Brightspeed Internet Speed Test
Internet Speed Tester
Press Start. After the test you get a network quality score and what your speed is good for.
Download
0.0 Mbps
Upload
0.0 Mbps
Ping
0.0 ms
Jitter
0.0 ms
Your last results
How this test measures
The test runs against the nearest Cloudflare data center, shown above as the server. Results describe the path between you and that server, which can differ from the path to a particular website, game or call server.
Ping is the median round-trip time of 60 small requests, and jitter is the average difference between consecutive ones. Download and upload use files of growing size sent one after another over a single connection, and the result is the 90th percentile of the requests that ran long enough to be reliable. Speeds are in megabits per second (1 Mbps = 1,000,000 bits).
Because it uses one connection, the test can read lower than a multi-connection test on very fast or distant links. Wi-Fi, a VPN, other devices and a busy browser can all lower the result, so use a cable and close other apps for the most accurate number. Nothing from the test is stored on our servers.
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Test your Brightspeed connection with the tool below. What you should see depends on whether you have DSL or fiber: DSL speeds depend on your line and are usually tens of Mbps at most, while Brightspeed fiber plans are symmetrical, so upload matches download.
About Brightspeed
Brightspeed is a US provider that took over the CenturyLink (Lumen) local network in 20 states in 2022. It sells DSL over phone lines and, in a growing number of areas, fiber-to-the-home. Which one you have depends on your address.
| Connection | What to expect |
|---|---|
| DSL | Speeds vary a lot with distance from the equipment. Plans are advertised from about 10 up to around 100 Mbps, but many homes get less. Upload is much lower. |
| Fiber | Symmetrical speeds, with plans up to 2 Gbps where available. Results close to the plan are normal over Ethernet. |
Check your own plan and its speed on your bill, since plans and prices vary by area and change over time.
How to test your Brightspeed speed accurately
- Connect a computer by Ethernet to your modem or router.
- Close other apps and pause streaming and downloads.
- Run the test two or three times, including once in the evening.
- Compare download and upload with the numbers on your plan.
If your speed is lower than your plan
- Wi-Fi. If wired is fine and Wi-Fi is slow, move closer or use 5 GHz.
- DSL line quality. Old wiring, splitters and filters hurt DSL. Make sure each phone jack in use has a DSL filter.
- Equipment. Restart the modem and router, and check the modem supports your plan's speed.
- Peak hours. Compare morning and evening tests.
- Contact Brightspeed if wired speeds stay well below the plan, and share your test results. Ask whether fiber is available at your address.
For drops and lag, also run the stability test.
How to tell if you have DSL or fiber
- Check your plan name and bill. Fiber plans are usually listed by speed, such as 500 Mbps or 1 Gig, and DSL plans by a lower speed.
- Look at the equipment. DSL connects through a modem that plugs into a phone jack. Fiber connects through a small box (an optical terminal) where the fiber line enters your home.
- Compare upload with download. Upload close to download points to fiber. Upload far lower than download points to DSL.
What a normal DSL result looks like
DSL speed depends mostly on how far your home is from the provider's equipment and on the condition of the copper line. Two neighbors on the same plan can see very different results. A result below the top speed of your plan is common and is not always a fault. A sudden drop from your own usual result is the thing to chase.
Fix common DSL problems
- Put a filter on every phone jack that has a phone, fax or alarm plugged in. A missing filter is one of the most common causes of slow or dropping DSL.
- Plug the modem into the jack nearest to where the line enters the home. Long runs of old inside wiring add noise.
- Replace damaged phone cords. A cheap cord can cost real speed.
- Write down your test results and the times. A log of slow and fast moments helps the technician find intermittent faults.