed USB-to-ethernet adapter like this one).
✅ To get started, install OpenSpeedTest’s server software from the Microsoft Store for Windows, the Mac App Store, or the Snap Store for Linux. Android and iPhone versions are also available, but again you’ll need an adapter to connect those devices to your router. Additional download links are available on OpenSpeedTest’s website.
Using an ethernet cable (and adapter if needed), connect the device you’re using to an open ethernet port on your router. If you use a wireless connection, speed test results will be slower than what your router can actually handle.
Launch the OpenSpeedTest Server application, and the server should start automatically. If not, hit the “Start Server” button. Look for the “Listening on” line and make note of the address (which should be a string of numbers starting with http://192.168…).
Now, open a web browser on any other device and visit that address. You’ll see an “OpenSpeedTest” graphic if you’ve entered the address correctly.
Hit “Start” to run the speed test and allow about 30 seconds for it to finish. Reload the page to run additional tests. Try testing in different parts of your home—near your TVs, or in your bedroom, for instance—to see how the speeds differ.
Don’t be surprised if the results are better than what you get from an internet speed test. With a solid Wi-Fi setup, data should be able to move around the home at least a little faster than what your home internet plan allows for.
If the speed test results are notably slower than your home internet plan’s advertised speeds, you might be paying for more internet than you actually need. Either that, or you should consider a new router that can hit the speeds you should be getting.
- OpenSpeedTest’s server software is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, while the speed tests are accessible from any web browser.
- The software is open source, free to use, and does not require any kind of registration. The direct download site has a couple of banner ads, but the actual tool does not.
- OpenSpeedTest has a generic-looking privacy policy and says nothing about collecting internet usage data.
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