Broadband speed testing works by measuring the time it takes to download a file from the internet to your computer and how long it takes to upload a file from your computer to the internet. To get accurate results you shouldn’t use your broadband connection for any other applications while the broadband speed check is running. Broadband speed tests are simple in nature. The website hosting the test has your computer download a set amount of data, or several set amounts, recording the length of time the transfers takes.

Results are automatically archived and you can choose to automatically export the results to file, print the results or even have the results automatically e-mailed to you. Results are only an indication of your connection speed. Results will display average bandwidth results from other ISP users that use this testing site. This will give you something to benchmark your broadband Internet connection against.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that you are allowed to download/upload at any given time. All Broadband ISP providers publish their bandwidth capabilities which aregenerally what people use to determine which plan is best for them. Bandwidth – Usually measured as the number of bits transferred per second. VoIP requires anywhere from about 24kbits per second up to about 90kbits per second. Bandwidth Vista displays bytes sent and recieved (RX & TX), you can set the size of the graph to suit your network interfaces maximum connection speed. You can also detect if rogue software connects to another computer and if a hacker is trying to gain access to your systems.