Is your internet
really slow?

NearSpeed is a free iPhone app that measures your internet speed and compares it with real measurements from people around you. It measures your download speed in about 10 seconds, you share the result anonymously, and you see average speeds, providers and connection types in your area on a map. That tells you whether a slow connection is just your line or the whole area.

Yes, NearSpeed is completely free. There are no in-app purchases or subscriptions; a small banner ad at the bottom of the screen covers the costs.

No. NearSpeed has no account, e-mail, password or sign-in. You open the app, accept a short notice and start measuring.

NearSpeed is launching on iPhone first. An Android version is planned but not ready yet.

The app is set up to be available on the App Store in all countries except China. The map fills up with measurements shared by users, so how many tests you see depends on your area.

No. NearSpeed is independent and not affiliated with any internet provider. The figures on the map come only from users' own measurements.

NearSpeed is developed by independent developer Saim Gürses under the ElaMoon brand. You can reach us at destek@elamoon.com.

The test runs against servers of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), an independent measurement platform that publishes its raw data openly, using the NDT7 protocol. A suitable M-Lab server near you is picked automatically and your download speed is measured for about 10 seconds.

NearSpeed measures download speed (Mbps) only. Upload is not measured, to keep the test short and use less data. Download speed is the number you feel most in everyday use.

The test runs for about 10 seconds, so data use depends on your speed: roughly 12 MB at 10 Mbps, 60 MB at 50 Mbps and 125 MB at 100 Mbps. Keep this in mind on a limited mobile data plan.

Results are shown in four levels: under 5 Mbps very slow, 5–25 Mbps slow, 25–100 Mbps good, and 100 Mbps or more very good. The colours of the circles on the map follow the same levels.

NearSpeed is built to spot slow connections and compare areas, not to max out very fast lines. It uses a single connection to independent M-Lab servers, so on very fast lines (hundreds of Mbps) the result can look lower than your plan. Providers' own tests usually use servers inside their own network and several connections. Results are estimates.

Your provider is detected from the network you are on. On VPNs, data centres and shared corporate networks the provider and location would be wrong, and those results would mislead everyone. So NearSpeed does not run there. Use mobile data or your home Wi-Fi.

From the network number (ASN) your connection belongs to, looked up in an offline database on our own server. Providers are shown at company level, for example Turkcell, Türk Telekom, Vodafone or TurkNet. Whether you are on Wi-Fi or mobile data is detected automatically too.

On Wi-Fi, stay close to your router, pause other downloads and video streams during the test, and run a few tests at different times of day. To tell whether the problem is your Wi-Fi or your line, also test with mobile data in the same spot.

NearSpeed's map is made entirely of measurements shared by users. When everyone shares, the pool grows and the picture of your area gets closer to reality. Sharing is anonymous; no name, account or IP address is stored.

Each circle is an area of about 300 metres. It shows the average speed of tests in that area, and its colour shows the speed level. As you zoom out, nearby circles merge and their average is weighted by the number of tests; tap one to zoom in and split it.

You can choose a distance from 500 metres to 25 kilometres and a period of the last 7, 30 or 90 days or all time. You can also filter by provider and by connection type (Wi-Fi or mobile data). The summary, the map and the latest tests list all follow your filters.

After you share your test, the nearby screen shows your last test and the average for the selected area as bars side by side, so you see differences like “23% below the average” at a glance. Filtering by the same provider and connection type makes the comparison fairer.

It means nobody has shared a test there yet. You can add the first one by sharing your result, or widen the distance or the period to look at a larger area.

Unrealistically high speeds are rejected, the number of results that can be shared from the same small area in a short time is limited, and tests from VPN and data-centre networks are not accepted. These measures make it hard for one person to skew the map.

No. Your location is rounded on your phone to an area of about 300 metres before it is sent, the list shows distance rounded to 0.5 km, and no name, account or IP address is stored.

For each shared test only the download speed, the time, the connection type, the provider and its network number, the rounded approximate location and the app version are stored. Records are anonymous: they contain no name, e-mail, device ID or IP address.

Location is used only while you use the app, to show tests around you and place your shared result on the map. Your exact location never leaves your device, and you can turn the permission off in iPhone Settings at any time.

Anonymous test records are kept for up to 24 months. Because they cannot be linked to you, it is not possible to find and delete one person's records. See the privacy policy for details.

The banner ad at the bottom of the screen is served by Google AdMob. NearSpeed does not ask for permission to track you across other apps, so your iOS advertising identifier is not shared. Users in Europe are asked for consent through Google's consent message. Your speed results and location are never sent to Google.

The most common causes are a weak Wi-Fi signal or being far from the router, many devices using the connection at once, congestion at busy hours, an old router or cables, copper lines and faults on the provider's side. By comparing your result with people around you in NearSpeed you can tell whether the problem is yours or the whole area's.

Share your test and look at the average around you with the same provider and connection type selected. If your speed is far below the local average, the problem is probably your line, router or Wi-Fi. If everyone in the area is slow, it may be a local or provider-wide issue.

In the evening more people use the same infrastructure, and because capacity is shared, speeds can drop. In NearSpeed you can use the period and area filters to see whether the slowdown affects the whole area.

In NearSpeed, pick a distance and period and use the provider filter to see each provider's average speed and number of tests in your area. Averages based on many tests are more reliable than a handful. Compare Wi-Fi and mobile data separately.

Mbps means megabits per second, the unit internet speeds are given in. MB/s, which you see when downloading files, means megabytes per second. One byte is 8 bits, so 100 Mbps is about 12.5 MB/s.

It depends on how you use it. As a rule of thumb, 25 Mbps or more is usually enough for one person's HD video, video calls and everyday use. If several people at home stream high-resolution video, download games or upload large files at the same time, 100 Mbps or more is more comfortable.