Speed Lab

Speed Lab answers one question: on my connection, right now, does Rapidly's adaptive method beat a plain single connection, and by how much?

What it measures

Speed Lab downloads a test file twice:

1. once with a single connection (the baseline),
2. once with Rapidly's adaptive method.

Both runs use the same amount of time, and the order is balanced so that neither always goes first. It then shows the two results side by side, the difference, and what limited the speed (see bottlenecks).

How to read the result

• If the adaptive run is clearly better, that is your gain on this connection, at this moment.
• If the two are close, the server or your link is the limit, and extra connections cannot help. Speed Lab says so.
• If the adaptive run is worse, it tells you that too.

Why a result is true only for that moment

Your internet speed changes during the day. Servers get busy and quiet. A result from Speed Lab describes the test you just ran. Run it again at another time and it can differ, and that is normal.

Use your own test file

Speed Lab can test with a file address you choose, for example a large file from a server you care about. It only reads the file; it does not keep it.