Does Sparklight offer an authorized speed test?

Sparklight is now offering an authorized speed test through your Customer Portal. We provide this speed test to our High Speed Internet Subscribers as a diagnostic tool to test the speeds of their Sparklight Internet connection. This tool will show your current download and upload speeds both within your community and across the internet.

What is a speed test?

A speed test is a diagnostic tool that can be used to display your Internet connection speed.

What is Internet Connection Speed?

Internet Connection Speed refers to how fast you are able to navigate the Internet. This is important as every function performed on the internet requires information to be passed back and forth between your PC and the internet. Higher speeds result in a faster internet experience.

When and why would I run a speed test?

A speed test can be run at any time to view your current internet connection speed. We suggest running the tool to assist in troubleshooting slow connectivity. Slow connectivity can be due to many reasons. Using the Sparklight authorized speed test as a diagnostic tool can help you identify a possible connection issue.

How can I run the Sparklight authorized speed test?

Step 1: Go to your Customer Portal and sign in.

Step 2: Click the "Services" tab on the top navigation bar.

Step 3: Scroll down to the section labeled "Internet Speed".

Step 4: Click "Check Speed".

Step 5: On the next page, click "Go" to perform your speed test.

This will complete the Sparklight authorized speed test and show you the results afterwards. It will also log your results in the Sparklight system.

What should I do if I see slow speeds on my test?

Here are some troubleshooting steps you can perform:

Step 1: Make sure no other applications are running on your PC.

Step 2: Verify that your PC is the only PC using your internet connection.

Step 3: If you have a router, switch or hub connected between your PC and your cable modem you can bypass the device and connect your PC straight to your cable modem.

Step 4: With the above steps completed, run the speed test again.

I'm getting 4900 Kbps and my plan is 5000 Kbps. Do I have a problem?

Probably not. There are many factors, including the performance of your PC, that can affect overall speed. Many customers will see speeds that are slightly lower or higher than their plan. As long as you are close to the speed listed on your plan, the internet connection is OK.

When I run the test on a wireless connection, I get slow speeds. Why is this?

There are several factors that can cause wireless internet to perform poorly even though the speed to the modem is fine. Sparklight does not guarantee connection speeds over wireless. If possible, you should always run the speed test from a PC that is connected directly to your modem with an Ethernet cable. If you have slow speed on a wireless connection, but a speed test on a wired connection performs normally, see the Troubleshooting Wireless Internet article for more assistance.

Why should I use the Sparklight speed test instead of others available on the internet?

The speed test offered by Sparklight is a diagnostic tool designed and built specifically for your Sparklight high speed internet connection. This tool assists our technicians with troubleshooting your service issues. We also perform two tests on your internet connection, one to test your speed in your community and a second to test your speed across the internet. Various other speed test sites test the speed of service between your house and their servers, which could be located anywhere nationally. The results from the two tests that the Sparklight speed test performs are logged in the Sparklight system and can help a Sparklight technician identify the location of possible issues. In most cases, you will see reduced speeds when going across the internet to other speed test sites as compared to the results displayed for the Sparklight test.