How to verify a remote applicant's internet speed
If your job ads ask for a speed-test screenshot, this is what that screenshot does and doesn't tell you, and the other ways to check.
What a screenshot proves
Less than it looks like:
- It can be made up. Free, public tools generate genuine speedtest.net result links with any numbers the user types, and image edits take seconds. Some agencies have started asking for the IP address in the screenshot for this reason.
- It can come from somewhere else: a friend's house, an office, a café. Nothing ties it to where the person will work.
- It's one moment. Evening congestion and shared households can halve a connection; one good result says little about the shift.
Your options
| Method | Cost | Can be faked? | Where it ran |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screenshot or speedtest.net link | Free | Yes, easily | Unknown |
| Live test during a video interview | Interviewer time | Harder | Whatever the camera shows |
| Your own system-check software | Build or license | Hard | The device |
| Welp check link | Free | No: measured on our server | City of the device and of the network, flagged if they disagree |
Setting fair requirements
From the 44 employers' published minimums we collected:
- Voice and call-centre work: usually 10 to 25 Mbps down, 3 to 10 up, ping under 100 to 150 ms, and often a cable.
- General virtual assistants: the median is 10 Mbps down; agencies serving US clients often ask for 25.
- Live video tutoring: lower, typically 3 to 10 down and 1 to 5 up.
Ask for what the work needs. A bar set higher than the job needs mostly filters out applicants from cheaper areas.
Making a check fair to applicants
- Tell them why you ask and what you'll see. (A Welp check page does this before the test starts.)
- Accept a re-test. A failed run can be a busy evening; two runs on different days tell you more.
- Treat a location flag as a question, not a verdict: mobile networks and some providers place the network far from the device.
Using a Welp check
- Enter your company name and requirements on /hire. No account.
- Paste the applicant link into your job ad or application form, in place of "attach a screenshot".
- Open your private results link: every applicant, every run, pass or fail against your bar.