Can someone decipher Speedtest results for me?

Results from the speedtest.net app and the FCC speed app do not correlate with download speeds in Safari, and possibly not with other applications such as YouTube, NetFlix, or iTunes downloads. This is plainly true with a fast connection speed. Compare the download speeds you get on your desktop with those on the iPad and you'll see what I mean. It may be that the iPad's download speeds top out at around 4MB, and the speed test apps correlate with download speeds up to that ceiling. I suggest a more meaningful speed test can be found here: http://i.dslr.net/iphone_speedtest.html.

The speed test apps are deceptive. The actual download speeds of the iPad are closer to the iPhone than a desktop.

Heh, that result just means you have a decent (cable or DSL) connection speed at the time of the test. Try it again when the slowdown happens.

If possible, get yourself a program that can run a ping test when you are experiencing the slowdown. That kind of test will show if you are dropping data packets.

Are any other computers on your network having the same slowdown problem?

First, you should compare how quickly web pages load (for example) to how fast they load on your PC or laptop. If it feels a lot slower, then you may have an issue.

But for the speeds .... the Download speed is how fast information is coming TO your iPad from the internet. That will determine how fast web pages will load, and music will download, and videos will stream, etc. The other number is the Upload speed which is how fast you can send information FROM your iPad out to the internet. That will determine how fast you can upload a photo (or anything else) to the internet.

I'm going to guess based on your posted speeds that you have DSL. Cable is normally faster than that. If you have DSL, then I'd say your speeds are just fine. If you have Cable, then I think they're low. If you have FIOS, then it's broken lol 🙂

The speed of your cable connection is fine, not great, but fine. Based on the traffic of your neighbors that share your common cable pipe, your top speed may fluctuate throughout the day. If everyone in the neighborhood is at home streaming video at the same time, you'l know. When everyone is at work and not doing anything online at home, then things should be speedy.

The important thing about the ping test is to check if you lose any pings. If you are dropping (losing) packets, that may be the reason why your connection is slow. The iPad has to re-request those packets to load pages/video properly.

If the connection seems consistently slower when you go into certain rooms, then you should see dropped pings. That would mean that the wifi is having trouble getting the signal to that room.

Also, are the other computers wirelessly connected as well? If not, install a program called iStumbler on one of them and get them on the wifi. That program will check to see if there are other nearby WiFi networks that may be inadvertently jamming up your connection.

Definitely check if the other wireless computers are showing slowdown at the same time.

Heck, I've seen connections degrade because of a microwave oven cooking. WiFi is finicky sometimes.

It means your Download speed is 5800.47 Kilobits per sec = 5.66 Megabit per sec. (1 Mega = 1024 kilo, that is why the 2 numbers are not exactly the same.)

Your Upload speed is 725.06 kilo bits per sec.

Both speeds are very good for most purposes. That is very typical for most DSL or FiOS connection. Cable connections are usually much slower due to sharing the bandwidth with your neighbors.

The reason why the download speed is faster than the upload speed is because most DSL is actually aDSL, which means it is asymmetrical for upload/download. That is because most people download info from websites more so than uploading info back to the world, so the network carrier optimizes the performance by allocating more bandwidth to downloads than uploads. Otherwise, if the speeds are symmetrical, your download speed will be cut in half, even though your upload speed will go up, but if you are not using it, it is wasting it.

Total test time is 14.123 Seconds means it takes 14 sec to complete the round-trip testing between upload and downloads.

Speedtest X HD does not test for latency. Latency is the delay time between the time the signal is sent from the website to where you are. The latency usually increases with physical distance between 2 points, but other factors also affect the latency, such as the intermediate points that the signal has to hop through before it gets to your iPad, and the processing time it takes for those network equipment to relay the signal. That includes your own wireless router's processing time, and any other routers in transit, and also the software processing speed too.

@schnauzer777

That's not true. The speedtest apps are not deceptive. And the iPads results are suppose to be closer to what you would get on a desktop rather then on a iPhone.

A speedtest app is designed to show you the maximum throughput your able to get from your device and network at the time the test was ran. It doesn't matter if your using YouTube Netflix, or iTunes Downloads if the server can push at that speed its going to at the maximum speed the device can handle.
The iPad can do 20 Mbps, the problem is the WIFI is so inconsistent that you will go from 20 Mbps in one test to 8 Mbps in the next.

Oh and that speedtest you posted... *****... it uses a file that is too small for anyone with a fast connection. I have a 24 Mbps connection and it gave me 8 Mbps. Browser tests on a iPhone or iPad will never be accurate.

dlewis23,

May I ask, ignoring all the speed tests, is it your actual experience that web pages download in Safari as fast on your iPad as they do on your 24 Mbps desktop?

dagdagdag123,

And I agree with you. I wish web pages downloaded faster, but the iPad is way cool and I'm very glad to have it.