Speed tests

[Gene E. Bloch]

Most speed sites just give an average value for bandwidth (downstream
and upstream).

All the ones I have used test and report download and upload speeds
separately. You can see the separate tests as they are performed, so
it's not ambiguous.

 

[Jason]

I believe my IP has figured out how to "game" the test results.
Seems that many of the popular tests show speeds well in excess of any
achievable file download speed.

The official Time Warner speed test (I have Roadrunner service) always
reports much higher speeds than I typically see, with, say Speakeasy. Can
you spell QOS?....

 

[VanguardLH]

All the ones I have used test and report download and upload speeds
separately. You can see the separate tests as they are performed, so
it's not ambiguous.

The ones that I've tried tell you an average value for downstream and
upstream speed. Perhaps some show you a bar graph for each test but
that requires the user dig into the definition of each test, especially
if details are missing, like file size, along with moving off the main
page showing the overall results.

http://speedtest.net/
Just the up/down average results. No details. Nothing obvious to
obtain the details - unless you just happen to wander the mouse cursor
around the page and happen to hover of the downstream speed value upon
which the number shown changes to a graph. No such change on hovering
over the upstream speed value. All you get is a vague graph with no
values shown for the x- and y-axis, so you cannot find out what were the
file sizes that the graph shows had various measured speeds.

http://speedtest.comcast.net/
Even less info than at speedtest.net except the peak speeds are noted.

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/
Even less info.

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
Just the average up/down speeds. No details.

http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/bw.asp
Average up/down speeds. No details.

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1
Just the up/down speeds. The graph at the bottom shows where you place
amongst OTHER users that tested their speed. It does NOT provide
details on your particular speed test.

So what speed test sites are you visiting?

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On 6/16/2012 6:04 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Try this one: speedtest.net.

I've got as far using that as clicking to begin; now it's sitting
at SELECTING BEST SERVER BASED ON PING, and has been for several
minutes.
From http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/, I've got my usual fairly
[]
(Speedtest still stuck. Probably fallen foul of some filter I
have set up: doesn't use facebook or anything does it?)
Try choosing a server.

OK. I go to speedtest.net. I see a big rectangle with an f in it:
fair enough, that's because I have something that blocks flash stuff
until I click it. So I click it. I get LOADING 100% for a few tens of
seconds, then something that looks a bit like a laptop; where the
keyboard would be is a map of the world, and where the screen would
be is a map of northwest Europe, and a big button that says BEGIN
TEST. I click that. The map of nw EU zooms out a bit and the button
is replaced with SELECTING BEST SERVER BASED ON PING - and nothing
else happens. Nothing about choosing a server.

Click on one of the little white dots on the map.

I see no dots in the "screen" map of NW Europe. The "keyboard" map of
the world is covered with them, but the pointer doesn't change if I move
over them, and clicking on them makes nothing happen.

Speedtest.net was a lot better before they added all this flash crap.

Re: http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/ from the New World

"Sorry - My Broadband Speed is currently experiencing technical
difficulty and may display misleading test results. Thanks for bearing
with us while we fix things."

In any event, the meter shows a top speed of 6 Mb/s, which would not
handle my 30 Mb/s download speed.

The meters are just for novelty; it tells you in figures after the test
is complete. When I tried it from work out of hours (so I had the whole
T1 line, or whatever they had, to myself), the meter pointer jammed
itself at the top end of the dial, then gave (high) figures. It shows
figures for the last three times you used it, or more if you use its
graphs.

 

[jbm]

"Alias" wrote in message
The "something that blocks flash stuff" is your problem. When I use
speedtest.net I have no such problems but I'm not paranoid about Flash.
The white dots on the map are the different servers. Choose one.

--
Alias



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

www.speedtest.net . Probably the best of the lot, and easy and quick to use.
The white dots are groups of servers. Choose the dot closest to you (the
triangle in the middle is your closest group), hover over it, then choose
your closest location.

The closest one isn't always necessarily your quickest. I live in
Northampton, and my closest is now Coventry (used to be Leicester until I
went fibre optic, and now it's not listed), though I can get a faster down
load speed from Manchester! Uploads are all much the same regardless of
server. Generally, DL = >60mbps, UL = 14mbps.

If you want consistent results, I suggest you sit and choose a few different
ones and compare results. I have my favourite three, Coventry (inconsistent
but the auto selection), Milton Keynes (good) and Gloucester (fastest).
Strangely these are each in a different group.

If you use the automatic selector, use it for a few weeks and then click the
"MY RESULTS" box at the top of the screen. Clicking on "SERVER COMPARISON"
above the graph will allow you to see your speeds for each server used.

If you are with BT, don't bother with their speed tester. It's too much like
hard work, and takes ages to finish.

jim

 

[jbm]

"Alias" wrote in message
Try this one: speedtest.net.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On 6/16/2012 6:23 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: []

OK. I go to speedtest.net. I see a big rectangle with an f in it: fair
enough, that's because I have something that blocks flash stuff until I
click it. So I click it. I get LOADING 100% for a few tens of seconds,
then something that looks a bit like a laptop; where the keyboard would
be is a map of the world, and where the screen would be is a map of
northwest Europe, and a big button that says BEGIN TEST. I click that.
The map of nw EU zooms out a bit and the button is replaced with
SELECTING BEST SERVER BASED ON PING - and nothing else happens. Nothing
about choosing a server.

The "something that blocks flash stuff" is your problem. When I use
speedtest.net I have no such problems but I'm not paranoid about Flash.
The white dots on the map are the different servers. Choose one.

No, it (the flashblock extension to Firefox) just replaces flash
elements with something you click on when you actually want them to run;
it's useful if, for example, you look at a web page that has a main
flash element in the middle, surrounded by lots of flash advertisements
- you can just activate the one you want to run. I've clicked on it, and
that's what makes it draw the laptop-like construct, and the maps.

I tried clicking on the dots.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

The ones that I've tried tell you an average value for downstream and
upstream speed. Perhaps some show you a bar graph for each test but
that requires the user dig into the definition of each test, especially
if details are missing, like file size, along with moving off the main
page showing the overall results.

http://speedtest.net/
Just the up/down average results. No details. Nothing obvious to
obtain the details - unless you just happen to wander the mouse cursor
around the page and happen to hover of the downstream speed value upon
which the number shown changes to a graph. No such change on hovering
over the upstream speed value. All you get is a vague graph with no
values shown for the x- and y-axis, so you cannot find out what were the
file sizes that the graph shows had various measured speeds.

http://speedtest.comcast.net/
Even less info than at speedtest.net except the peak speeds are noted.

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/
Even less info.

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
Just the average up/down speeds. No details.

http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/bw.asp
Average up/down speeds. No details.

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1
Just the up/down speeds. The graph at the bottom shows where you place
amongst OTHER users that tested their speed. It does NOT provide
details on your particular speed test.

So what speed test sites are you visiting?

http://speedtest.charter.com/

 

[VanguardLH]

http://speedtest.charter.com/

And just where are the details? Where is the info showing the file size
for each download and upload test, how many tests there were, and if
they threw out any "flyers" in the stats?

Ookla produced the speed test site use by Charter. My ISP (Comcast)
uses the same company. Charter's implementation doesn't let you pick
which test node to use (it's picked automatically for you but the
physically closest one may not produce the best results).

Your speed test site shows the average up and download speeds and the
ping latency and that's it. That's the same info I see at my ISP's
speed test site and all the others that I mentioned. Where are the
details on EACH test performed in their suite? What was the speed for a
1MB download, for the 5MB download, 10MB download, did they have a test
with a file over 20MB in size? Did they notice a change in bandwidth
after a period of time, say, after 10 seconds? You can't tell anything
about how the test was performed because no details are provided.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

All the ones I have used test and report download and upload speeds
separately. You can see the separate tests as they are performed, so
it's not ambiguous.

As I read the other replies here, I now see how misread your post, Char


I read you as saying there was only one number, averaging the upstream
and downstream speeds.

Now I realize you (must have) meant only one number each, giving an
average for each.

That's so for me as well, but all (or most, anyway) of the tests I've
done do show or indicate the instantaneous speed as you go along, they
just don't keep or display a record of it after the test is over.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

So what speed test sites are you visiting?

And just where are the details? Where is the info showing the file size
for each download and upload test, how many tests there were, and if
they threw out any "flyers" in the stats?

Ookla produced the speed test site use by Charter. My ISP (Comcast)
uses the same company. Charter's implementation doesn't let you pick
which test node to use (it's picked automatically for you but the
physically closest one may not produce the best results).

Your speed test site shows the average up and download speeds and the
ping latency and that's it. That's the same info I see at my ISP's
speed test site and all the others that I mentioned. Where are the
details on EACH test performed in their suite? What was the speed for a
1MB download, for the 5MB download, 10MB download, did they have a test
with a file over 20MB in size? Did they notice a change in bandwidth
after a period of time, say, after 10 seconds? You can't tell anything
about how the test was performed because no details are provided.

You just asked which sites I visited. You didn't ask me to justify it.

 

[Ken Blake]

"Alias" wrote in message
Try this one: speedtest.net.

I also like speedtest.net.

But let me point out that although you say "see post lower down,"
what's lower down for you is not necessarily lower down for the rest
of us. The sequence of posts depends on what newsreader you use, and
how you sort the messages.

 

[VanguardLH]

You just asked which sites I visited. You didn't ask me to justify it.

You couldn't tell from the thread where Gene says some provide details
and my post noting the absence of details that I was asking which site
you used - that provided DETAILS? I did not "just ask". There was a
prelude to that question with my post and in the sub-thread.

Gene's "You can see the separate tests" started my sub-thread wondering
which sites show the individual tests. I haven't found a speed test
site that does, I noted several of them to show they do not provide
details, and then asked which ones do. Turns out Gene only meant they
show separate measurements for downstream and upstream bandwidth, not
that they show each of the tests involved in determining those values.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Here are the files used by speedtest.net:

random1000x1000.jpg 1,986,284
random1500x1500.jpg 4,468,241
random2000x2000.jpg 7,907,740
random2500x2500.jpg 12,407,926
random3000x3000.jpg 17,816,816
random3500x3500.jpg 24,262,167
random350x350.jpg 245,388
random4000x4000.jpg 31,625,365
random500x500.jpg 505,544
random750x750.jpg 1,118,012

 

[VanguardLH]

Here are the files used by speedtest.net:

random1000x1000.jpg 1,986,284
random1500x1500.jpg 4,468,241
random2000x2000.jpg 7,907,740
random2500x2500.jpg 12,407,926
random3000x3000.jpg 17,816,816
random3500x3500.jpg 24,262,167
random350x350.jpg 245,388
random4000x4000.jpg 31,625,365
random500x500.jpg 505,544
random750x750.jpg 1,118,012

Thanks for that info. Where did you find it?

Do you know if they test for bandwidth boosting (and then fallback to
slower speed)? Comcast has their PowerBoost feature. Besides upping
speed for the first 10 MB of a file download, I read the speed boost
lasts maximum of 10 seconds. So the speed site would have to throttle
the file download so that it took longer than 10 seconds (since being
under 10 MB means the file might not normally take more than 10 seconds
to download).

How does the test work?
https://support.speedtest.net/entri...test-itself-work-how-is-the-result-calculated

From what I read here, they try to keep the entire testing to under 10
seconds which means results will be skewed by the speed boosting at the
ISP.

They also say that they use random strings for the download to eliminate
skewed results from cached files for the web browser. So I don't know
how you got specific image files. Maybe that's what you got this time.
Maybe they are named as .jpg file but really contain random data.

They do toss out the flyers (lowest 30% and highest 10% are discarded).

 

[jbm]

"Ken Blake" wrote in message

"Alias" wrote in message
Try this one: speedtest.net.

I also like speedtest.net.

But let me point out that although you say "see post lower down,"
what's lower down for you is not necessarily lower down for the rest
of us. The sequence of posts depends on what newsreader you use, and
how you sort the messages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK. See my other post elsewhere timed at 17/06/2012 00:51 in reply to Alias'
post.

Is that alright?

jim

 

[Ken Blake]

"Ken Blake" wrote in message




I also like speedtest.net.

But let me point out that although you say "see post lower down,"
what's lower down for you is not necessarily lower down for the rest
of us. The sequence of posts depends on what newsreader you use, and
how you sort the messages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK. See my other post elsewhere timed at 17/06/2012 00:51 in reply to Alias'
post.

Is that alright?

Well, you also need to note that the date and time *you* see (00:51)
is the time in your time zone, and not the same time all the rest of
us see. The message you are referring to is perhaps the one I see here
as posted on June 17 at 4:51pm.

And Alias is the biggest troll we have here. No response to him is all
right. He should either be ignored, or better yet kill-filed (many of
us, including me, have him kill-filed).

And, sorry to sound like a complainer, but one other point: you are
posting with Windows Live Mail 15, which in my view, and that of many
others of us here, is the worst of all available e-mail
programs/newsreaders. What it does the worst is quote the message you
are replying to. It doesn't put the > sign in front of quoted lines,
so it's extremely difficult to tell the difference between what you
are quoting and what you are posting. Especially after a conversation
goes back and forth a couple of time, messages posted with Windows
Live Mail quickly become unintelligible. There are lots of other
better newsreaders/e-mail programs out there, and many of them are
free.

 

[Char Jackson]

"Ken Blake" wrote in message




I also like speedtest.net.

But let me point out that although you say "see post lower down,"
what's lower down for you is not necessarily lower down for the rest
of us. The sequence of posts depends on what newsreader you use, and
how you sort the messages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK. See my other post elsewhere timed at 17/06/2012 00:51 in reply to Alias'
post.

Is that alright?

No, IMO. If you want to direct others to a specific post, use its
Message-ID. For example, your post that I'm replying to has a unique
Message-ID of <[email protected]>.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Thanks for that info. Where did you find it?

Do you know if they test for bandwidth boosting (and then fallback to
slower speed)? Comcast has their PowerBoost feature. Besides
upping speed for the first 10 MB of a file download, I read the speed
boost lasts maximum of 10 seconds. So the speed site would have to
throttle the file download so that it took longer than 10 seconds
(since being under 10 MB means the file might not normally take more
than 10 seconds to download).

How does the test work?
https://support.speedtest.net/entri...test-itself-work-how-is-the-result-calculated


From what I read here, they try to keep the entire testing to under
10 seconds which means results will be skewed by the speed boosting
at the ISP.

They also say that they use random strings for the download to
eliminate skewed results from cached files for the web browser. So I
don't know how you got specific image files. Maybe that's what you
got this time. Maybe they are named as .jpg file but really contain
random data.

They do toss out the flyers (lowest 30% and highest 10% are
discarded).

I consistently get the speeds I'm signed up for. I have no idea what the
testing details are. I got those files from the downloadable mini
version of the test. http://www.speedtest.net/mini.php

 

[KCB]

I've got as far using that as clicking to begin; now it's sitting at
SELECTING BEST SERVER BASED ON PING, and has been for several minutes.

From http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/, I've got my usual fairly
consistent response (5640 down, 378 up; I usually get nearer, or sometimes
just over, 6000, which is fair for a plain line in a rural location). I've
used http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/ at other people's houses, and got
responses that seem to me to reflect their connection speed - certainly
fairly consistent (I've seen about 1500 and 2500) if tried repeatedly from
the same house.

I'd be interested to hear what it gives for someone from leftpondia.

I'm in Pennsylvania
http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/results/164914191.png