How fast is the internet on your TV?
Run this on the television itself and you get the speed that actually reaches it, not the speed at your router. Then we tell you what that is good enough to stream.
Speed test
This test needs JavaScript to run. Everything below still explains what speed you need for each streaming quality, so the page is useful either way.
Ready when you are.
The test downloads about 4 MB. On a slow connection it stops early rather than making you wait.
What you can stream
What this test can and cannot tell you
Speed tests are easy to misread. Here is exactly what this one measures.
Download speed from your TV to our server. That is the right thing to measure for streaming, because it is the same journey a video takes.
Not tested. Streaming barely uses upload, and testing it would double the wait for no benefit.
This is not that number. It is the speed reaching this TV, over whatever WiFi or cable it is using. A slow result here with fast broadband usually means WiFi, not your provider.
Speed is necessary, not sufficient. Your subscription tier, the title itself, and the TV's decoding all have to line up too. Run the capability test for the rest.
Speed varies minute to minute. Run it two or three times. A single low result during someone else's download says very little.
How much speed do you actually need?
4K and HDR: about 25 Mbit/s
Netflix asks for 15, Disney+ asks for 25, YouTube wants around 20 for 4K. Aim at 25 and you are safe on all of them. That is per stream, so a second 4K TV in the house doubles it.
Full HD 1080p: about 5 Mbit/s
Every major service quotes around 5 Mbit/s for 1080p. This is the sweet spot: it looks good on almost any TV and it is undemanding.
HD 720p: about 3 Mbit/s
Fine on smaller sets. On a large 4K panel, 720p is noticeably soft.
Why buffering is not always speed
Buffering that comes and go in bursts is usually WiFi interference or congestion, not raw speed. If the number here is high but video still stutters, the connection is unstable rather than slow.
If the result is lower than expected
Use a cable
An ethernet cable to the TV is the single biggest improvement available, and it removes WiFi from the equation entirely. On many TVs it doubles the usable speed.
Check which WiFi band
TVs often join the 2.4 GHz network because it reaches further, then struggle with 4K. The 5 GHz network is much faster over short distances. Rejoin it explicitly in the TV's network settings.
Move the router, or the TV
Walls, floors and large metal objects such as the TV's own screen block WiFi badly. A router behind a television is in about the worst place available.
Test at a quiet time
Run it again late in the evening and first thing in the morning. A big gap between the two points at congestion, either in the house or on the provider's network.
Questions people ask
Why is the speed on my TV lower than on my phone?
Usually WiFi. TV WiFi aerials are frequently weaker than a phone's, they are fixed in place behind a large metal screen, and many televisions default to the slower 2.4 GHz band because it reaches further. Standing next to the TV with your phone and getting a much better result is the classic sign of this.
How much speed do I need for 4K?
About 25 Mbit/s covers every major service. Netflix officially asks for 15, Disney+ for 25 and YouTube around 20 for 4K. That is per stream, so if two people are watching 4K at once you need roughly double.
My speed looks fine but everything still buffers.
Then the problem is stability rather than speed. Streaming needs a steady connection, not just a fast one. Interference from neighbouring WiFi, an overloaded router, or a weak signal can all produce a good peak speed with frequent dropouts. An ethernet cable settles this question immediately.
Is this the same as my broadband package speed?
No. This measures what reaches this particular television over whatever connection it is using. If you pay for 200 Mbit/s and this reads 30, the missing speed is being lost somewhere between the router and the TV, which almost always means WiFi.
Does the test use a lot of data?
About 4 MB, which is roughly ten seconds of standard definition video. If your connection is slow the test stops after a much smaller sample rather than making you download the rest.
Where does it test to?
Google's content delivery network, which is also where a large share of streaming traffic comes from, so it is a fair proxy. It is not a test to a specific streaming provider, and no speed test can be.
Related tests
Or browse all TV tests.
More apps from 2kit consulting
More apps from 2kit consulting · Made in Germany
