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Tina Popielarczyk

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Aug 2, 2024, 9:45:58 AM8/2/24

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What is FAST.com measuring? FAST.com speed test gives you an estimate of your current Internet speed. You will generally be able to get this speed from leading Internet services, which use globally distributed servers.

Why does FAST.com focus primarily on download speed? Download speed is most relevant for people who are consuming content on the Internet, and we want FAST.com to be a very simple and fast speed test.

How are the results calculated? To calculate your Internet speed, FAST.com performs a series of downloads from and uploads to Netflix servers and calculates the maximum speed your Internet connection can provide. More details are in our blog post.

What can I do if I'm not getting the speed I pay for? If results from FAST.com and other internet speed tests (like dslreports.com or speedtest.net) often show less speed than you have paid for, you can ask your ISP about the results.

The connection we used to run these tests is advertised to deliver download speeds around 150 Mbps, and we determined by using competing speed tests that our ISP was indeed living up to this claim. As you can see in the table above, the desktop version of the Fast.com speed test (Tests 1-3) recorded results in this same range, but the mobile version (Tests 4 & 5) was nowhere close.

With the desktop version, the test loaded and operated very quickly, with an average load time of 1.3 seconds and a test duration of 29.6 seconds. The average ping clocked in at 13 ms, with mean download and upload speeds of 153.3 Mbps and 5.6 Mbps respectively. These results seem quite accurate compared to the other tests we ran on this connection.

The mobile version was an entirely different story. While the test loads even faster than it does on the desktop version at a lean 0.8 seconds, the test itself took quite a bit longer, at 49.9 seconds. Much more importantly, the results were terribly inaccurate, with an average download speed of just 104 Mbps and an upload speed of 5.6 Mbps.

The desktop version of this speed test produced accurate results that lined up with our expectations. We also like how it displays some additional info, including your current IP address, the identity of your ISP, and the location of your testing server.

In addition, the Fast.com speed test runs on a secure https website, and it loads very quickly. Finally, we always appreciate the option to share our test results via social media, and the lack of advertising is a plus as well.

We also find the interface to have too much of a no-frills feel to it, to the point where it feels a bit cheap compared to many competitors. This is obviously a minor issue compared to the lack of functionality of the mobile test though.

While we can recommend the desktop version, the mobile version of this test is a complete mess. The results are all over the map, to the point where they simply cannot be trusted at all. If Fast.com fixes the issues with their mobile tests, this could be a solid option. As is, there are plenty of competing speed tests that have more to offer than Fast.com does.

I get gigabit internet from Spectrum. I used to have a Nest WiFi, and the app would tell me I was getting between 500 and 800 megabits per second download speed. Last week I upgraded to the Nest WiFi Pro last week, and ever since then every speed test I have run from the Google Home app tells my I am only getting 200-300 Megabits. So I called Spectrum, and they came out. They tested the speed directly from the modem, and it was 958 megabits. Then they plugged in the Nest WiFi Pro router and tested the speed hardwired into the router, and the speed was 955 megabits. But then I ran the speed test from the Google Home app again, and the speed according to the app is 302 megabits? So what the heck is going on? Is the Google Home app lying to me? How am I supposed to know what speed I am actually getting?

Addendum: I am on chat with Google Technical Support, and the support person is trying to tell me the speed test results will depend partly on how far away I am standing with my phone. That's ridiculously untrue, right? I thought the speed test measures the speed AT THE MAIN WIFI POINT. At least that's what it did with the Nest WIFi before I got the Pro.

Anyway, this is really frustrating. The router is definitely passing through almost a gigabit when the Spectrum tester is hardwird into the router. So why does the speed test tell me I'm getting only 300 megabits? And which one am I really getting throughout my household?

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I am getting conflicting information from every direction.

I do understand that when to do a "normal" speed test (e.g., from a web site), it is giving you the speed from your local device to the internet, not the speed from your router to the internet. However, I have always understood that the speed test from the Google Home app is in fact measure the speed from the ROUTER to the internet, not from my local device. At least I'm confident that's what was happening with my Nest WiFi router, because I was consistently getting speed test results between 500 Mbps and 800 Mbps, and I'm confident that this is NOT the speed between my phone and the internet, over the WiFi.

And you are correct that we are getting a wired speed of over 950 Mbps, so hopefully that is the true speed. But when I contacted Google Support over Facebook Messenger, they said this is a known issue and that the Google Home app is not just reporting the wrong speed, but that the router is in fact throttling the speed for some people, and they are working on a fix to the problem. I don't understand how that works, since the wired speed test does show 950 Mbps, so that's what they told me.

On the other hand, when I went to Google Support on their website chat, I got someone to whom I had to explain repeatedly (for over an hour) that this was not a WiFi issue, but rather an issue of the Google Home app's wired speed mismatching the Spectrum technician's wired speed. This tech support person kept having me doing things like change the DNS settings, move closer to a WiFi point, etc., before they would escalate the case to someone who actually can work on the real problem. Of course, none of that worked.

And now I have you telling me that my internet speed is actually fine, and it's just the Google Home app that is reporting the wrong speed. And you are also suggesting that the Google Home app is measuring the speed to my phone rather than the speed to me router, which (as I noted above) is not what I understand to be the case and is not what the support folks told me on Facebook Messenger.

So it's very difficult to understand whether I actually have a problem or what the problem is, giving all the conflicting information I am getting. I guess at this point, I will hope the new firmware upgrade comes soon and fixes WHATEVER the problem is. Otherwise, I am strongly considering returning my three new Nest WiFi Pro units and ending my relationship with Nest Wifi after 5 years.

Google Home app built in internet speed test, tests from your primary Nest Wifi unit, to some (probably Google owned) server. It does not say what speed your computer will get to Netflix. It says what speed your Nest Wifi primary unit/ router has to what ever server it tests against.

Well, I don't know if I have an issue, do I? You suggest I don't have an issue, it's just that the speed test to the Google Servers is inexcplicably 33% of the speed test to the spectrum servers. That tends to be my opnion, as well, but neither you nor I know whether I'm getting fast speeds to anything other than the Spectrum test servers.

But Google Support on Facebook messenger tells me, no, the Nest WiFi Pro is actually throttling the speed, and this is a known bug. If this "bug" is manifesting itself to the Google Servers, but not to the Spectrum servers, how do I know which speed I am actually getting through everyday use of my router? I assume you're not suggesting that I should be happy with getting 300Mbps instead of 950Mbps "since I'm not using that bandwidth right now anyway".

On the other hand, Google Support on the website chat keeps insisting that I need to move my phone closer to my WiFi points.

So it would be nice to know if I actually do have a problem, and if I do to fix it. Are you giving me a guarantee that, if the Google Home app is telling me I have only 300Mbps to the Google servers, then that DOESN'T mean I'm also getting that slow speed to other connections, like my work computers 5 states over?

I did misunderstand your first reply, though. I thought you were trying to tell me the speed test would give me the speed to my phone, not to my router, but I see now that you were saying the opposite, which is what I understood to be the case. I apologize for my confusion.

Yep, that just popped up in my Google News feed in my phone, too. Thanks! It's good to have at least the recognition that it's a known problem, as well as the assurance that it's just the app screwing up, and not a true reflection of my speed. (Although it's also curious that neither of of the Google tech/customer support folks I've been in touch with have communicated this to me, and instead I have to get the information from news items.)

I just wanted to touch base on this and see if anyone was still seeing the same issue. I know some time has passed and it was made aware to our internal teams. If you're still seeing this on your end, just let me know.

As far as I know, we have been told this is a known issue, but it still has not been fixed. I am still experiencing the issue and hoping someday an update to the Home App will start telling me what my actual connections speeds are.

Yes the problem is still occurring. Google Home reports I'm getting 200mbps download from a 500mbps BT fibre connection. Testing using speed test on a connected device shows this is incorrect and I am indeed getting 500mbps.