Internet service isn’t cheap. How do you know if you’re getting the speeds you’re promised (and paying for)? You can’t tell unless you monitor regularly. You then have a baseline for comparison.
Your Own Tests
You can run your own tests with Ookla SpeedTest from your browser or as an app on your mobile device. For better results- measure via a wired Internet connection (Plan B: use a wireless device close to your WiFi source)
- disconnect all other devices accessing the Internet (Plan B: accept lower results)
If the results are far from what you expect, call your provider to find out what’s wrong.
Detailed Monitoring
Rogers is the only Internet provider in Canada with certified speeds. We’re part of the independent monitoring via SamKnows. Our service is monitored 24/7 and we can see the detailed reports ourselves. That’s how we find out and verify problems.Speed Today
Our Rogers Ultimate unlimited plan promises 150 Mbps downloads and 10 Mbps uploads. We routinely get faster downloads (about 190 Mbps) and slightly faster uploads (about 11 Mbps). Since our service is reliable and stable, we don’t routinely check the performance.Our speed today is much lower than usual — about 100 Mbps (blue line in graph below) instead of 150 (the red line). That’s too big difference to ignore.
Speed This Month
This month, our service started deteriorating on the 10th. That’s when the blue line dropped below the red line below. We noticed but didn’t notice because our service was still fast. That’s another reason to get a faster plan.
Anomalies happen and are usually fixed quickly. I called Rogers. They said our Internet signal strength has dropped to marginal levels. They’re sending a technician tomorrow.
Speed This Year
Overall, Rogers is excellent at delivering consistent fast speeds. This graph of speed year-to-date shows this. The last slowdown was minor, months ago and quickly fixed. At that time, there was apparently a problem affecting the neighborhood, perhaps caused by the polar vortex.
Lessons
Just because speeds are independently certified doesn’t mean you’re getting them or will keep getting them.Without monitoring, we might not have called Rogers. It’s easy to think that slowdowns are caused by other users, including family members. If we checked the monitoring more regularly, we would have had a fix earlier.
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