How to measure your internet speed properly, and what to do if you are not getting the speed you pay for

When a connection feels slow, most people open a random speed test, see a number below their package and phone the operator. But a measurement taken under the wrong conditions does not test the line at all — it tests the Wi-Fi environment inside your home, or whatever update happens to be downloading in the background. A result like that is worthless in a complaint file.

The correct method is well defined: a wired connection, a single device, a neutral measuring tool, and records repeated at different hours. If the result really is low, you also have a firm basis to stand on. Türkiye's fixed internet service quality regulation sets a minimum ratio against the announced connection speed in your contract, and consumers have the right to complain first to their operator and then, if unsatisfied, to BTK — the Bilgi Teknolojileri ve İletişim Kurumu, Türkiye's Information and Communication Technologies Authority. The steps below cover both the measuring and the complaint route.

1. Find the speed and infrastructure type in your contract Before measuring anything, know what you are comparing against. Note the figure listed as the "duyurulan bağlantı hızı" (announced connection speed) in your subscription contract, and the infrastructure type of your line: XDSL (ADSL/VDSL, including fibre-to-the-cabinet), fibre to the building or home, or cable. Without these two facts you cannot judge whether a result is low. If the contract also explicitly commits to a "minimum access speed", underline it — that is the strongest ground you can have.
2. Do not confuse Mbps with MB/s Internet speed is sold in megabits per second (Mbps), while download managers usually display megabytes per second (MB/s). Since one byte is eight bits, you divide the Mbps figure by eight: a 100 Mbps line means roughly 12.5 MB/s of download under ideal conditions. So if a file is arriving at 12 MB/s, your line is not slow — it is performing as expected. A large share of "slow internet" complaints come from nothing more than this unit mix-up.
3. Clear the network before measuring Any measurement is shared with everything else using the line at that moment. Disconnect other phones, tablets, TVs and consoles, or switch their Wi-Fi off. Stop downloads, cloud backups, operating system and game updates on the computer, and close any video streams. Temporarily disable VPNs, proxies and security software that routes traffic, because these push the test through their own servers and drag the result down.
4. Measure over a cable, not Wi-Fi A wireless test measures your home's wireless environment rather than your line: walls, distance, crowded neighbouring networks and the modem's antenna all affect the outcome directly. Connect your computer to the modem or fibre terminal (ONT) with an Ethernet cable and switch the computer's Wi-Fi off so traffic actually flows through the cable. For any measurement intended to support a complaint, a wired connection is essential — presenting a Wi-Fi result to an operator is the fastest way to have your case dismissed.
5. Use the regulator's official speed test Measure with a neutral tool. BTK, Türkiye's telecoms regulator, runs its own test at <strong>hiztesti.btk.gov.tr</strong> and also offers it as an iOS and Android app; it reports download speed, upload speed and the latency that occurs during those transfers. As the tool itself advises, close programmes that could affect your speed before starting, and do nothing else on the computer until the test finishes. Results are stored locally on your own device, so you can review your past measurements.
6. Never rely on a single test — build a record One measurement is a snapshot and carries no evidential weight on its own. Take at least five to seven measurements under the same conditions on different days and at different hours, making sure to cover mornings, afternoons and the evening peak (roughly 20:00-24:00). Save a screenshot of each result with its date and time, and log download, upload and latency figures in a simple table. Whether the problem clusters at particular hours or is constant is the single most informative thing in your application.
7. Compare your result against the minimum speed threshold Under Türkiye's Fixed Internet Service Quality Communiqué (Sabit İnternet Hizmet Kalitesi Tebliği), the address-based internet speed stated in a subscription contract cannot be lower than <strong>75%</strong> of the announced connection speed for XDSL (including fibre-to-the-cabinet), or <strong>80%</strong> of it for fibre optic and cable TV infrastructure. So on a line announced as 100 Mbps, results under 80 Mbps on fibre, or under 75 Mbps on XDSL, are worth pursuing. These ratios are general service quality criteria and become meaningful through repeated measurements rather than one instant reading. If your contract additionally contains an explicit minimum access speed commitment, the operator is directly answerable for that figure.
8. Rule out problems on your own side Eliminate domestic causes before you file, otherwise the case comes straight back to you. Power the modem off, wait a minute and restart it; on connections running over a telephone line, check the filter, the socket and the cable; replace any Ethernet cable that is crushed, kinked or excessively long. An old modem, an old network card or a 100 Mbit Ethernet port simply cannot carry a gigabit package — if a gigabit line consistently measures around 94 Mbps, the bottleneck is your hardware, not the line. Where possible, repeat the test on a second computer to confirm the problem is not device-specific.
9. File a formal complaint with your operator first The complaint route starts with the operator. Operators are required to maintain a section on the homepage of their website, under the heading "tüketici şikâyetleri" (consumer complaints), where subscribers can submit complaints free of charge and see the responses given. Open a record there; attach your measurement dates, results and screenshots, and refer explicitly to the announced speed in your contract. Make a note of your reference number. The operator is required to respond to the complaint within 10 working days.
10. Escalate to the regulator if the answer is inadequate If no answer arrives within the period, or the answer does not resolve the problem, you can escalate to BTK. Use the Consumer Complaint Notification System (Tüketici Şikayet Bildirim Sistemi) at <strong>tuketicisikayet.btk.gov.tr</strong>; the same service is also reachable through e-Devlet under the name "Tüketici Şikayet Bildirim Sistemi" (BTK). Your application is recorded electronically, forwarded to your operator and becomes trackable. If you prefer the phone, BTK's information and reporting centre is reachable on 120. Submit your measurement records, the reference number of your complaint to the operator, and the response you received, all together.

⚠ This guide is general information. Yudum cannot be held responsible for the outcome of following it; for official procedures always rely on the institution's own statement. Steps and fees change over time.

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