When it comes to the Internet, we all know what's important: speed. What's worse than waiting forever for something to buffer, especially when we're in the middle of a TV marathon? Luckily, there's a new Netflix speed test that allows users to check their connection speed in real time. Called simply Fast.com, this awesome tool is quick and easy to use either on mobile or broadband device; that means you can use it to check your speed while you're streaming on the bus, while you're curled up in bed on Friday night, and anywhere in between. Perfect, right?
Fast.com is free for everyone to use and is available to all countries — and even better, it's actually available to people who don't even use Netflix. That's because speed tests don't just work to tell you how well you'll be able to stream Netflix; they tell you how fast your Internet is, period. David Fullagar, Netflix's vice president of content delivery architecture, explained in a post on Netflix's Media Center site, "This consumer speed test is different than our Netflix ISP Speed Index. Fast.com measures your personal internet connection at any given time," while an ISP Speed Index "measures average monthly speeds of actual Netflix streams during prime time hours."
All you need to do to use it is... go to Fast.com. That's it. Doing so will show you exactly what your internet speed is:
If you stream from a mobile device, you may be interested to know that you can now adjust the amount of data you use while streaming, too. A few weeks ago, Netflix launched new settings that allow users to monitor and adjust their data usage while streaming — which means it'll be a heck of a lot easier to keep your phone bill in check when you just can't get your WiFi to work. Awesome, right?
Personally, I'm pretty pumped that these new, user-friendly features and settings have arrived just in time for a lot of awesome content to launch. I can't be the only one eagerly looking forward to Orange Is the New Black Season 4 arriving on June 20, right? And that's on top of all the awesome new shows coming out throughout the course of 2016. Sure, we could Netflix and chill... but just Netflix is pretty fantastic, too.
Image: Lucia Peters/Bustle
