We are now all experts on understanding bandwidth math! But the real-world question is “how long will it take for someone to view?” There is no easy answer. Because all streaming media is dependent on the viewer’s connection speed, let’s take a look at your connection speed.
There are several great, and free, online tools to test your connection speed. My favorite is Speakeasy.net. From their home page click the “speed test” button in the lower right.
Then click on a city near you. The test will run and you can see your connection speed. For streaming media it is all about the viewer’s ‘download’ connection speed. Interestingly, the results are both for File Size (KB ) and Bandwidth (Kbps). The speedometer shows file size (KB and MB ) and the results section shows bandwidth size (Kbps).
One of the reasons I like the Speakeasy speed test is that it covers super-high speed connections that many do not. My connection shown here shows a solid 15 MB download connection (most top out 3 MB ). I have the very fast Verizon fiber optic system (FIOS) for my internet provider.
Another reason I like the Speakeasy speed test is that it shows your connection speed to distant cities when going across the country – try it… it has a huge impact on your overall connection speed!
– Troy @ TLC