Fiber optic is the fastest connection available in Italy today, but the download and upload speed can vary a lot depending on several factors: here's how to make a reliable speed test.
Verifying the speed of fiber optics, both FTTC and FTTH, is essential to establish, in an accurate manner, the potential of your connection. To do this, it is necessary to perform a speed test, that is a "speed test" able to return precise data on the state of the line. Doing it is simple and you can do it from home, in total autonomy, with the right tools.
To make a speed test with valid results, you can rely on one of the services on the network that allow the monitoring of the connection. Obviously, in order to do this you need to follow some precautions that, otherwise, could alter the final values. It is also important to remember that the data obtained do not necessarily refer to the actual speed that can be reached by the optical fiber but, rather, to the capacity at that particular moment. Therefore, these values may change over time, can be influenced by external factors and should be collected several times to get the most accurate picture possible.
Fiber Optic Speed Test, tests on the sites of operators
Among the most accurate speed tests to be taken into account there are those made available by the operators themselves. All major operators on the Italian territory, such as Tim, Fastweb, Vodafone or Wind-Infostrada, make available to their customers a speed test to verify the fiber connection, easily accessible from the company's website.
The information that are reported in the results of the speed test allow you to verify the download and upload speed, as well as the possible presence of latency, the so-called ping. In some cases, the choice of the nearest server is made independently by the test, in others it is possible to choose it manually.
Fiber Optic Speed Test, Speedtest by Ookla
Among the external services, therefore not directly managed by telephone operators, there is SpeedTest by Ookla, available both from the web and in the form of an app for Android and iOS. In addition to allowing the verification of download/upload speed and ping, it allows the manual choice of server - as well as recommending one automatically - and modifying the units of measurement used in the evaluation.
Speed Test fiber optic, Speed test by SOSTariffe
The SOSTariffe site also allows you to test your connection by logging in and entering some data about your fiber optic network. Once you have chosen the location or municipality where you are at the time of the test, the telephone operator used and the type of connection, you can proceed and get the results in a few seconds.
Speed Test Fiber Optic, the measurement of TestMy
With TestMy.net you can complete a measurement of the speed of your fiber optic connection in a precise manner. All you have to do is connect to the TestMy.net site and choose whether to receive the results of the download, the upload phase, or a combined list with all the values made available by the meter.
Speed Test fiber optic, Ne.Me.Sys. and the legal value of the evaluation
For a test that has results with legal value, useful in case of inefficiencies related to your provider, Agcom has made available a tool called Ne.Me.Sys. Through this tool, downloadable from the MisuraInternet website, it is possible to complete an extremely accurate evaluation lasting 24 hours, with a complete overview of the parameters of the network that is being used at the moment of the test.
Google Speed Test, from Big G the tool for speed
Google Speed Test is, as the name clearly indicates, an online test dedicated to the measurement of the speed of the connection. It is the first themed result on Mountain View's famous search engine and has actually entered the shortlist of the most reliable measurers shortly after it was put online, dated September 2017.
Born from the collaboration with M-Lab, a U.S. consortium that combines companies and university research realities for the development of technologies for monitoring connections, Big G's speed test is able to perform checks on connections up to 700 Mbps and has servers in Italy, thus providing accurate and reliable results. To be used, Google Speed Test does not require installation of tools or connection to other sites. It is sufficient to enter the dedicated website and proceed, following the information visible on the screen, to quickly perform the speed test.
Speed test fiber optics: what negatively affects the results
To verify the actual veracity of the results of a speed test is necessary to repeat the analysis several times, even on different days and times during the day. In fact, the amount of computers connected to the network and the amount of data transferred can significantly affect the connection speed. The data extrapolated from a test carried out during the peak hours of the week, in fact, are often clearly different from those of the weekend during the quieter hours. The same goes for open programs (the same applies to browser tabs) and transfers in progress: before starting, it is better to close everything.
Other elements include the geographical location of the server you connect to for the measurement; the distance, in fact, is a key factor in assessing the accuracy and reliability of the measurement. Where possible, in fact, it would always be better to use Italian servers, as close as possible to your location, to avoid any latency problems. Then there is the question of limitations, not only physical but also carried out by the provider during data transfer. If there should be blocks, as you can imagine, this would inevitably affect the result.