Frequently Asked Questions
What may cause my data speed to slow?
There are a number of factors which can affect data speeds. The most common causes for slow or irregular data speeds include:
- Internet traffic congestion
- The upload speed of the websites you visit
- The quality of the equipment being used, such as modems or internet devices
- Having a shaped service plan (i.e. your data speed can be restricted by your ISP after you have exceeded your monthly usage quota)
- Certain internet performance limitations associated with your internet access technology ADSL, satellite or wireless
For example, if you are using a wireline technology such as ADSL, data speed may be affected by:
- The length of your phone line to the local exchange
- The state and quality of your phone line
- The number of joints in your phone line
- Other applications connected to your telephone line (such as home alarm, fax, etc)
If you are using wireless or satellite technology, factors that can affect your data speed include:
- Signal strength transmitted by your ISP
- Distance from your home base station
- Interference to your signal strength from weather conditions or physical objects
- Signals emitted by objects used around your home such as cordless phones, TV sets, air conditioners and microwaves
- Latency in the case of satellites i.e. the time is takes for data signals to travel from your home to the satellite and back
Why do I get different results when I run the test?
Factors such as network congestion and the performance of your own equipment can affect the speed you ultimately experience. Also be sure you're not sending and receiving emails or downloading documents or web pages while the test is running because this contributes to slow data speed.
The upload test won't start?
Sometimes the upload component of the test won't start. This mainly occurs when you have a firewall installed. It is suggested that you temporarily disable your firewall to run the test.
Please remember to enable your firewall straight away after conducting the data speed test.
How often should I run the test?
If you have received a FAILED result run the test again in an hour. If you have received a second FAILED result run the test in 24 hours time. If you have received a third failed attempt contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@abgtest.com.au for further assistance. It is also important to run the test at different times of the day (morning, afternoon and evening) in order to gauge the consistency of the test results.
How fast should my Internet connection be?
The speed of your internet experience is determined by calculating the time it takes your internet connection to download and upload a predefined data file whose size is generally accepted as a commercial benchmark. To obtain a PASSED result both your download and upload speeds need to be at least 60% of the peak nominal speed of your broadband service plan. The table below displays the nominal data speeds of the most common broadband service plans offered by registered providers as well as their related speeds required to PASS the test:
Data Speed (kbps) | Pass Mark 60% (kbps) |
| 1500 | 900 |
| 1024 | 614.4 |
| 768 | 460.8 |
| 512 | 307.2 |
| 256 | 153.6 |
| 128 | 76.8 |
| 64 | 38.4 |
Apple Mac Users
If you are having problems running the latest version of Java on your Apple Mac visit http://developer.apple.com/java/
for more information.