GeForce NOW has a built-in network tester that allows you to test your internet speed connecting to our data centers. You can sign up for a free membership and use our network test and play a few games to determine your network’s performance, before buying a membership.
Note: If you are looking to manually override your Server Location to a specific region, please read this knowledgebase article.
Our network tester will run a variety of tests on your internet connection to ensure you have an optimal network for playing games on GeForce NOW.
We do not recommend using internet speed tests such as Speedtest.net because they do not evaluate your internet connection to a GeForce NOW server. Speedtest.net and speedsmart.net are easy to use, but they only measure the latency to a generic server that may be in your network. These tests do not measure the time it takes to get data to and from the GeForce NOW server you’re connecting to for your cloud gaming session.
The four key tests GeForce NOW runs are:
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Bandwidth. This is how many megabits per second (mbps) we are able to stream.
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Packet Loss. This is the percentage of packets that are lost over time. A good network will have no packet loss, while a bad network will have a high percentage.
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Jitter. Measures the variation in the delay of received packets over your network. A good network has low jitter, while a bad network has high jitter.
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Ping. This is the time it takes for packets to be sent from our data center to your device and back (round trip delay). A low ping ensures you do not see a delay when you press a button on your mouse, or gamepad, to see something change on screen.
You can follow the instructions below to test your network on our platforms.
PC and macOS
Click the menu on the top left corner.
Select Settings
Make sure that Server Location is set to Auto and click TEST NETWORK. The GeForce NOW client will automatically find the closest, and best, data center for your location. It is best to turn off any virtual private networks (VPN) when using GeForce NOW. This enables GeForce NOW to find the closest data center to your physical location for the lowest latency.
If you want to test against other server locations, you can select a specific server location in the drop down box before starting the network test.
As the test is running you will see some information about your network and the name of the data center you will be routed to.
After the test is complete, your results will be displayed. If there were any network warnings or problems found, such as 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks or active VPNs, you will be notified on this screen. In the test below, this network has passed the requirements for streaming and has a good latency of less than 20ms.
Android
Click the Settings button (gear icon) in the top right corner.
Click on GeForce NOW
Click on Test network
As the test is running you will see some information about your network and the name of the data center you will be routed to.
After the test is complete, your results will be displayed. If there were any network warnings or problems found, such as 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks or active VPNs, you will be notified on this screen. You can also click Show details to see more detailed information about our network test.
In the test below, this network has passed the requirements for streaming and has a good latency of about 20ms.
SHIELD
Open the NVIDIA Games App
Scroll down to “Settings”
Select “GeForce NOW” from the Settings row
Select “Test network”
As the test is running you will see some information about your network and the name of the data center you will be routed to.
After the test is complete, your results will be displayed. If there were any network warnings or problems found, such as 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks or active VPNs, you will be notified on this screen. You can also click Show details to see more detailed information about our network test.
iOS/iPadOS
We currently do not have a network tester on iOS or iPadOS. We recommend testing your network by using our PC, macOS, or Android apps.