Understanding your results

Your result has four parts: a score from 0 to 100, a rating, one main finding with a suggestion, and the five measurements behind them. This page explains each one, including the thresholds we use, so you can see exactly how we reached the answer.

The Internet Health Score

The score combines your five measurements into one number. Each measurement is first turned into a sub-score from 0 to 100, then the sub-scores are weighted:

• Download: 25%
• Latency increase under load: 25%
• Latency: 20%
• Upload: 15%
• Jitter: 15%

Three rules keep the score honest:

• Speed has diminishing returns. Your plan speed is unknown to us, so we judge speed by what it’s useful for. Going from 5 to 25 Mbps makes a big difference; going from 300 to 500 Mbps doesn’t change the score at all.
• One serious weakness can’t be averaged away. If any measurement scores very badly (a sub-score below 25), the overall score can’t be higher than 49. If any measurement is clearly weak (below 50), the score can’t be higher than 69.
• Missing measurements are left out, not guessed. If latency under load couldn’t be measured reliably, the other measurements are reweighted to cover it. Without download, upload and latency, we show an error instead of a score.

The rating

Excellent (85–100)

Fast and responsive. Everyday activities, including video calls and streaming, should work smoothly.

Good (70–84)

Works well for most households. One area may be a little weak without causing everyday problems.

Fair (50–69)

Usable, but one clear weakness, or several smaller ones together, are likely to be noticeable at some point.

Poor (0–49)

At least one serious weakness that everyday use will probably run into.

The finding and “Try this”

Below the score you’ll see one main finding. We pick the measurement with the lowest sub-score and describe it, because one clear problem is more useful than a list of minor ones. Measurements with a sub-score of 75 or more aren’t mentioned. A sub-score between 50 and 74 is described as a mild issue, and below 50 as a significant one. If nothing is weak, the finding says your connection looks healthy.

The suggestion under Try this is a practical next step, not a diagnosis. A browser test can’t see inside your home network, so it can’t prove why something is slow; it can only show what the measurements suggest.

The five measurements

The ranges below come from the scoring we use. They’re practical guides for everyday use, not industry standards.

Download (Mbps)

How quickly data reaches your device. It affects streaming quality, download times and how fast pages load.

• About 25 Mbps or more: not flagged. Beyond about 300 Mbps, extra speed adds nothing to the score.
• About 8 to 25 Mbps: mild issue. Fine for one person, tight for a busy household.
• Below about 8 Mbps: significant issue. Streaming and large downloads are likely to be slow. Below about 3 Mbps the overall rating is Poor.

Upload (Mbps)

How quickly you can send data. It matters for video calls, sending photos and videos, and cloud backups.

• About 9 Mbps or more: not flagged. Beyond about 100 Mbps, extra speed adds nothing.
• About 3 to 9 Mbps: mild issue. Fine for calls, slower for big uploads.
• Below about 3 Mbps: significant issue. Video calls may struggle. Below 1 Mbps the overall rating is Poor.

Many home plans offer much less upload than download, so a modest upload figure can simply reflect the plan.

Latency (ms)

The time a small request takes to travel to our server and back while your connection is quiet. It’s why some connections feel snappy and others hesitate, even at the same speed.

• Up to about 58 ms: not flagged. Under about 30 ms is excellent.
• About 58 to 100 ms: mild issue. Usually fine, slightly less responsive.
• Over 100 ms: significant issue. Pages, calls and games may feel sluggish. Above about 175 ms the overall rating is Poor.

Satellite connections, VPNs and long distances to the nearest server all add latency.

Jitter (ms)

How much the round-trip time changes from one request to the next. Calls and games handle a steady delay better than an unpredictable one.

• Up to about 12 ms: not flagged.
• About 12 to 27 ms: mild issue. Calls may stutter occasionally.
• Over about 27 ms: significant issue. Choppy calls and lag in games are likely. Above 50 ms the overall rating is Poor.

Weak or crowded Wi-Fi is a common cause of high jitter.

Loaded latency (ms)

Latency measured while a download is running. We score how much it rises above your quiet-connection latency, shown on the result screen as “+X ms compared with idle”. A large rise means that when anyone uses the connection heavily, everything else waits in a queue. You may hear this called bufferbloat.

• Rise up to 60 ms: not flagged. Under 30 ms is excellent.
• Rise of about 60 to 175 ms: mild issue. Calls may lag during big downloads or uploads.
• Rise over about 175 ms: significant issue. Calls and games are likely to suffer whenever the network is busy. Above about 360 ms the overall rating is Poor.

Some routers have a setting called QoS or Smart Queue Management (SQM) that keeps latency low while the connection is busy. It’s often the most effective fix for this problem.

What each finding means

Your connection looks healthy

Nothing scored low enough to flag. If something still feels slow at times, run another check at that moment and compare.

Latency increases when the network is busy

Your connection slows down under load. If speed is also high, the finding says your connection is fast but latency increases when busy. Try pausing heavy use during calls, and look for a QoS or Smart Queue setting on your router.

Your connection responds slowly

Latency is high even when the line is quiet. Try moving closer to your router or checking without a VPN.

Download speed is low

Check again next to your router or on a cable. If it stays low, your plan or provider may be the limit.

Upload speed is low

Check closer to your router. If upload stays low, your plan may only offer limited upload speed.

Response time varies a lot

High jitter. Wi-Fi interference is a common cause, so try a spot closer to your router or a wired connection.

Why your result can change

Each check is a snapshot. Results can change with the time of day, other people using your network, where you’re standing relative to the router, background updates on your device, and, on mobile networks, signal strength and how busy the local cell is. Checking two or three times in a row gives a more reliable picture than any single result.

When to contact your provider

If results stay low on a wired connection, or right next to your router, at different times of day, it may be worth raising with your internet provider. Keep a note of a few results with their dates and times. NetHealthLab results are informational and aren’t an official measurement for complaints or service guarantees, but a consistent pattern is a useful starting point for that conversation.

About data used

The line at the bottom of your result shows roughly how much data the check transferred. Faster connections use more, because the check needs larger transfers to measure them accurately. How it works explains each step.