Are you getting the Internet speed you’re paying for?

If you’re like us, you’re probably paying a pretty penny for your Internet connection. But are you getting what you’re paying for?

We’ve worked with many people since we started Cloudeight Direct Computer Care, and one thing we’ve noticed happening far too often is: People are not getting the Internet speed for which they’re paying.

If you’re paying a lot for high-speed internet, then you should be getting close to the speed you’re paying for. We say “close” because connection speeds can vary for many reasons – time of day, sites you’re downloading from, Web traffic, etc. But if your speed is significantly less than what you’re paying for, you need to call your ISP and find out why.

But before you run off and call your ISP because you think you’re slower than the speed you’re paying for, you should arm yourself with some facts about your connection speed. And while you may have already used one of those online speed test sites, keep in mind the accuracy of such tests is also affected by location, time of day, traffic, etc. It’s best to arm yourself with information collected from several speed tests – and with tests taken at different times over a period of two or three days. Keep track of the download speeds shown by the tests, and if they’re significantly lower, all the time, than the speed for which you’re paying, then it’s time to call your ISP and tell them you’d really like to get the service you’re paying for — or have your bill reduced proportionately.

Here are four generally reliable speed test sites you can use to determine your average speed.

http://speedtest.comcast.net/

http://testmy.net/

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

http://www.speedtest.net/