Programmatically Check the Network Speed in Android

Last Updated : 04 Apr, 2025

Network speed can be defined as the total number of packets being exchanged by the client and the server per second, usually calculated in Megabits per second(Mbps). A bit is either a 0 or 1. 1 Megabit implies 1 Million bits. Usually, packet size depends on the protocol and various other factors and usually ranges on a vast scale. In this article, a program is implemented that fetches us Upload and Download speeds with the server. Note that the program is successful when the device is connected to a network.

This program could be used for research as well as for optimization:

Research: one could derive the content and the available speeds to correlate the network dependency.
Optimization: one could continuously monitor the speed and context, to avoid the connection when not required or reduce the quality of a video being broadcasted depending upon the current speeds.

Approach:

Step 1: Create an Empty activity in Android Studio.

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio.

Check if the primary language selected is Kotlin.

Step 2: Go to the AndroidManifest.xml file and add Permissions

AndroidManifest.xml:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:dataExtractionRules="@xml/data_extraction_rules"
        android:fullBackupContent="@xml/backup_rules"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/Theme.Application"
        tools:targetApi="31">
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:exported="true">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>

Step 3: In the activity_main.xml, add a button. Below is the code for the same.

activity_main.xml:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout 
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:padding="16dp"
    android:background="@color/white"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <androidx.cardview.widget.CardView
        android:id="@+id/cardViewSpeed"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
        app:cardCornerRadius="8dp"
        app:cardElevation="4dp"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent">

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:orientation="vertical"
            android:padding="16dp">

            <TextView
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="Speed Test Results"
                android:textSize="18sp"
                android:textStyle="bold"
                android:layout_marginBottom="8dp" />

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/downloadSpeed"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="@string/data_download"
                android:textSize="16sp"
                android:layout_marginTop="4dp" />

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/uploadSpeed"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="@string/data_upload"
                android:textSize="16sp"
                android:layout_marginTop="4dp" />

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/quality"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="@string/data_quality"
                android:textSize="16sp"
                android:layout_marginTop="4dp" />

        </LinearLayout>
    </androidx.cardview.widget.CardView>

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnStartTest"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="24dp"
        android:text="Start Speed Test"
        android:textAllCaps="false"
        android:padding="12dp"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/cardViewSpeed" />

    <ProgressBar
        android:id="@+id/progressBar"
        style="?android:attr/progressBarStyle"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:visibility="gone"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/btnStartTest" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/status"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="8dp"
        android:text="@string/data_status"
        android:textSize="14sp"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/progressBar" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Design UI:

Step 4: Required a class file to calculate Network Speed for the Application.

In this Program we are checking on the a site to checking the response to calculate the speed from it.

SpeedChecker.kt:

Kotlin

package com.gfg.application

import android.content.Context
import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
import java.io.InputStream
import java.io.OutputStream
import java.net.HttpURLConnection
import java.net.URL
import kotlin.math.roundToInt

class SpeedChecker(private val context: Context) {

    // Measure download speed (returns speed in Mbps)
    suspend fun measureDownloadSpeed(testUrl: String = "https://www.google.com"): Double = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
        try {
            val startTime = System.currentTimeMillis()
            val connection = URL(testUrl).openConnection() as HttpURLConnection
            connection.requestMethod = "GET"
            connection.connectTimeout = 10000
            connection.readTimeout = 10000
            connection.connect()

            val inputStream: InputStream = connection.inputStream
            val buffer = ByteArray(8192)
            var bytesRead: Int
            var totalBytesRead = 0L

            while (inputStream.read(buffer).also { bytesRead = it } != -1) {
                totalBytesRead += bytesRead

                // Stop test after 10 seconds to avoid excessive data usage
                if (System.currentTimeMillis() - startTime > 10000) break
            }

            val endTime = System.currentTimeMillis()
            
            // Convert to seconds
            val duration = (endTime - startTime) / 1000.0 

            inputStream.close()
            connection.disconnect()

            // Calculate speed in Mbps (Megabits per second)
            val speedMbps = ((totalBytesRead * 8) / 1000000.0) / duration
            (speedMbps * 100).roundToInt() / 100.0 
            // Round to 2 decimal places
            
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            e.printStackTrace()
            0.0
        }
    }

    // Measure upload speed (returns speed in Mbps)
    suspend fun measureUploadSpeed(testUrl: String = "https://httpbin.org/post"): Double = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
        try {
            val dataSize = 1000000 // 1MB
            
            // Fill with 'a'
            val data = ByteArray(dataSize) { 0x61 } 

            val startTime = System.currentTimeMillis()
            val connection = URL(testUrl).openConnection() as HttpURLConnection
            connection.requestMethod = "POST"
            connection.doOutput = true
            connection.connectTimeout = 10000
            connection.readTimeout = 10000
            connection.connect()

            val outputStream: OutputStream = connection.outputStream
            outputStream.write(data)
            outputStream.flush()
            outputStream.close()

            // Read response to complete the request
            val inputStream: InputStream = connection.inputStream
            val buffer = ByteArray(8192)
            while (inputStream.read(buffer) != -1) { /* Just consuming the response */ }

            val endTime = System.currentTimeMillis()
            
            // Convert to seconds
            val duration = (endTime - startTime) / 1000.0 

            inputStream.close()
            connection.disconnect()

            // Calculate speed in Mbps (Megabits per second)
            val speedMbps = ((dataSize * 8) / 1000000.0) / duration
            (speedMbps * 100).roundToInt() / 100.0 
            // Round to 2 decimal places
            
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            e.printStackTrace()
            0.0
        }
    }

    // Get network quality based on download speed
    fun getNetworkQuality(downloadSpeedMbps: Double): String {
        return when {
            downloadSpeedMbps <= 0 -> "No Connection"
            downloadSpeedMbps < 1 -> "Poor"
            downloadSpeedMbps < 5 -> "Fair"
            downloadSpeedMbps < 10 -> "Good"
            downloadSpeedMbps < 30 -> "Very Good"
            else -> "Excellent"
        }
    }
}

Explanation of the above Program:

Downloads data from the URL and then measures the time of Download/Download Speed.
After that we are sending 1MB dummy data to calculate the Upload speed.

Step 5: Modifying the MainActivity File

In the MainActivity.kt, add the below code. setOnClickListener is added with the button, which when clicked shows the upload speed and download speed as a toast on the screen.

MainActivity.kt:

Kotlin

package com.gfg.application

import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.View
import android.widget.Button
import android.widget.ProgressBar
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.lifecycle.lifecycleScope
import kotlinx.coroutines.launch

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    private lateinit var networkSpeedChecker: SpeedChecker

    // UI elements
    private lateinit var tvDownloadSpeed: TextView
    private lateinit var tvUploadSpeed: TextView
    private lateinit var tvQuality: TextView
    private lateinit var tvStatus: TextView
    private lateinit var btnStartTest: Button
    private lateinit var progressBar: ProgressBar

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Initialize NetworkSpeedChecker
        networkSpeedChecker = SpeedChecker(this)

        // Bind UI elements
        tvDownloadSpeed = findViewById(R.id.downloadSpeed)
        tvUploadSpeed = findViewById(R.id.uploadSpeed)
        tvQuality = findViewById(R.id.quality)
        tvStatus = findViewById(R.id.status)
        btnStartTest = findViewById(R.id.btnStartTest)
        progressBar = findViewById(R.id.progressBar)

        // Set up button click listener
        btnStartTest.setOnClickListener {
            startSpeedTest()
        }
    }

    private fun startSpeedTest() {
        // Update UI to show test is running
        progressBar.visibility = View.VISIBLE
        btnStartTest.isEnabled = false
        tvStatus.text = getString(R.string.testing_network_speed)

        // Run speed test in background
        lifecycleScope.launch {

            // Measure download speed
            tvStatus.text = getString(R.string.measuring_download_speed)
            val downloadSpeed = networkSpeedChecker.measureDownloadSpeed()

            // Measure upload speed
            tvStatus.text = getString(R.string.measuring_upload_speed)
            val uploadSpeed = networkSpeedChecker.measureUploadSpeed()

            // Get quality assessment
            val quality = networkSpeedChecker.getNetworkQuality(downloadSpeed)

            // Update UI with results
            runOnUiThread {

                tvDownloadSpeed.text = getString(R.string.download_speed, downloadSpeed)
                tvUploadSpeed.text = getString(R.string.upload_speed, uploadSpeed)
                tvQuality.text = getString(R.string.network_quality, quality)

                // Reset UI state
                progressBar.visibility = View.GONE
                btnStartTest.isEnabled = true
                tvStatus.text = getString(R.string.test_completed)
            }
        }
    }
}