How to Test Your Internet Connection Speed

There are several online tools to check your connection. One free web-based tool is Speedtest.net. Use this online tool to see your actual internet connection speed. After you test your connection, look at your download speed.

Streaming Without Buffering

If you have access to high-speed internet (broadband) service, audio and video should stream in real-time without problems. Having a broadband service, however, does not mean that you can listen to all music streams. Broadband service varies from area to area. If it’s on the slow end of the scale, you might be able to stream music but not high-quality audio that is encoded at a high bitrate (320 Kbps); the higher the Kbps, the more data is required for streaming. Streaming over a wireless connection (Wi-Fi) can be hit-or-miss compared to a wired connection to a home router. If possible, configure your system to stream music over a cabled connection for maximum transfer rate and uninterrupted listening.

Connection Speed Requirements

Audio streams use less bandwidth than video. If you stream only audio, your broadband speed requirements can be lower than if you also stream music videos and movies (for example, from YouTube). To stream audio, the broadband speed should be at least 1.5 Mbps.

Video takes up bandwidth because it forces more data through the broadband pipeline. Streaming music videos (at standard quality) requires a broadband speed of at least 3 Mbps. For high-definition (HD) videos, an internet connection that can handle 4 to 5 Mbps is an ideal range to prevent dropouts and buffering.