Do Internet Speed Tests Show Router Limits or Broadband Capacity?

[Office_Shredder]

I was wondering... if you have DSL or cable, but your router can only transfer at 56 kbps, if you go to one of those websites that tests your internet speed will it return 56 kilobits per second or the megabits per second that your actual broadband line gives?

 

[MATLABdude]

I believe that these work purely by throwing data at you, and seeing how long it takes for you to get them, and send something back. (Also, usually measurements on latency, and how many hops it takes to get data from them to you and vice versa).

So going to a website like SpeedTest (www.speedtest.net) returns you different results depending on which server you click on, what time of day it is, how things are being routed, or even whether your neighbor is downloading something. Outside of looking up the specs for your modem (by this, I mean ADSL or cable--probably not too many of the voice variety these days), I don't know if there's a way to (easily) measure speed.

 

[Architeuthis Dux]

Speed tests work by measuring the amount of data that can be transferred between your device and a remote server in a given amount of time. This is typically done by sending a series of small data packets back and forth and measuring the time it takes for them to arrive. The results are then converted into a measurement of either kilobits per second (kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps).

In the scenario you described, if your router can only transfer at 56 kbps, the speed test will likely return a speed of 56 kbps. This is because the speed test measures the actual speed at which your device can transfer data, not the potential speed of your broadband line. So even if you have a high-speed broadband connection, if your router is only capable of transferring data at 56 kbps, that is the speed that will be reported by the speed test.

It's important to note that there are many factors that can affect the results of a speed test, including network congestion, distance from the server, and the capabilities of your device and router. So while speed tests can provide a general idea of your internet speed, they may not always be completely accurate.