What are Speedtest Experience Ratings?

We have introduced four new Experience Ratings to Speedtest: Web Browsing, Online Gaming, Video Streaming, and Video Conferencing. These ratings help users better understand their Speedtest results and how they translate to real-world performance across a variety of common scenarios.

At the end of the Speedtest, each icon is assigned a 1-5 dot score (1: poor, 5: excellent), indicating the expected performance level for that activity. These icons represent online experiences that require varying levels of network performance.

New Experience Ratings and What They Mean

Web Browsing

General web activities such as browsing websites, scrolling through social media, and checking email require a stable internet connection but are the least demanding in terms of speed and latency. This icon reflects how well your network supports these everyday tasks.

Online Gaming

Playing games online—whether on a PC, console, or mobile device—requires a combination of sufficient download and upload speeds as well as low latency (Ping). High latency can cause lag, delays in player actions, and an overall poor gaming experience.

Video Streaming

The quality of your video streaming experience depends primarily on high download speeds and low latency. If latency is too high or speeds fluctuate, you may experience buffering, interruptions, or a reduction in video resolution.

Video Conferencing

For smooth video calls, both high download and upload speeds are important. Low latency is crucial for keeping video and audio in sync, whereas excessive latency can lead to delays, choppy video, and distorted or out-of-sync audio.

Interested in seeing your Speedtest Experience Ratings? Take a Speedtest to find out!