Question about accurate speed testing and Choke points

I have a question about download speeds.

There is a customer in my local area that has service with Charter communications. They are paying for 60mb down and 5mb up. They are not getting the speed they are paying for at all. A couple of techs have been out to their home to resolve this an stated this was a line problem. So that is still waiting to resolved. Here is the odd question. When trying to measure the speed I am getting different results.

Here are all the average test results:

These tests were all done with direct connections to a ubee modem.

Speakeasy Speed Test
Speakeasy Speed Test
20mb down 5mb up

Speedtest.net
Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test
15mb down and 5mb up

Testmy.net
Download Speed Test
11.5 down and 5mb up

Toast.net
Internet Performance and Speed Test
4mb! down and 5mb up

Charter communications (charters own speed test)
Charter Communications : Digital Cable, High Speed Internet and Telephone [olvemo]
33.5 down and 5up


So every test got the upload speed right but every speed test was different. Now all of the closest servers were selected but still this odd result. Now I know you should use your ISP's speed test but this can be misleading to the average consumer.

So I'm looking for some opinions on the best most accurate way to test a customers download speed. Also is it possible for a routers firewall to choke and hurt the speed coming into a customers home?

Any other idea's?

Lightingbird said:

I have a question about download speeds.

There is a customer in my local area that has service with Charter communications. They are paying for 60mb down and 5mb up. They are not getting the speed they are paying for at all. A couple of techs have been out to their home to resolve this an stated this was a line problem. So that is still waiting to resolved. Here is the odd question. When trying to measure the speed I am getting different results.

Here are all the average test results:

These tests were all done with direct connections to a ubee modem.

Speakeasy Speed Test
Speakeasy Speed Test
20mb down 5mb up

Speedtest.net
Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test
15mb down and 5mb up

Testmy.net
Download Speed Test
11.5 down and 5mb up

Toast.net
Internet Performance and Speed Test
4mb! down and 5mb up

Charter communications (charters own speed test)
Charter Communications : Digital Cable, High Speed Internet and Telephone [olvemo]
33.5 down and 5up


So every test got the upload speed right but every speed test was different. Now all of the closest servers were selected but still this odd result. Now I know you should use your ISP's speed test but this can be misleading to the average consumer.

So I'm looking for some opinions on the best most accurate way to test a customers download speed. Also is it possible for a routers firewall to choke and hurt the speed coming into a customers home?

Any other idea's?

Tests of download speeds will always vary. Servers are different distances from the client using different routes.
Each route may have more or less traffic. At best those test can be use to determine trends. If I were you I would use spoeadtest.net and use the server closest to the client.

Ken

I don't think you understand my problem. The list of the speeds are all different, including speedtest.net. So once the problem is fixed which speed site would be the most accurate? Short of just running traceroutes myself.