When you invest your hard-earned money in a good internet connection, you expect to get the best results out of it. Unless you are a Cox Internet customer, you have to make sure to keep tabs on your internet speed. With Cox, you can just rely on its extremely reliable service and enjoy the best offers at the lowest price points.

Several internet plans come with a variety of download and upload speeds. You should know that the package that you are using has the speed according to your requirements. Plus, if you don’t know how much speed your plan offers, then you can check your monthly internet bill.

But when you want to ensure that your internet is working at the exact speed you are paying your provider for, you have to take the internet speed test. In case you are not sure about how a speed test is taken or what measures should you take to verify that your results are not skewed, you must follow the below-mentioned steps.

Inaccurate speed test results come because you don’t take all the necessary steps before starting a speed test. We bring you all these steps in one place so that don’t have to face any issues again. So let’s jump right in!

1.    Always Restart Your Modem and Router

There is plenty of load on your modem and router as devices are performing several tasks simultaneously. This may cause them to slow down and put a major effect on your internet speed. You must understand this concept and take action to control the overworked routers and modems. This will not only reduce your performance quality but will cause a delay in everything you do online.

The best way to overcome it is to restart your modem and routers. When you restart the devices it will automatically be turned on to its optimized status. You can unplug the router and modem and restart the modem after wait for 30 seconds and the router after 60 seconds. This means you will be able to get accurate results after the speed test.

2.    Always Disable VPN

When you are performing a speed test, you can never expect to get accurate results if your VPN is on. The VPN automatically reduces you’re your speed to around 5% to 6%. That is mainly due to the encryptions process that is placed to secure your data.

Moreover, as VPN puts a significant load on the server because of the geolocation, it can also be a reason for low internet speed. That is why you must switch off your VPN before you conduct the speed test.

3.    Always Switch Off Security Software

When you are concerned about the speed of your internet you have to cover all the aspects that can become the reason for the internet speed problem. Among other factors, security software is something that you should keep an eye on. It is essential that when you plan to take the speed test, you switch off your antivirus software.

A security software utilizes a certain amount of bandwidth to update its virus definition and that can cause a drop in speed. Plus, the VPN settings and built-in firewalls cause an additional effect on the quality of your connection.

4.    Reduce Any Extra Activities

This factor might not cross your mind and can be easily neglected, but you have to make sure that you are not performing any online task while conducting a speed test. To name a few, you should stop any downloading, streaming, or uploading while your device is used for the internet speed test. Moreover, in case there are multiple devices in your house, you should make sure that no one is using them when you are speed testing. The best way to can control the devices from consuming internet bandwidth is by turning them on to airplane mode.

To Narrow It Down

Conducting a speed test is a complicated process, you cannot expect to get an accurate result if you are not following all the steps that we have mentioned above. So we hope that this helps you in analyzing your internet speed quality.