What speeds can I expect?
One appeal of broadband is that it’s much faster than dial-up. But speeds vary and depend on a variety of factors including what type of service you are using, what level or tier of service you have purchased, and how congested your network and the Internet are at any time. Speeds are expressed in kilobits (kbps) — thousands of bits per second, or megabits (Mbps) — millions of bits per second.
Typically, fiber is faster than cable, and cable is faster than DSL.
Most providers offer different speeds upstream and downstream. Upstream speeds tell you how fast you can transfer data from your computer to a computer somewhere else on the Internet — for example, how fast you can upload photographs onto a website. Downstream speeds tell you how fast you can download something from the Internet to your computer. Downstream speeds usually are faster than upstream speeds.
Many applications do not require high speeds, but even basic Web browsing goes faster with a broadband connection. There are some applications that work best with high-speed connections, like watching high-definition movies or playing real-time video games.
If speed matters to you, make sure you ask providers what speeds you can expect.
The Web is full of free broadband speed testing programs. But be aware that different tests may produce different results because they may not test speed the same way. If you test your broadband speed and you’re not getting what you expected, ask your provider why and if there are ways to improve it.