Why is my internet slow?
Introduction
Sometimes while browsing on through the internet there are times where I can't load the web pages that I normally go to. I will run a speed test and find out that it is fine but I am still having a hard time trying to load those pages. I will go over some things that you can do to debug what is going on with your internet.
SpeedTest.net
There are a few things you can do to debug your internet speed. The first thing I would like to go over is SpeedTest.Net. It is probably the most well-known solution when the internet seems to be having an issue. SpeedTest.Net lets you know the current speed you are getting to your home. It takes a file and downloads it to your computer only to re-upload it to the server and measures the speeds off of that.
But before we go into that, if you don't know the speed you are paying for when trying to do this, it will probably won't do you any good. Call your phone company or ISP (internet service provider) and find out how fast your download and upload should be. After that go to SpeedTest.Net and click Begin Test. It will give you some results that you can then compare the speeds you got from your ISP.
PingTest.net
The second test that you can do is over at PingTest.Net. What this website does is checks to see how clear the line is to their servers. Kind of like a walkie-talkie. If there is static while someone is talking it is hard to understand. PingTest.Net allows you to view how much is actually on the line.
To begin go to PingTest.Net. Click Begin Test, it will find the best server to test. After you have the results, it will give you a letter grade for the quality on your line. For my example I had a B, my jitter(which is the noise on the line) was low and my ping was low. So this is good, it means that everything gets to the server fast and clear.
InternetTrafficReport.com
This is a very interesting site that I ran across a few years ago. This website keeps track of the internet speeds across the globe. I was playing a game one day and they said that if you are getting any type of lag (slow communication between the server and you) it wasn't them, the internet quality across the nation was being slow.
It is a good website to look and explore.
The ICSI Netalyzr
This last thing that I would like to show, was developed in the University of California, Berkeley. This tool is more for the techies, so that is why I saved this one for last. It goes into more in-depth scans like your DNS servers, potential ports that could be a security risk. The whole nine yards. It is a really great tool and gives a ton of information.
Links and resources
Final Comments
The Last thing I would like to say is, if you can't access the web at all. Check to see if your internet cable is plugged in. If you are on wireless, make sure your card is turned on. Try a reboot to see if that fixes the problem. If none of these things are working, and you would still like advice, send me a pm and I will gladly respond!
