ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Microsoft is adding a built-in internet speed test directly to Windows 11.
- The tool will replace the existing tester, which takes you to a Bing web page.
- The new tool is currently available in the latest Windows Insider build.
Does the internet performance on your Windows PC ever feel sluggish? Testing the actual speed can tell you if it matches what you expect or what’s promised from your internet provider. To run a speed test in the past, you typically had to go to a dedicated website or install a special app. Now Microsoft is rolling out an integrated speed test tool designed to save your time.
Also: The right way to run an internet speed test
To try the new tool, you need to be part of Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program if you haven’t already joined. When setting this up, make sure you choose the Experimental channel. Since these Insider builds can be unstable, don’t do this on your primary PC. Instead, use a spare computer, a dual-boot setup, or a virtual machine. I run the Insider builds in a VM through VMware Workstation Pro.
Even with the Experimental channel, I had to enable a special flag for the test. To do this, go to Settings, select Windows Update, and then click Windows Insider Program. Select the option for Feature Flags and scroll down the screen to the entry for Quick Settings Speed Test. Click the drop-down button next to it and change the setting to Enabled if it’s not already set that way. Then restart your PC.
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After you log back in, you can access the new speed test one of two ways. Left-click on the System tray and choose Speed test from the Quick Settings menu. Otherwise, right-click on the Network icon and select “Test internet speed” from the pop-up menu. With the tool open, just click the Test button to kick it off. The graph will show the download and upload speeds as they’re being tested, with the results giving you the numbers for both.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because Windows 11 already includes an internet speed test tool. In your current version of Windows 11, right-click on the Network icon in the System tray and choose “Perform speed test” from the menu. But as you’ll see, this test isn’t integrated into Windows. Instead, it takes you to a Bing search page where you then have to run the test and see the results on the page. In contrast, the new tool is built into Windows, making it a vast improvement over the existing one.
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“Because the test runs against your active internet connection, you can quickly understand how your current connection is performing without leaving your workflow,” Microsoft said in its blog post. “This updated experience builds on the internet speed test we previously introduced for Windows Insiders, bringing the test and its results directly into Windows.”
Microsoft didn’t reveal the source behind the speed test. But the Info icon for the tool says “Powered by SpeedTest,” an indication that this is from internet speed tester Ookla. To gauge the results, I ran both the built-in speed test and the one at Ookla’s website several times, and the performance for both downloads and uploads were similar between the two.
Since the new speed test is only now hitting the Insider Experimental channel, we might have to wait a while before it officially rolls out to all Windows 11 users. But the tool is convenient to use, runs smoothly, and appears to be accurate. So, hopefully we won’t have to wait too long.