---
title: "Speed Testing"
url: "https://docs.speedinchinaplugin.com/features/speed-testing/"
---
## Running a Speed Test

Navigate to **Speed in China → Speed Test** in your WordPress admin.

The **URL to Test** field auto-fills with your site's URL. You can edit this if needed.

Click **Test Now** to start the speed test.

Wait for results — the test runs from 4 different locations in mainland China and typically completes within 15–30 seconds.

**Cooldown period.** To prevent API abuse, there is a 60-second cooldown between manual speed tests. This cooldown is disabled when `WP_DEBUG` is set to `true`.

## How It Works

When you run a speed test, the plugin sends a request to the Speed in China API, which creates a measurement on the [Globalping](https://www.jsdelivr.com/globalping) network. Globalping dispatches probes located within mainland China to perform an HTTP GET request to your site's URL.

The API requests **4 probes** from across China. The specific cities are dynamically assigned based on probe availability, but commonly include **Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen**.

## Understanding Results

Each probe returns a detailed timing breakdown. Results are displayed in a table with these columns:

| Metric | What It Measures | Good | Slow |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **DNS** | Domain name resolution time | < 100 ms | \> 500 ms |
| **TCP** | TCP connection establishment | < 200 ms | \> 800 ms |
| **TLS** | SSL/TLS handshake time | < 300 ms | \> 1000 ms |
| **TTFB** | Time to first byte from the server | < 500 ms | \> 2000 ms |
| **Download** | Response body download time | < 200 ms | \> 1000 ms |
| **Total** | End-to-end total load time | < 2000 ms | \> 5000 ms |
| **Status** | HTTP response status code | 200 | 4xx/5xx |

### Performance Grades

Results are color-coded to help you identify issues at a glance:

*   **Green** — Good performance. No action needed.
*   **Yellow/Orange** — Warning. Performance is acceptable but could be improved.
*   **Red** — Slow or failing. Investigate and optimize.

### Summary Statistics

Above the detailed results table, a summary bar shows key aggregate statistics:

*   **Average Load Time** — Mean total time across all probes
*   **Fastest / Slowest** — Best and worst performing locations
*   **Status** — Whether all probes received successful responses

## Testing Different URLs

The URL field supports any publicly accessible URL — not just your homepage. You can test:

*   Specific pages: `https://example.com/products/`
*   Subdomains: `https://shop.example.com/`
*   Other domains: `https://anotherdomain.com/`

The test URL must be publicly accessible from the internet. Private, local, or password-protected URLs cannot be tested because the test originates from remote probes in China, not from your server.

## Admin Bar Integration

After your first speed test, a status indicator appears in the WordPress admin bar showing your most recent average load time and performance grade. This provides at-a-glance awareness without needing to visit the plugin page.

The admin bar shows an emoji-coded grade:

*   🟢 **Fast** — Under 2 seconds average
*   🟡 **Moderate** — 2–5 seconds average
*   🔴 **Slow** — Over 5 seconds average