Speed of data transfer from the internet to your device. It is determined by dividing the entire amount of data that was sent in a specific time period by its duration. So its unit is data units over time. This is usually expressed in Megabits per second (Mbps or Mb/s), but may also be expressed in Kilobits per second (Kbps or Kb/s) or Megabytes per second (MBps or MB/s).

Upload speed, as opposed to download speed, refers to the maximum quantity of data that your device can transmit to the internet at any given time. It's done the same way, thus it's expressed in the same units of measurement.

Ping measures how quickly an internet connection responds to a request. In other words The ping or latency explains the delay of a signal due to the time it takes to travel its destination. In this case, it's the time it takes a data package to make its way across the network and get a confirmation from the server that it did. It is expressed as a time value, usually in milliseconds (ms). An indicator of your connection's responsiveness.

The internet speed test begins by locating the nearest network server.

Your device sends a "packet" of data to the server. Your ping is the time it takes for the information to travel. Then it downloads and uploads a data packet across that connection. Your download and upload speeds are determined by how fast your internet can move data from the network to your device and back.

This speed is measured to and from the device doing the test, hence the connection type matters. Depending on whether you are using a wired or WiFi connection, the speed will vary. The speed of a WiFi connection depends on your device's proximity to the WiFi hotspot, as well as any obstacles or distance between them. While a wired (Ethernet) connection from the device to the modem is roughly equivalent to network speed to your house or business.