PostPoints tip: Test your Internet connection's speed

Are you getting the download and upload speeds you've been paying for? Don't take your Internet provider's word for it; put a radar gun on your broadband at a speed-testing site. Try, for example, Speedtest.net, a service of the Web-diagnostics firm Ookla, or the suite of tools provided by the news-and-discussion site DSLReports.com at dslreports.com/stest. Each will gauge your download and upload rates by sending data to and from your browser, then report back their findings; repeat these tests (with no other Internet applications active) a few times, and you should have a good feel for your connection's performance. Both of those sites also provide simpler speed-testing tools for use on an iPhone or another broadband-enabled phone.