Orb shows how fast and reliable your internet connection really is -- available on all major platforms

When it comes to checking your internet connection, many people still turn to old-fashioned speed tests. You get rated with a number or grade, maybe feel good about it, and move on. But the truth is, those numbers don’t tell the whole story. That’s where Orb comes in -- a brand-new app that promises a real look at how your internet actually performs day to day.

Orb was built by some familiar names. Doug Suttles and Jamie Stevens, who helped create Speedtest and Downdetector, are leading the project, along with a group of former Ookla and Fastly veterans. It’s safe to say they know a thing or two about internet performance.

Instead of just giving you a basic download speed, Orb measures three key things: responsiveness, reliability, and speed. These tests run quietly in the background, without slowing down your device or eating up your bandwidth. You end up with something called an “Orb Score” -- a simple number that tells you if your internet is holding up or letting you down. If you want, you can even dive into all the nerdy details.

One of the best things about Orb is that it isn’t locked down to one platform. You can grab it today for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you’re feeling fancy, you can even run it on a Raspberry Pi to monitor your connection around the clock right from your router.

And Orb isn’t stopping there, folks. Later this year, the team plans to roll out something called “recipes,” which will let you measure the performance of specific services like YouTube and Microsoft Teams. That’s a big deal for anyone who’s ever wondered why a Zoom call lags even when a speed test says their internet is fast.

Orb is free, simple to use, and finally gives people an honest look at what’s really going on with their internet connection. It’s refreshing to see a tool built for users instead of ISPs for a change.