Speedtest.net

[techmonkey74]

How reliable is speedtest.net and other broadband speed test sites? I don't have the fastest connecttion with at&t dsl 6 Mbps but it suites my needs fine. I find when I test with speedtest.ney my results vary alot anywhere from 3.00 Mbps to 5.00 Mbps sometimes even lower. With other test sites such as speakeasy and the one from Cnet the results seem much more consistent where I usually average around 4.85-5.60 Mbps.

The results seem to REALLY get wacky with speedtest.net depending who the test is "hosted" by. With speedtest.net you can change servers for testing but sometimes there are different hosts in one city. For example my closest server city is San Francisco, Ca. With "host" Unwired I get around 4.60 Mbps but "host" Monkey Brains (I think thats the name) I was getting .060 Mbps. Again with other test sites I seem to get much more consistent results. Also why is it with speedtest.net I can pick a server across the country for testing and I get faster download speeds than one that is only a few miles away?

 

[richc46]

I use speed test and it is very accurate. During certain times of the day or because of weather conditions my speed is down, I use Att.
This is nothing to worry about and is normal
I use this alternate test to check my results when in doubt
http://testmy.net/download-speed-test.php

 

[StalkeR]

I preffer speed.io
speed.io - Internet DSL Speedtest

 

[severedsolo]

There are so many variable's with speedtest's it is really hard to pin down exactly what is causing them.

Right at the top of the list is server load. A server has only so much bandwidth, and your internet connection will be as fast as the slowest point on the network. If the server is overloaded, then you will get slow speeds.

Next is something called contention. The way modern broadband works, you are sharing your connection with other people (here in the UK on a home connection it is 50, may vary where you are). The reason you don't notice is that usually, all 50 people aren't online at the same time. This is why your internet slow's down in the evenings and weekends. If you test on the same server several times in succession and get wildly variable results I would say it's probably contention.

Next thing to consider is that speedtest.net is flash based. Now while speedtest.net is usually quite reliable, flash based test's CAN be maniplulated. My old ISP had a big problem with oversubscribing, and rather than fixing the problem, they gave speed tests higher priority to make it look like they had fixed it. Java based test's on the other hand, are usually much more reliable. There is a java based test here: Speed Test : upload and download | DSLReports.com, ISP Information that has US servers.

 

[Tarka Dal]

I gave up on speedtest net a year ago.It's totally unreliable...

 

[Zepher]

I use real-world apps to see what my speeds are doing.

 

[EricTheO]

Ookla = SpeedTest.net

My current ISP uses Ookla for its speedtest. SpeedTest.net is very accurate and lets you view a summary of your past speedtests. You can also check you connection quality (ping, jitter). I believe Ookla was also used by the US .gov for it's ISP speedtest survey. Reliability of the speed test isn't the issue, your wiring/wireless connection quality, buggy router or switch, local load on your ISP and the rare general internet backbone bottlenecks are what you should be more concerned with.

 

[Joan Archer]

I've just done a test with speed.io


Never had such a speed especially in the evenings.

 

[Joan Archer]

This is the result using yours Rich.


http://testmy.net/share/IBW53SEGN&dual=yes&q2=KYHGUOS13.png

 

[Tarka Dal]

I've just done a test with speed.io


Never had such a speed especially in the evenings.

Joan was just thinkin' of you!

 

[BugOutMachine]

So why don't we discuss how to improve our speed? I tried a little tool called TCPOptimizer and found that it REDUCED mine.