How do I calculate my actual WiFi speed?

Ugh, WiFi speed! Isn’t it the worst? You know, that advertised Mbps number? Total hogwash, in my opinion! Like, seriously, who are they kidding? I mean, remember that time I was trying to download that huge game update – the one that promised a blazing-fast 500 Mbps download? Yeah, right. It took, like, forever.

So, how do you figure out what your actual speed is? Well, what I usually do – and this isn’t perfect science, mind you, just my own little hack – is take that ridiculously inflated Mbps number they give you and divide it by eight. That gets you MBps, which is, you know, what actually matters when you’re, say, trying to download a movie or something. Makes a world of difference, trust me. I learned that the hard way after waiting an hour for a 5MB file to download (it should’ve been seconds!). It was brutal.

To get a rough estimate of download time – and I stress rough, because there are so many other things that can affect it – I’d multiply the file size in MB by eight, then divide that by your actual MBps speed. It’s not exact, not even close. But it’s better than staring blankly at the download bar for ages, wondering what the heck is going on. Remember, things like how many devices are using the WiFi, how far you are from the router, even what your neighbours are doing all play a part. It’s a messy equation, really. Just expect it to take longer than they say. Always. That’s my motto, anyway.