speed test

updated 1 Oct 2026

One tap measures your connection through macOS's own networkQuality, against Apple's servers – down, up and responsiveness, with the last result kept in the row.

• reading it – ↓ download and ↑ upload.
• response – how many times a signal gets to a server and back in a minute while the line is fully loaded: below 100 calls and streams will suffer, 800+ is great. shown in the result's tooltip.
• why live numbers move – the test ramps up parallel streams, so the live figures float while it runs; the final number is the capacity it settled on.
• why it disagrees with speedtest.net – hop measures the download first and the upload after it, one direction at a time. that is how speedtest.net and the other consumer tests work, and it is the figure a provider sells. the system tool hop calls loads both directions at once unless it is asked otherwise, because its other answer is the rpm above: responsiveness is a question about a busy line, and a busy line is busy both ways. on a home connection the upload is the narrow half, so sharing the link with a download at full speed reported it two to three times low. both ways of measuring are right about different questions.
• staleness – a result older than 30 minutes (or taken on another Wi-Fi) turns dim: time to re-measure.
• download in practice – 10 Mbps is enough for browsing and music, 25 for HD video, 50+ for 4K and quick app downloads, 100+ for heavy files without waiting.
• upload in practice – 5 Mbps carries a call with screen sharing, 10+ HD video calls and cloud backups, 25+ comfortable streaming and big uploads.
• low RPM on a fast line – RPM is delay under load, not speed. «under load» means the line is busy with something else: a file downloading, a cloud backup, someone at home streaming. in those moments router queues (bufferbloat) hold packets. 0–100 – on a busy line, voices in calls drop out and sound distorted, pages take seconds to open; 100–400 – only short hiccups under load; 400–800 – load is barely noticeable; 800+ – calls stay smooth even next to torrents. if you rarely load the line, low RPM won't bother you; the cure is a router with smart queue management (SQM).