Same tests — just worded differently
This only changes how each result is explained. Your scores never change. Choose Normal for plain, everyday wording that tells you what a result means. Choose Advanced to also see the technical terms — the exact settings and methods behind each check — if you know the jargon.
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Tunes which problems we surface first. Same tests either way -- you can change this anytime.
The speed you pay for (optional)
We will grade your speed against your plan, so you can see if you are getting your money's worth.
Speed units
How your speed numbers are shown. MB/s is what download managers report; Kbps suits slow connections.
Speed test mode
Multi-stream opens several connections to find your line's top capacity (what you pay for). Single-stream uses one connection -- closer to everyday use like a single download or a game.
Reading level
Normal explains results in plain words; Advanced adds the technical terms. Same tests either way.
Time format
How the time is shown on your report card stamp.
whoamionline Pro
Everything on WhoAmI is free today -- including the Evidence Pack and the Watch connection monitor -- with no account ever required. A future Pro plan may add extras like a developer API and always-on cloud alerts, to help keep the core free and ad-light; it will never take away what is here now.
Speed & Network
IP…
Location…
ISP…
Speed test
Color key Green — healthy / above target Blue — normal / neutral info Amber — below target, worth a look Red — leak or serious problem Grey — not run yet
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Download
Upload
vs. your area—
Download
010002000
Upload
010002000
Test server
Your download and upload speed right now.
Sustained multi-stream throughput vs. Cloudflare edge (6× parallel, 6s window).
What is this?
Speed test measures the maximum sustained throughput between your device and Cloudflare's nearest data center. It opens six parallel connections and downloads for six seconds, then does the same in reverse for upload. This mirrors how modern apps like Netflix, Zoom, and file uploads actually use your connection — not a single stream, but many at once.
So what?
Your ISP sells you a speed like "1 Gbps." The number you see here is what actually arrives at your Wi-Fi card. If you're paying for gigabit and seeing 200 Mbps, something between the router and your device is bottlenecked — usually old Wi-Fi hardware, a bad cable, or interference. For streaming: 25 Mbps down is comfortable 4K, 5 Mbps handles 1080p. For upload: 10 Mbps is fine for HD Zoom calls; below 3 Mbps you'll start freezing on video meetings.
Now what?
Your speeds match or exceed what a modern home connection should deliver. Nothing to fix right now. Two habits worth building: (1) run this test wired every few months so you notice degradation before it becomes annoying. (2) if you upgrade your ISP plan and the new speed does not show up here, the bottleneck is between the modem and your device -- your router, your Wi-Fi hardware, or an aging Ethernet cable is the likely culprit, not the plan.
Your speed is well below what most modern connections deliver and low enough that 4K streaming, cloud backups, and large video calls will suffer. (1) Plug directly into the router with Ethernet and re-test -- if wired is much faster, Wi-Fi is the bottleneck (bad channel, distance, old hardware). (2) If wired is also slow, reboot the modem and check for firmware updates on the router. (3) If both still show slow, call your ISP with these numbers and ask them to run a line test on your modem -- specifically request the SNR margin and signal-to-noise readings. Those two numbers reveal a bad drop cable outside your house 90 percent of the time.
Your speeds are workable for most activities (streaming HD, video calls, everyday browsing) but well below what a modern connection can deliver. Two easy checks: (1) plug directly into the router with an Ethernet cable and re-test -- if it jumps significantly, your Wi-Fi is the ceiling (upgrade to a Wi-Fi 6/6E router or add a mesh node). (2) check the speed your ISP is actually selling you vs. what you are paying for -- many people are on a lower tier than they think.
If your speed is far below your plan: (1) plug directly into the router with an Ethernet cable and re-test — if it jumps, your Wi-Fi is the bottleneck (upgrade to a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router, or add a mesh node). (2) If wired is also slow, check your router's admin page for firmware updates. (3) If both still show slow, call your ISP with these numbers ready and say: "I'm getting X Mbps on a wired connection to your speed test. My plan is Y Mbps. Please run a line test." Ask specifically about SNR margin and signal-to-noise levels on your modem — those are the two metrics that reveal a bad line.
Network quality
What decides whether calls, gaming, streaming, and new page loads feel smooth.
Ping Matrix: Latency (Unloaded)
Color key Green — healthy / above target Blue — normal / neutral info Amber — below target, worth a look Red — leak or serious problem Grey — not run yet
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How fast you reach major servers when your connection is idle. Same as fast.com’s “Unloaded latency.”
RTT to 4 global anycast endpoints in ms; best value shown.
Latency (Unloaded) — also known as the ping matrix — measures the round-trip time to four well-known internet endpoints while your line is idle: Cloudflare, GitHub, Google DNS, and Wikipedia. It is the same measurement fast.com labels "Latency, unloaded." We send several probes per target on a warm connection and report the median, so the number reflects real RTT rather than one-time handshake cost. "Best" is your fastest target. Distance and routing quality both matter — a fiber connection in Cincinnati might see Cloudflare in <10ms because there's a datacenter nearby, while Google could be 20ms further because their nearest edge is in Chicago.
So what?
Latency is what determines whether the internet feels "instant." Under 20ms is imperceptible. 20-60ms is normal for good broadband. Above 100ms you'll notice lag in typing on remote desktops, competitive gaming, and voice calls. If ONE endpoint has bad latency while others are fine, the problem is a specific route (probably peering between your ISP and that provider). If ALL are bad, your local connection or router is the issue.
Now what?
Sub-50ms latency across the board is excellent -- competitive gaming, remote desktop, and voice calls will all feel snappy. Nothing to fix. If you are on fiber and see numbers in the single digits, your ISP has good local peering -- worth noting because that is the single biggest factor in "the internet feels fast."
Latency above 150ms makes every interactive app feel sluggish. Two possibilities: (1) your local connection has an issue -- test wired to rule out Wi-Fi, reboot the modem, and if the problem persists, run "tracert 1.1.1.1" from Command Prompt and screenshot for your ISP. (2) your ISP has a routing/peering problem -- if only ONE of the four test endpoints is slow, that is a peering dispute; ask your ISP to check the route to that specific provider (e.g. "check the route to Google's AS15169"). Gamers: latency matters more than bandwidth. A 100/100 Mbps fiber connection at 5ms will beat 1000/1000 cable at 25ms every single time.
50-150ms is the range where things work but you can feel the delay in typing on remote desktops and in competitive gaming. If gaming or remote-desktop are important to you, worth checking: (1) are you on Wi-Fi when Ethernet would be faster? (2) is your ISP known for good peering in your area, or would a different provider (fiber vs cable) help? If those are fine, this is just physics -- you cannot get closer to servers that are physically far away.
If everything is slow: (1) test again on a wired connection to eliminate Wi-Fi. (2) reboot the modem — cable and DSL modems accumulate errors over months. (3) If still slow, run "tracert 1.1.1.1" from Command Prompt and screenshot the results for your ISP. If only one endpoint is slow: that's a peering dispute your ISP can escalate (ask them to "check the route to Google's AS15169" or similar). If you're a gamer: latency matters more than bandwidth — a 100/100 Mbps fiber connection at 5ms ping will beat 1000/1000 cable at 25ms every time.
Bufferbloat: Latency (Loaded)
Color key Green — healthy / above target Blue — normal / neutral info Amber — below target, worth a look Red — leak or serious problem Grey — not run yet
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How much your ping worsens under heavy download — same as fast.com’s “Loaded latency.” Graded A–F.
Idle vs. loaded RTT delta, graded A–F per DSLReports scale.
Latency (Loaded) — also known as bufferbloat — is what happens when your router's send buffer gets stuffed full during heavy use. It is the exact same measurement fast.com labels "Latency, loaded." Instead of dropping excess packets, cheap routers hoard them, which means latency-sensitive traffic (like your voice on a Zoom call or an online game) has to wait behind bulk downloads. We measure your ping while idle, then measure it again while saturating your link, and grade the difference: A means 400ms.
So what?
This is why your video call turns into a slideshow the moment someone in the house starts uploading photos to iCloud. Bufferbloat won't show up on a normal speed test — you can have "1 Gbps" service that becomes unusable for interactive apps under load. It's the single most impactful hidden network problem, and it's fixable in an afternoon.
Now what?
Grade A or B means your router is handling bulk traffic without starving your interactive traffic -- exactly what modern routers should do. Nothing to fix. If you ever start seeing choppy video calls or lag spikes during file uploads, come back and re-run this card as your first diagnostic; a router firmware regression or ISP change can quietly reintroduce bufferbloat.
Grade F is severe bufferbloat -- interactive apps (video calls, gaming, remote desktop) will feel broken any time someone in the house streams or uploads. The fix takes an afternoon: (1) log into your router and look for Smart Queue Management (SQM), FQ_CoDel, or Adaptive QoS -- if it is there, enable it and set both download and upload to 90 percent of your ISP speed. (2) If your router does not have SQM, buy any router that runs OpenWrt or the ASUS RT-AX86U (~$100), put it in bridge mode behind your ISP router, and enable SQM there. (3) Do NOT rely on the router's "Gaming Mode" or "Media Priority" -- those are marketing gimmicks and often make bufferbloat worse.
Grade C or D means your router is buffering more than it should but is still mostly usable. Enable Smart Queue Management (SQM) or Adaptive QoS on your router if it supports it -- set your download and upload limits to about 90 percent of what your ISP delivers. If your router does not offer this, you have a few weekends before it becomes a problem; start shopping for a router that runs OpenWrt or has native SQM (Ubiquiti, MikroTik, ASUS Adaptive QoS).
The fix is a router that supports Smart Queue Management (SQM) or FQ_CoDel: (1) If you have a modern router (Ubiquiti, MikroTik, ASUS with Adaptive QoS, Google Nest Wifi Pro, eero Pro), enable "Adaptive QoS" or "SQM" in settings — set your download and upload to about 90% of what your ISP delivers. (2) If your ISP-provided router doesn't support it, put a $100 router in bridge mode behind it (buy anything running OpenWrt or the ASUS RT-AX86U). (3) Do NOT enable the router's "Gaming" or "Media" QoS mode — those are marketing gimmicks and often make bufferbloat worse.
Jitter
Color key Green — healthy / above target Blue — normal / neutral info Amber — below target, worth a look Red — leak or serious problem Grey — not run yet
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How steady your ping is (lower is smoother). Big variations = choppy calls and gaming.
Jitter is the standard deviation of your ping over multiple samples. If ping is 30ms consistently, jitter is near zero — great. If ping bounces around like 30, 80, 25, 90, 40, that's high jitter, and it means packets are arriving out of order and being reassembled. Under 5ms is excellent, under 20ms is fine for voice calls, above 40ms causes robotic audio and stutters in real-time games.
So what?
Voice-over-IP (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Discord, phone calls) needs steady packet arrival. When jitter spikes, your app either has to add "jitter buffer" delay (making conversations feel slow and awkward), or drop packets and produce audio glitches. High jitter is the #1 cause of "my internet is fast but Zoom sucks."
Now what?
Under 10ms of jitter is excellent -- voice calls and games will feel steady and responsive. Nothing to fix. If jitter starts creeping up in the future, it usually means either Wi-Fi interference (a new neighbor's router on the same channel, or a new microwave/baby monitor) or a slowly failing cable outside your house.
Jitter above 30ms is the #1 cause of "my internet is fast but Zoom sucks." Fix in order: (1) Move closer to your Wi-Fi router, or switch to 5 GHz -- 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi competes with microwaves, baby monitors, and every neighbor's network. (2) If wired, replace the Ethernet cable and try a different port on the router -- a single bad cable or port can produce jitter on that link only. (3) Ask your ISP to check for "line errors" or "CRC errors" on your modem -- those are the smoking gun for a bad drop cable or corroded connection outside your house, and ISPs will only investigate if you ask by name.
10-30ms of jitter is workable for voice calls but you may notice occasional stutters in competitive games. If you want to tighten it up: (1) switch from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz Wi-Fi if you have not already -- 2.4 GHz is much noisier. (2) if you are on Ethernet, check the cable itself -- a bent RJ-45 connector or a Cat 5 (rather than Cat 5e/6) cable can produce jitter. Not worth calling the ISP unless it gets worse.
(1) Move closer to your Wi-Fi router or switch to 5 GHz — 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi has huge jitter because it competes with microwaves, baby monitors, and every neighbor's network. (2) If wired, check the physical cable — a bad Cat 5 cable or a bent RJ-45 connector produces retransmissions that show up as jitter. (3) Ask your ISP to check for "line errors" and "CRC errors" on your modem — those are the smoking gun for a bad drop cable or corroded connection outside your house.
Packet Loss
Color key Green — healthy / above target Blue — normal / neutral info Amber — below target, worth a look Red — leak or serious problem Grey — not run yet
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How many packets get dropped between you and the internet. 0% is ideal.
Packet loss happens when data gets dropped in transit — usually because a link is overloaded, a cable is damaged, or Wi-Fi is losing frames. We send 20 small probes and count how many make the round trip. 0% is perfect, 1-2% is tolerable, above 5% breaks streaming and video calls, above 15% breaks everything.
So what?
Even small amounts of packet loss compound badly for anything real-time. TCP (used by websites) will slow itself down when it detects loss, so a 2% loss rate can cut your effective download speed in half. UDP (used by voice and games) doesn't retransmit at all, so loss means dropped words and disappearing enemies. If you're seeing occasional packet loss with no explanation, it's almost always a physical problem outside your house.
Now what?
Zero packet loss is exactly what you want. Nothing to fix. If loss appears in the future, the two most common causes are (a) a corroded connection or bad drop cable outside your house (cable ISP) or (b) a saturated backhaul (ISP capacity issue). Both are their problem to fix, not yours.
Above 15 percent loss, nothing works reliably -- this is a broken connection, not a slow one. Test wired to confirm, then call the ISP and demand a technician dispatch. Reference this exact packet loss number when you call: it is the fastest way to skip past the "have you tried rebooting?" script. If they refuse a truck roll, ask them to open a "line test with SNR readings" ticket -- that phrase gets you routed to a technician who actually understands the physical plant.
5-15 percent loss will break voice calls and real-time games. Test wired to rule out Wi-Fi, reboot the modem, and if it persists, call the ISP: "I have persistent packet loss on a wired connection. Please dispatch a technician to check my drop cable and modem signal levels." Do NOT accept "it is your equipment" without a line test -- cable ISPs in particular love to blame the customer for what is almost always corrosion at the tap or a bad amplifier on the pole.
1-5 percent loss is the marginal zone -- streaming and web browsing will still work, but voice calls will start dropping words and games will feel choppy. Test wired first to rule out Wi-Fi. If wired shows the same, reboot the modem and re-test after 5 minutes. If it persists after that, it is almost certainly a physical problem between you and the ISP.
Any packet loss above 1% needs investigation: (1) test wired to rule out Wi-Fi. (2) if wired shows loss, reboot the modem and re-test after 5 minutes. (3) if it persists, call your ISP and say: "I have persistent packet loss on wired connections. Please dispatch a technician to check my drop cable and modem signal levels." Do NOT let them tell you it's your equipment without checking the line first — cable ISPs in particular love to blame the customer for what is almost always corrosion at the tap or a bad amplifier on the pole.
DNS Lookup
Color key Green — healthy / above target Blue — normal / neutral info Amber — below target, worth a look Red — leak or serious problem Grey — not run yet
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How long it takes to look up a website address you have not visited before. Lower means new sites start loading sooner.
Median of 5 fresh recursive lookups via Google DoH (random, cache-busted names), in ms.
DNS lookup time is how long your device waits for a domain name (like example.com) to be translated into an IP address before a page can even begin to load. We time it by asking a public DNS-over-HTTPS resolver (Google, 8.8.8.8) to resolve several brand-new, randomly generated names, so the resolver cannot answer from cache and has to do the real recursive work -- then we report the median. Because our probe runs over encrypted HTTPS, this number sits a little above what your operating system sees over plain UDP; treat it as a consistent yardstick rather than an exact match to your OS resolver.
So what?
Every website visit starts with a DNS lookup. If resolution is slow, every new site you open feels sluggish before a single byte of the page arrives -- and a fast download speed will not hide it. Slow or inconsistent DNS usually points to a distant or overloaded resolver (often your ISP's default), and it is one of the easiest things on your whole connection to fix. Switching to a fast public resolver like Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 or Google 8.8.8.8 often shaves tens of milliseconds off every page load.
Now what?
Under ~60 ms is healthy -- new sites start resolving almost instantly. Nothing to fix. If you want to go further, note which resolver you use: Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8 are consistently among the fastest and most private, and setting one at the router level speeds up every device in the house at once.
Over ~300 ms is severe -- DNS alone is adding a visible delay before every new site loads. Change your resolver right away: set 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9) in your router's DNS settings, or enable Secure DNS (DoH) in your browser to bypass a misbehaving router resolver. If it is still this slow afterward, the bottleneck is the link itself -- test wired, reboot the modem, and if it persists, raise it with your ISP.
Over 150 ms means DNS is adding a noticeable stall to every new page. (1) Change your resolver to 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9) at the router so all devices benefit. (2) If it is still slow, your router may be proxying DNS poorly -- enable your browser's Secure DNS (DoH) pointed straight at a fast resolver to bypass it. (3) On Wi-Fi, a weak signal inflates every round trip including DNS; test wired to see whether the real problem is the link, not the resolver.
60-150 ms is workable but not snappy -- you may feel a brief pause when opening unfamiliar sites. The quickest win is to change your DNS resolver: set 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google) in your router's DHCP/DNS settings so every device benefits, or per-device in your OS network settings. Re-run this test afterward to confirm the drop.
If lookups are slow, change your DNS resolver to a fast public one -- 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare), 8.8.8.8 (Google), or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9). Set it at the router so every device benefits, then re-run this test to confirm.
What your connection is ready for
Graded from your measured speed, latency, jitter and packet loss -- so a fast number that still stutters on calls or games makes sense.
A browser cannot prove an ISP throttles a specific app (that needs a tool like Wehe). If one activity is poor while everything else is fast, that can hint at traffic shaping -- and the Honesty check below is the best signal for whether speed tests get special treatment.
Watch this connection
Re-tests on a timer and charts your speed over time -- so you can catch evening slowdowns and prove them to your ISP.
No samples yet. Press "Start watching" and leave this tab open -- a new point is plotted after each test.
Runs while this tab stays open (a background tab is fine; closing it pauses). Each test uses real data, just like the test above. Tip: set a "Spot" label (e.g. "Living room"), run a few tests, then change the label and move to another room -- the "By location" panel compares them so you can find your Wi-Fi dead zones.
Honesty check
Some ISPs speed up traffic to known speed-test servers so your results look better than real life. This runs the normal test, then downloads from an ordinary web CDN your ISP cannot single out -- and shows both.
A quick indicator, not proof. The neutral download uses a public web CDN (jsDelivr); results vary with CDN load and distance, and the neutral test is capped so it reads best on slower or throttled connections. Re-run a few times for a clearer picture.
Evidence pack
Bundle your connection details, speed over time, plan comparison and honesty check into a timestamped, printable report -- ready to send to your ISP or attach to a complaint.
Opens a print-ready report in a new tab -- choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog. It includes a tamper-evident integrity hash. Everything is generated in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Tip: record a timeline with "Watch this connection" first for the strongest evidence.
Speed test
What is this?
Speed test measures the maximum sustained throughput between your device and Cloudflare's nearest data center. It opens six parallel connections and downloads for six seconds, then does the same in reverse for upload. This mirrors how modern apps like Netflix, Zoom, and file uploads actually use your connection — not a single stream, but many at once.
So what?
Your ISP sells you a speed like "1 Gbps." The number you see here is what actually arrives at your Wi-Fi card. If you're paying for gigabit and seeing 200 Mbps, something between the router and your device is bottlenecked — usually old Wi-Fi hardware, a bad cable, or interference. For streaming: 25 Mbps down is comfortable 4K, 5 Mbps handles 1080p. For upload: 10 Mbps is fine for HD Zoom calls; below 3 Mbps you'll start freezing on video meetings.
Now what?
Your speeds match or exceed what a modern home connection should deliver. Nothing to fix right now. Two habits worth building: (1) run this test wired every few months so you notice degradation before it becomes annoying. (2) if you upgrade your ISP plan and the new speed does not show up here, the bottleneck is between the modem and your device -- your router, your Wi-Fi hardware, or an aging Ethernet cable is the likely culprit, not the plan.
Your speed is well below what most modern connections deliver and low enough that 4K streaming, cloud backups, and large video calls will suffer. (1) Plug directly into the router with Ethernet and re-test -- if wired is much faster, Wi-Fi is the bottleneck (bad channel, distance, old hardware). (2) If wired is also slow, reboot the modem and check for firmware updates on the router. (3) If both still show slow, call your ISP with these numbers and ask them to run a line test on your modem -- specifically request the SNR margin and signal-to-noise readings. Those two numbers reveal a bad drop cable outside your house 90 percent of the time.
Your speeds are workable for most activities (streaming HD, video calls, everyday browsing) but well below what a modern connection can deliver. Two easy checks: (1) plug directly into the router with an Ethernet cable and re-test -- if it jumps significantly, your Wi-Fi is the ceiling (upgrade to a Wi-Fi 6/6E router or add a mesh node). (2) check the speed your ISP is actually selling you vs. what you are paying for -- many people are on a lower tier than they think.
If your speed is far below your plan: (1) plug directly into the router with an Ethernet cable and re-test — if it jumps, your Wi-Fi is the bottleneck (upgrade to a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router, or add a mesh node). (2) If wired is also slow, check your router's admin page for firmware updates. (3) If both still show slow, call your ISP with these numbers ready and say: "I'm getting X Mbps on a wired connection to your speed test. My plan is Y Mbps. Please run a line test." Ask specifically about SNR margin and signal-to-noise levels on your modem — those are the two metrics that reveal a bad line.
Latency (Loaded) — also known as bufferbloat — is what happens when your router's send buffer gets stuffed full during heavy use. It is the exact same measurement fast.com labels "Latency, loaded." Instead of dropping excess packets, cheap routers hoard them, which means latency-sensitive traffic (like your voice on a Zoom call or an online game) has to wait behind bulk downloads. We measure your ping while idle, then measure it again while saturating your link, and grade the difference: A means 400ms.
So what?
This is why your video call turns into a slideshow the moment someone in the house starts uploading photos to iCloud. Bufferbloat won't show up on a normal speed test — you can have "1 Gbps" service that becomes unusable for interactive apps under load. It's the single most impactful hidden network problem, and it's fixable in an afternoon.
Now what?
Grade A or B means your router is handling bulk traffic without starving your interactive traffic -- exactly what modern routers should do. Nothing to fix. If you ever start seeing choppy video calls or lag spikes during file uploads, come back and re-run this card as your first diagnostic; a router firmware regression or ISP change can quietly reintroduce bufferbloat.
Grade F is severe bufferbloat -- interactive apps (video calls, gaming, remote desktop) will feel broken any time someone in the house streams or uploads. The fix takes an afternoon: (1) log into your router and look for Smart Queue Management (SQM), FQ_CoDel, or Adaptive QoS -- if it is there, enable it and set both download and upload to 90 percent of your ISP speed. (2) If your router does not have SQM, buy any router that runs OpenWrt or the ASUS RT-AX86U (~$100), put it in bridge mode behind your ISP router, and enable SQM there. (3) Do NOT rely on the router's "Gaming Mode" or "Media Priority" -- those are marketing gimmicks and often make bufferbloat worse.
Grade C or D means your router is buffering more than it should but is still mostly usable. Enable Smart Queue Management (SQM) or Adaptive QoS on your router if it supports it -- set your download and upload limits to about 90 percent of what your ISP delivers. If your router does not offer this, you have a few weekends before it becomes a problem; start shopping for a router that runs OpenWrt or has native SQM (Ubiquiti, MikroTik, ASUS Adaptive QoS).
The fix is a router that supports Smart Queue Management (SQM) or FQ_CoDel: (1) If you have a modern router (Ubiquiti, MikroTik, ASUS with Adaptive QoS, Google Nest Wifi Pro, eero Pro), enable "Adaptive QoS" or "SQM" in settings — set your download and upload to about 90% of what your ISP delivers. (2) If your ISP-provided router doesn't support it, put a $100 router in bridge mode behind it (buy anything running OpenWrt or the ASUS RT-AX86U). (3) Do NOT enable the router's "Gaming" or "Media" QoS mode — those are marketing gimmicks and often make bufferbloat worse.
Latency (Unloaded) — also known as the ping matrix — measures the round-trip time to four well-known internet endpoints while your line is idle: Cloudflare, GitHub, Google DNS, and Wikipedia. It is the same measurement fast.com labels "Latency, unloaded." We send several probes per target on a warm connection and report the median, so the number reflects real RTT rather than one-time handshake cost. "Best" is your fastest target. Distance and routing quality both matter — a fiber connection in Cincinnati might see Cloudflare in <10ms because there's a datacenter nearby, while Google could be 20ms further because their nearest edge is in Chicago.
So what?
Latency is what determines whether the internet feels "instant." Under 20ms is imperceptible. 20-60ms is normal for good broadband. Above 100ms you'll notice lag in typing on remote desktops, competitive gaming, and voice calls. If ONE endpoint has bad latency while others are fine, the problem is a specific route (probably peering between your ISP and that provider). If ALL are bad, your local connection or router is the issue.
Now what?
Sub-50ms latency across the board is excellent -- competitive gaming, remote desktop, and voice calls will all feel snappy. Nothing to fix. If you are on fiber and see numbers in the single digits, your ISP has good local peering -- worth noting because that is the single biggest factor in "the internet feels fast."
Latency above 150ms makes every interactive app feel sluggish. Two possibilities: (1) your local connection has an issue -- test wired to rule out Wi-Fi, reboot the modem, and if the problem persists, run "tracert 1.1.1.1" from Command Prompt and screenshot for your ISP. (2) your ISP has a routing/peering problem -- if only ONE of the four test endpoints is slow, that is a peering dispute; ask your ISP to check the route to that specific provider (e.g. "check the route to Google's AS15169"). Gamers: latency matters more than bandwidth. A 100/100 Mbps fiber connection at 5ms will beat 1000/1000 cable at 25ms every single time.
50-150ms is the range where things work but you can feel the delay in typing on remote desktops and in competitive gaming. If gaming or remote-desktop are important to you, worth checking: (1) are you on Wi-Fi when Ethernet would be faster? (2) is your ISP known for good peering in your area, or would a different provider (fiber vs cable) help? If those are fine, this is just physics -- you cannot get closer to servers that are physically far away.
If everything is slow: (1) test again on a wired connection to eliminate Wi-Fi. (2) reboot the modem — cable and DSL modems accumulate errors over months. (3) If still slow, run "tracert 1.1.1.1" from Command Prompt and screenshot the results for your ISP. If only one endpoint is slow: that's a peering dispute your ISP can escalate (ask them to "check the route to Google's AS15169" or similar). If you're a gamer: latency matters more than bandwidth — a 100/100 Mbps fiber connection at 5ms ping will beat 1000/1000 cable at 25ms every time.
Jitter is the standard deviation of your ping over multiple samples. If ping is 30ms consistently, jitter is near zero — great. If ping bounces around like 30, 80, 25, 90, 40, that's high jitter, and it means packets are arriving out of order and being reassembled. Under 5ms is excellent, under 20ms is fine for voice calls, above 40ms causes robotic audio and stutters in real-time games.
So what?
Voice-over-IP (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Discord, phone calls) needs steady packet arrival. When jitter spikes, your app either has to add "jitter buffer" delay (making conversations feel slow and awkward), or drop packets and produce audio glitches. High jitter is the #1 cause of "my internet is fast but Zoom sucks."
Now what?
Under 10ms of jitter is excellent -- voice calls and games will feel steady and responsive. Nothing to fix. If jitter starts creeping up in the future, it usually means either Wi-Fi interference (a new neighbor's router on the same channel, or a new microwave/baby monitor) or a slowly failing cable outside your house.
Jitter above 30ms is the #1 cause of "my internet is fast but Zoom sucks." Fix in order: (1) Move closer to your Wi-Fi router, or switch to 5 GHz -- 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi competes with microwaves, baby monitors, and every neighbor's network. (2) If wired, replace the Ethernet cable and try a different port on the router -- a single bad cable or port can produce jitter on that link only. (3) Ask your ISP to check for "line errors" or "CRC errors" on your modem -- those are the smoking gun for a bad drop cable or corroded connection outside your house, and ISPs will only investigate if you ask by name.
10-30ms of jitter is workable for voice calls but you may notice occasional stutters in competitive games. If you want to tighten it up: (1) switch from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz Wi-Fi if you have not already -- 2.4 GHz is much noisier. (2) if you are on Ethernet, check the cable itself -- a bent RJ-45 connector or a Cat 5 (rather than Cat 5e/6) cable can produce jitter. Not worth calling the ISP unless it gets worse.
(1) Move closer to your Wi-Fi router or switch to 5 GHz — 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi has huge jitter because it competes with microwaves, baby monitors, and every neighbor's network. (2) If wired, check the physical cable — a bad Cat 5 cable or a bent RJ-45 connector produces retransmissions that show up as jitter. (3) Ask your ISP to check for "line errors" and "CRC errors" on your modem — those are the smoking gun for a bad drop cable or corroded connection outside your house.
Packet loss happens when data gets dropped in transit — usually because a link is overloaded, a cable is damaged, or Wi-Fi is losing frames. We send 20 small probes and count how many make the round trip. 0% is perfect, 1-2% is tolerable, above 5% breaks streaming and video calls, above 15% breaks everything.
So what?
Even small amounts of packet loss compound badly for anything real-time. TCP (used by websites) will slow itself down when it detects loss, so a 2% loss rate can cut your effective download speed in half. UDP (used by voice and games) doesn't retransmit at all, so loss means dropped words and disappearing enemies. If you're seeing occasional packet loss with no explanation, it's almost always a physical problem outside your house.
Now what?
Zero packet loss is exactly what you want. Nothing to fix. If loss appears in the future, the two most common causes are (a) a corroded connection or bad drop cable outside your house (cable ISP) or (b) a saturated backhaul (ISP capacity issue). Both are their problem to fix, not yours.
Above 15 percent loss, nothing works reliably -- this is a broken connection, not a slow one. Test wired to confirm, then call the ISP and demand a technician dispatch. Reference this exact packet loss number when you call: it is the fastest way to skip past the "have you tried rebooting?" script. If they refuse a truck roll, ask them to open a "line test with SNR readings" ticket -- that phrase gets you routed to a technician who actually understands the physical plant.
5-15 percent loss will break voice calls and real-time games. Test wired to rule out Wi-Fi, reboot the modem, and if it persists, call the ISP: "I have persistent packet loss on a wired connection. Please dispatch a technician to check my drop cable and modem signal levels." Do NOT accept "it is your equipment" without a line test -- cable ISPs in particular love to blame the customer for what is almost always corrosion at the tap or a bad amplifier on the pole.
1-5 percent loss is the marginal zone -- streaming and web browsing will still work, but voice calls will start dropping words and games will feel choppy. Test wired first to rule out Wi-Fi. If wired shows the same, reboot the modem and re-test after 5 minutes. If it persists after that, it is almost certainly a physical problem between you and the ISP.
Any packet loss above 1% needs investigation: (1) test wired to rule out Wi-Fi. (2) if wired shows loss, reboot the modem and re-test after 5 minutes. (3) if it persists, call your ISP and say: "I have persistent packet loss on wired connections. Please dispatch a technician to check my drop cable and modem signal levels." Do NOT let them tell you it's your equipment without checking the line first — cable ISPs in particular love to blame the customer for what is almost always corrosion at the tap or a bad amplifier on the pole.
DNS lookup time is how long your device waits for a domain name (like example.com) to be translated into an IP address before a page can even begin to load. We time it by asking a public DNS-over-HTTPS resolver (Google, 8.8.8.8) to resolve several brand-new, randomly generated names, so the resolver cannot answer from cache and has to do the real recursive work -- then we report the median. Because our probe runs over encrypted HTTPS, this number sits a little above what your operating system sees over plain UDP; treat it as a consistent yardstick rather than an exact match to your OS resolver.
So what?
Every website visit starts with a DNS lookup. If resolution is slow, every new site you open feels sluggish before a single byte of the page arrives -- and a fast download speed will not hide it. Slow or inconsistent DNS usually points to a distant or overloaded resolver (often your ISP's default), and it is one of the easiest things on your whole connection to fix. Switching to a fast public resolver like Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 or Google 8.8.8.8 often shaves tens of milliseconds off every page load.
Now what?
Under ~60 ms is healthy -- new sites start resolving almost instantly. Nothing to fix. If you want to go further, note which resolver you use: Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8 are consistently among the fastest and most private, and setting one at the router level speeds up every device in the house at once.
Over ~300 ms is severe -- DNS alone is adding a visible delay before every new site loads. Change your resolver right away: set 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9) in your router's DNS settings, or enable Secure DNS (DoH) in your browser to bypass a misbehaving router resolver. If it is still this slow afterward, the bottleneck is the link itself -- test wired, reboot the modem, and if it persists, raise it with your ISP.
Over 150 ms means DNS is adding a noticeable stall to every new page. (1) Change your resolver to 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9) at the router so all devices benefit. (2) If it is still slow, your router may be proxying DNS poorly -- enable your browser's Secure DNS (DoH) pointed straight at a fast resolver to bypass it. (3) On Wi-Fi, a weak signal inflates every round trip including DNS; test wired to see whether the real problem is the link, not the resolver.
60-150 ms is workable but not snappy -- you may feel a brief pause when opening unfamiliar sites. The quickest win is to change your DNS resolver: set 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google) in your router's DHCP/DNS settings so every device benefits, or per-device in your OS network settings. Re-run this test afterward to confirm the drop.
If lookups are slow, change your DNS resolver to a fast public one -- 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare), 8.8.8.8 (Google), or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9). Set it at the router so every device benefits, then re-run this test to confirm.
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