Free broadband speed test: Pulse
Press start and Pulse measures your real download speed, your response time, and the one most tests skip: how your line behaves under full load. It takes about thirty seconds, needs no signup, and ends with what to actually do about your result.
Ready when you are.
Cloudflare global edge · 6 parallel streams · download focused method
Results are in megabits per second (Mbps). Downloads show in megabytes: divide by eight.
Your result will appear here.
Under pressure Bufferbloat
WiFi or line?
Slow results are often the WiFi, not the broadband. Move right next to your router, on the 5 GHz band if you can, then run this second pass to see which one to fix.
Promised vs delivered
Run the test, then enter the advertised average speed to compare.
Know your rights: under Ofcom's Broadband Speeds Code of Practice, if your speed falls below the guaranteed minimum in your contract, providers signed up to the code get 30 days to fix it. After that you can leave penalty free, even mid contract. If a switch or repair goes wrong you may also be due automatic compensation: £10.34 per day for delayed repairs, £32.31 per missed appointment and £6.46 per day for a delayed start (rates from 1 April 2026).
What your street can do
What your speed costs you
Run the test, then enter your monthly bill to see your price per Mbps.
Getting Universal Credit or Pension Credit? Social tariffs start from about £12.50 a month, and fewer than one in ten eligible households take one up. Check if you qualify ›
Faster for less at your postcode
Your result is the before. See the after: live deals from 35+ providers at your exact address, ranked by our published methodology, never by commission.
Compare deals at my postcodeRankings follow our published methodology based on price, speed and service, with commission kept out of the ranking process.
One Touch Switch makes moving simple: pick a deal and your new provider manages the whole move, including cancelling your old service.
Browse every deal at your postcode ›Tip: run Pulse again between 8 and 10 pm, the window Ofcom uses for peak measurement, and compare your evening dip.
Result reference: …
What is a good broadband speed in 2026?
For most UK homes, 100 Mbps or more now counts as good, and it usually costs less than the old copper package it replaces. One to two light users are comfortable between 30 and 100 Mbps. Households streaming in 4K, gaming and taking video calls at the same time sit best between 100 and 300 Mbps, and large or smart homes suit 300 Mbps and up. Our what speed do I need guide walks through it room by room.
The headroom is there for most addresses now: full fibre reaches 82 percent of UK homes (Ofcom, Connected Nations Spring 2026 update). Speed is only half the story though. Response time shapes how fast everything feels, jitter shapes how smooth calls and games are, and latency under load is the hidden number behind evening slowdowns. Our broadband speed guide and latency, jitter and packet loss explainer cover the lot, and if upload matters for your work there is a dedicated upload versus download comparison.
If your result disappoints, do not shrug and live with it. Check whether it is WiFi or the line with the router check above, test again at peak time, and if you are below your contract's guaranteed minimum, Ofcom's speeds code gives your provider 30 days to fix it before you can leave penalty free. Moving house? Sort it early with our moving home broadband guide.
What Pulse measures, and why it matters
Download
How quickly data reaches you. It sets streaming quality, download times and how fast pages feel.
Response
How fast your line answers when quiet. Low numbers make everything feel instant.
Under load
Response time while the line is busy: the number behind evening slowdowns that most people have never been shown. Pulse grades it so you know what to do about it.
Jitter
How steady your response time is. Spikes cause glitches in calls, gaming and live TV.
How much speed does your home need?
Browsing, email and HD streaming for one to two people.
4K streaming, video calls and gaming in a busy household. See streaming and gaming picks.
Large households, smart homes and heavy working from home.
Not sure what those numbers mean for your home? Try the broadband speed calculator to turn how you use the internet into a recommended speed tier, then compare deals at your postcode. Or use the download time calculator to see how long a film, game or backup takes at your speed, and how much faster full fibre would be. If the speed looks fine but calls and games still stutter, run the live quality monitor to watch latency, jitter and bufferbloat over time.
Broadband speed test FAQs
What is a good broadband speed in the UK in 2026?
Is 38 Mbps good?
Why is my internet slow?
Why is my WiFi slower than my broadband?
What is the difference between Mbps and MB/s?
What speed do I need for streaming, gaming and working from home?
What is bufferbloat?
What can I do if I do not get the speed I was promised?
How do I complain about my broadband speed?
When is the best time to run a speed test?
Does Pulse test upload speed?
Do you store my speed test results?
Slower than it should be? Fix it in 30 seconds.
Check what 35+ providers offer at your exact address. Independent, free, no signup, and your new provider handles the whole switch under One Touch Switch.
Compare deals at my postcodeAlso useful: Check your IP address (ISP, IPv6 and CGNAT).