Incredibly fast gigabit speeds can be achieved when your computer is hardwired via Ethernet. Wi-Fi is a different animal. Know that by their nature, Wi-Fi connections are "lossy" - they degrade. Things like distance from the router, walls, and other electronics get in the way and lower signal strength. The weaker the signal, the slower your Wi-Fi speed.
Average speeds based on the connection type
Note: As fast as the Ting Gigabit connection is, it cannot change the limits of wireless technology, so you will not reach gigabit speeds over Wi-Fi.
Expected performance
Here's what you can generally expect depending on your method of connectivity:
| Speed | Connection Type | Protocol |
Typical real-life performance in Megabits per second (Mbps) |
| Best |
Ethernet Cable (Cat5e or better) |
Gigabit Ethernet | 800 - 940 |
| Fast Ethernet | 80 - 95 | ||
| Great | 6 GHz wireless band | wireless-AX (Wi-Fi 6E) |
200 - 600 |
|
5 GHz wireless band |
wireless-AX (Wi-Fi 6) |
150 - 500 | |
| Good | wireless-AC (Wi-Fi 5) |
100 - 400 | |
| Mediocre | wireless-N (Wi-Fi 4) |
40 - 90 | |
| 2.4 GHz wireless band | wireless-N (Wi-Fi 4) |
20 - 70 | |
| Poor | wireless-G |
10 - 20 |
While not guaranteed, these Wi-Fi performance figures are what you should expect when testing your connection's speed with a modern Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-FI 6 router at an average distance of 15-20 ft with few-to-no physical barriers between your testing device and the router.
With the newer Wi-Fi 6E, the standard that adds 6 GHz support, please note there is a stark dropoff in performance as you move further away. The higher the frequency, the faster the speeds, the less distance it can travel.
Router uptime
It's recommended that you reboot your wireless router periodically. This is known as "power cycling".
Why:
If you keep a computer up and running for days or weeks without powering it down, it can become slow and unstable. Restarting helps give it a fresh start, and your computer will typically run faster and with fewer issues. A wireless router is also a computer and benefits from the same process.
How:
Simply remove the router's power cord from the wall outlet or from the unit. Wait about 10 seconds before plugging it back in. Allow about 3 min for it to start back up and re-connect to the internet automatically.
We recommend performing a router reboot every 60 days or anytime you see unusual behavior.
Test your speed
Once you are ready to test things out, head to Ting.com/speedtest and give it a go. For best results, run it when nothing else is using the internet connection at the time.
You do not need to specify the city. It should default to one near your location.