How to see the speed of the Internet on the Android phone Xiaomi Redmi

Users of Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones often face a situation where the provider’s declared connection speed does not coincide with the actual performance in the browser or streaming services. The global problem is that standard network indicators show only the signal level, but not the actual channel throughput at a particular time.

In the MIUI ecosystem and the new HyperOS, there are both built-in system utilities and the ability to install third-party software from Google Play. It is important to understand the difference between the theoretical values your data plan promises and the real metrics that depend on the loading of the tower, the quality of the router and the settings of the smartphone itself. Ignoring low scores can lead to lags in games, "buffering" 4K video and long page loads.

In this guide, we will take a look at all the diagnostic methods available, from fast online tests to deep traffic analysis through an engineering menu. You will learn how to distinguish software failures from hardware problems and learn how to interpret the numbers correctly.

Using the built-in tools of Xiaomi and Google

The first step in diagnostics should be to use native tools that are already installed on your device. Xiaomi smartphones often pre-installed the Security app, which includes basic functionality to check the status of the network. Android operating system has hidden menus, accessible through a special code, allowing you to see technical information about the connection without installing extra software.

To run the system test, you need to open the Security app (the shield and lightning icon) and find the Speed or Optimization section on the menu, which often displays the current real-time download speed. However, for a full test, you should use the built-in Mi Browser or Chrome browser by going to the Google search engine site and querying “speed test”.

Google will automatically offer a speed check widget that shows ping and download/return speeds, a technique that is good for its simplicity and lack of need to download additional megabytes of apps, and the result will be accurate enough to quickly assess the situation, but it will not give detailed statistics on jitter or packet losses, which is important for gamers.

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To get the most accurate data through the browser, be sure to close the background applications that may consume traffic, such as cloud storage or instant messengers.

Professional applications for Android

If built-in tools are not enough, specialized applications from the Google Play store come to the rescue, and Ookla Speedtest, which has a huge server base around the world, is the market leader, allowing you to select a checkpoint geographically close to your location, minimizing measurement errors.

Another powerful tool is Netflix's Fast.com app, which is minimalist and focuses on video download speeds. The app starts to measure speed immediately after launch without requiring any additional buttons to be quickly checked. Network Cell Info Lite can be used to analyze network settings and identify bottlenecks.

When choosing an application, you should pay attention to the availability of advertising and the number of permissions requested. Some “light” testers may contain an excessive number of banners that themselves consume traffic during the measurement, distorting the results, and use time-tested solutions with high ratings.

• 🚀 Ookla Speedtest – a classic choice with the ability to select a specific server and detailed statistics of the history of measurements.
• 🎬 Fast.com is the perfect option for those who mostly watch videos online and want to know the real performance of streaming.
• 📡 Network Cell Info – a tool for advanced users, showing the signal level in dBm and the type of connection (LTE, H+, 5G).

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For regular monitoring of communication quality, it is better to install one tester application and use it under the same conditions to compare the dynamics of changes.

Step-by-step verification instructions through the browser

The fastest way to get an answer to the question of Internet speed is to use a web interface, which is universal and works on any version of Android installed on Redmi or Poco. You don't need to download anything, which is especially true if the Internet is extremely slow and the application takes too long to load.

The measurement process is simple, but requires a certain sequence of steps to avoid errors. First, make sure that your phone is connected to the exact network you want to check (for example, switch from Wi-Fi to mobile Internet or vice versa).

After pressing the start button, the system will first measure ping (response time), then download (download) and at the end, upload (upload), the whole process takes about 30-40 seconds, and it is important not to switch screens or lock the phone at this point, as this can interrupt the connection to the test server.

⚠️ Note: If you are using free VPN, The test results will show the server speed. VPN, For a precise diagnosis, disable all means of bypassing the locks.

Decoding indicators: Ping, Download, Upload

After getting the numbers on the screen, many users are lost in guessing what is what and what values are considered normal. Ping is the time it takes a packet of data to reach the server and return back. Measured in milliseconds (ms). For comfortable web surfing, up to 100 ms is acceptable, and for online games (shooters, MOBA) it is critical to have a ping below 40-50 ms.

Download is the speed at which you get data from the Internet. It's the parameter that affects page opening, file loading, and video stream quality. Measured in Megabits per second (Mbps or Mbps). Upload is the speed at which you transfer data from your phone to the network. This parameter is important when sending large files, video calls, and streaming.

There is often confusion between Mebits (Mbps) and Megabytes (MBps). Providers indicate speed in Mebits, and browsers and torrents show speed in Megabytes. One byte is 8 bits, so if the provider promises 100 Mbps, the actual download speed of the file will be approximately 12.5 MB/s.

Factors affecting speed on Xiaomi Redmi

Why does one phone fly and another phone barely crawl? Often it is hardware constraints or device settings. Redmi's budget smartphones may have less powerful Wi-Fi modules that only support the 2.4 GHz band, which is very noisy in apartment buildings.

The 5GHz range provides much higher speed and stability, but has a shorter range. If your router is dual-band, make sure that the phone is connected to a 5G network (usually there is a console in the network name), and the speed is also affected by the Bluetooth version: if it is active and transmits large amounts of data (for example, when using high-quality codecs), this can cause interference in the 2.4GHz band.

Another factor is energy saving: Aggressive MIUI optimization can limit the background network activity of applications to save battery power. Check the battery settings for the browser or application you use, and make sure there is no limit mode or similar.

• 📶 Channel congestion – in the evening, when neighbors are actively downloading content, speeds in the 2.4 GHz range can drop significantly.
• 🔋 Power saving mode – power saving enabled often reduces network survey frequency, increasing delays.
• 🧱 Case materials and covers – dense covers with metal inserts or magnets can shield the antenna of the smartphone.

⚠️ Note: Some Redmi models have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas at the top of the case. If you hold the phone horizontally, covering this area with your palms while playing, the signal can deteriorate significantly.

What to do if the speed is low

If the tests show results that are far from expected, take the time to call the provider. First, follow the basic steps to reboot the equipment. Turn off and turn on the router, and reboot the smartphone itself. This will clear the network settings cache and force the device to re-register on the network by selecting the least loaded base station or channel.

Check the settings. DNS. Sometimes the provider defaults to give slow DNS-Servers. You can prescribe static settings in Wi-Fi on Android DNS, Google (8.8.8.8) and Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) often speed up the opening of websites, although they do not directly affect the speed of downloading large files.

In extreme cases, if the problem is only seen on one device, you can try resetting the network settings, which will return all network settings to factory values, removing stored Wi-Fi passwords and Bluetooth settings, but often resolves software driver conflicts.

If the slow speed is observed on all devices in the house, the problem is likely on the side of the provider or router malfunction, in which case it makes sense to call the support and report the results of the measurements, the presence of screenshots from different test applications will be a weighty argument in the dialogue with the operator.

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Network reset is a radical but effective method of solving connection problems that eliminates software errors in TCP/IP configuration.