The most important factors are your router and your device. Cumberland Connect wants you to have the best experience possible, so we’ve solved half of that equation by providing a free Wi-Fi 6 (802.11AX) GigaSpire router with our service.
This GigaSpire router provides your home with the latest generation of Wi-Fi technology. Now that you'll have an amazing router to give you the best speeds possible, let's take a look at what you are testing with.
Take a moment to look up the model of your device on the Internet. Hopefully, it has either 802.11AX or 802.11AC wireless capabilities. Most new devices do these days. If your device only supports 802.11n, g, b, or a — you will be unable to take advantage of the great speeds Cumberland Connect is offering.
There are also two different wireless frequencies that routers use: 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. As a quick rule, 5Ghz is higher speed but shorter distance, while 2.4Ghz is lower speed but longer distance. If that sounds confusing to manage and you don't know which one to use, don’t worry — we made this simple for you. Our routers just show a single wireless SSID or name, and work with your compatible devices to move them back and forth between the frequencies to make sure you are getting the best speeds possible.
If you decided to hardwire to the router with an Ethernet cord, most Ethernet cards are 1-gigabit-capable these days. However, actually achieving 900Mbps or higher speed also depends on the quality of the Ethernet card. Many gigabit Ethernet cards can still under-perform and achieve less than optimal speeds.
The other important factor when running a speed test is the site and server you are using on the other end. We like www.speedtest.net as it is a collection of independently owned speed test servers located throughout the country. The great thing about this is you can find some really fantastic speed test providers on that site. The bad thing is, you can also find some not-so-great speed test providers.
Cumberland Connect’s job is to get you the fastest speeds possible out to the Internet, but we cannot guarantee every site or every server you visit is capable of achieving the same speeds we are giving you. This is why some speed test servers test great and some do not. A single poor speed test to a specific server does not mean you are not getting your speeds, so be sure to test a few different servers until you find one that gives you the best results. Major metropolitan areas usually have several good servers to choose from.