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How to choose the right computer equipment for your business to increase your productivity and efficiency without it costing the earth.

Business software helps you complete a range of tasks. Choose the right software, provide support and train your staff with our introduction.

It is highly likely that you depend on the internet for some aspects of your business. Find out how you can use the internet more effectively.

Good communication with customers, partners and suppliers is vital for business success. This summary explores business communication methods.

How would you cope if your IT system failed or was breached? We cover the main IT security issues and how to protect against them.

Good IT management can help you choose, use and implement IT. Our overview helps you manage IT in a way that maximises the return on your investment.

IT support is vital if you rely on your IT system. But how can you set up an effective safety net in case things go wrong? We explore the options.

Getting the right IT is just the first step. Appropriate training, policies and working practices can help you maximise return on your IT investment.

Internet speed checker

Your business internet connection and internet speed is crucial. You may not need the fastest upload and download speeds, but it’s important your internet connection meets your requirements.

If you’re confused about what sort of internet speed is right for your business, take a look at the table lower down the page.

This tool checks your internet speed for downloads and uploads.

Check your broadband speed >>

About your internet speed checker results

How does the speed checker work?

The speed checker transfers a fixed amount of data between your computer and a server on the internet.

What's the difference between the download and upload speed?

The download speed is how fast your connection can receive information from the internet. The upload speed measures how fast your connection can send data.

Why is my download speed much faster than my upload speed?

Because most people download much more than they upload, many internet connections sacrifice some upload speed for faster downloads.

However, this may not be best for your business, particularly if you send out large files or require a connection that allows people to log in to your company network via the internet. In these cases, consider a connection with faster upload speeds too.

My internet connection is meant to be faster. What's going on?

Broadband suppliers tend to quote connection speeds under ideal conditions, so you may not be able to achieve the maximum speed.

Other factors can affect your connection too - for instance, the internet speed checker will report a lower speed if other people are using your connection at the same time.

What do the download and upload speed figures mean?

The internet speed checker measures your connection speed in kilobits per second (Kbps) and megabits per second (Mbps). 1Mbps is the same as 1,024Kbps.

However, as these figures don't mean much by themselves, we've put this table together to help you understand your results:

Download speed Good for... Typical connection Time to download a two-hour film
56Kbps Emergency access Old-fashioned dial-up 4 hours
128Kbps Single computer, occasional use 3G mobile connection 2 hours
512Kbps Single computer, occasional use 3G mobile connection 30 mins
1Mbps Single computer, occasional use 3G mobile connection 15 mins
2Mbps Up to 3 computers (adequate) Broadband over phone line
(slow)
7 mins
5Mbps Up to 5 computers Broadband over phone line
(average)
4 mins
10Mbps Up to 5 computers Broadband over phone line
(medium)
3 mins
15Mbps Up to 10 computers Broadband over phone line
(fast)
2 mins
20Mbps Up to 20 computers Broadband over phone line (very fast) 1 min
50Mbps Up to 30 computers Fast fibre optic Under a minute
100Mbps 100+ computers Super-fast fibre optic Seconds

This table is a guide only. The download times shown are based on ideal conditions, and may be slower in the real world.

The best internet connection for your business depends on lots of factors - not just the speed. It's worth checking with an IT supplier to find out what would suit your business best.

You can use this internet speed checker to check your internet speed for any kind of connection, including fibre optic, broadband, cable, dial-up and mobile 3G broadband.

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