Can anybody comment on/recommend a reliable speed test for one's internet
connection?

The few I've tried all make me suspicious.

For instance http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ has a dial-type UI with
instantaneous values under it. While it's getting it's data, the dial/numbers
never seem to get to 5000k. But once it'd done, the end result always seems tb
around 5300k.

Running 2-Wire.com's test immediately afterward gives something in the high
4's... like 4700.

Running Verizon's test
(http://infospeed.verizon.net/speedte...edtest500k.asp)
three times in quick succession I get 11430, 992, and 1080.

Too much variation there..... Is there some basic fallacy in speed tests or am
I missing something else?
--
PeteCresswell

Per (PeteCresswell):
> three times in quick succession I get 11430, 992, and 1080.

"11430" shb 1430...
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
> Per (PeteCresswell):
>> three times in quick succession I get 11430, 992, and 1080.
>
> "11430" shb 1430...

Take a look at Surfspeed at

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1960252,00.asp

"(PeteCresswell)" <EMAIL REMOVED> writes:

> Can anybody comment on/recommend a reliable speed test for one's internet
> connection?
>
> The few I've tried all make me suspicious.
>
> For instance http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ has a dial-type UI with
> instantaneous values under it. While it's getting it's data, the dial/numbers
> never seem to get to 5000k. But once it'd done, the end result always seems tb
> around 5300k.

This is the one my last 2 cable internet providers relied upon.

> Too much variation there..... Is there some basic fallacy in speed tests or am
> I missing something else?

They represent the speed between the server it's connecting to and
you. You should expect variation among them.

If things are wildly variable, you may have a packet loss issue
clouding things.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

On Feb 12, 12:17 pm, "(PeteCresswell)" <x...@y.Invalid> wrote:
> Can anybody comment on/recommend a reliable speed test for one's internet
> connection?
>
> The few I've tried all make me suspicious.
>
> For instancehttp://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ has a dial-type UI with
> instantaneous values under it. While it's getting it's data, the dial/numbers
> never seem to get to 5000k. But once it'd done, the end result always seems tb
> around 5300k.
>
> Running 2-Wire.com's test immediately afterward gives something in the high
> 4's... like 4700.
>
> Running Verizon's test
> (http://infospeed.verizon.net/speedte...edtest500k.asp)
> three times in quick succession I get 11430, 992, and 1080.
>
> Too much variation there..... Is there some basic fallacy in speed tests or am
> I missing something else?
> --
> PeteCresswell

you're missing the right tools.
http://bandwidthplace.com

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
> Can anybody comment on/recommend a reliable speed test for one's internet
> connection?

http://sod.ms/fast

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.

(PeteCresswell) wrote:

> Can anybody comment on/recommend a reliable speed test for one's internet
> connection?

While not doing anything else network-related, download the latest Linux
kernel source from you most local mirror[1] using wget[2] from the command
line. For example, I'd use:

wget "http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.20.tar.bz2"

Indeed, you could use any reasonably big file, from any local server,
provided you know that the server itself has enough bandwidth not to be
the bottleneck!

I've just done this (and just realised that I ran it in a SSH connection
to a machine at work. oops!) At the end it prints out a little report like:

10:12:46 (385.36 KB/s) - `linux-2.6.20.tar.bz2' saved [43,375,937/43,375,937]

Note that this includes the average download speed in kilobytes per
second. Multiply through by, say, 8 to get your speed over HTTP in
kilobits per second. (Note that your raw connection probably runs a
few percent faster than your HTTP speed, as HTTP and TCP/IP have a bit
of overhead ***ociated with them.)

I get about 5250 kilobits per second downlink at home, and 3100 at work.

____
1. Mirror list: http://www.kernel.org/mirrors/
2. http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
Contact Me ~ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/contact
Geek of ~ HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python*/Apache/Linux

* = I'm getting there!

Dylan Parry wrote:

> http://sod.ms/fast

I was this URL on a tube poster <http://not.ms/> about 5 years ago, and
have been with them ever since.

I like this page <http://aaisp.net.uk/home.html> which implies that their
services are feline-friendly. Indeed, one of my cats loves my laptop --
whenever I use it downstairs, he sits on my knee, fascinated by the mouse
cursor. They're bionic cats. They have RFID identichips in their necks; I
have wireless; I'm sure they're using up my bandwidth somehow.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
Contact Me ~ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/contact
Geek of ~ HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python*/Apache/Linux

* = I'm getting there!

Toby A Inkster wrote:

> I was this URL on a tube poster

What have you been since? <g>

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.

Dylan Parry wrote:

> Toby A Inkster wrote:
>
>> I was this URL on a tube poster
>
> What have you been since? <g>

Yearning to once more be a URL on a tube poster.

s/was/saw/

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
Contact Me ~ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/contact
Geek of ~ HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python*/Apache/Linux

* = I'm getting there!