A lot of people purchase computer systems primarily for internet surfing. These people don’t really require high-end computer systems, but they want ultra-fast connection speed that’s why they settle only for the best computers in the market. And so when they experience a slowdown while surfing the internet, they tend to blame it on the hardware.

But there’s one important factor why internet surfing suddenly slows down – bandwidth. Simply defined, bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted from one point to another in a given period of time. Bandwidth is the speed your internet service provider promotes. The fastest these days is 2 to 5 Gigabytes per second.

Bandwidth changes from time to time. When your internet provider tells you that the surfing speed you’ll enjoy is 1 Gbps, that doesn’t mean you are at that rate all the time. This is where regular broadband bandwidth checks are important. Bandwidth check allows you to know the speed of your internet connection at a given time. And it can be very helpful to determine the root cause of the slowdown of internet surfing.

There are several bandwidth meter speed tests available in the internet. The Bee Line bandwidth test is the most popular choice. The site works by making your computer download a 256 K file and assessing your computer’s performance as it moves it. Bee Line is a free bandwidth speed test, so you can really use it anytime you want.

Broadband connection speed varies from one provider to another. But the lowest they could go is usually 128 Kbps. There were slow broadband connections before that runs at 64 Kbps. But only a handful of people avail of them, as it is only a little higher than dial-up connection.

The preference of the best bandwidth speed test around is always on the discretion of the user. You can test your bandwidth speed through a lot of sites, including the Road Runner bandwidth test. Cable bandwidth speed test is slightly different from DSL speed tests, as DSL is usually faster than cable. Also, your cable modem has a lot to do with your internet surfing speed. Better ask your internet provider who to perform a cable modem bandwidth test to your box regularly so you can be sure your modem is working well or needs replacing.

There are several ways to check your internet surfing speed. There are a lot of sites offering simple check my bandwidth type of information for users. Download.com bandwidth test is also a good site. And if you are a little tech savvy, you ca use the command line bandwidth tests too. These tests allows users to check their speed without going to a website or opening up a browser. By typing some executables on the DOS prompt or the command line, you will easily see how much data you are receiving or sending over the internet. Command line bandwith tests eliminate problems associated with browsers and software running in your system.

It is quite easy to learn how to test bandwidth speed. For as long as you can connect to the internet, you should be good. Testing bandwidth speed could be nothing more than clicking a few buttons. And for you to interpret the results obtained, it is advisable that you report the figures you obtaned with your internet service provider so they can do the necessary adjustments, if there’s a need for that.