speed tests

[Noreen]

Not sure in I'm in the right forum for this but hope so.  Since I've migrated to IDNet (and DSLMax) I've been doing various speed tests and have noticed that the tester on thinkbroadband, which I thought was the accepted norm, is consistently slower than some others. This morning for instance it's about 1,000 kbps slower than either speedtest.com (Maidenhead) and the BT speedtester. I wondered which site is the generally accepted one on IDNet.

[Rik]

The TB speed test is renowned for being a bit slow, Noreen. Personally, I don't worry too much about speed tests - they are all very dependent on server load and exchange congestion (and they use 'artificial' methods to test). If I do run a check, I tend to use the Namesco one, but I look at the results relative to earlier ones there, not as an absolute measure of speed, iow, I use it to judge whether my speed has changed, but not what my speed is. If I want to get a good idea of actual throughput, I download a large file and time that.

HTH

[Noreen]

Thanks, I didn't know that about the thinkbroadband test. I'm not normally bothered about the speed, it's only because it's a new connection for me that I've been keeping an eye on it and I expect that the novelty will wear off. So far I'm very happy with it as it's a little faster than my old LLU service which has surprised me.

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[Rik]

Hi Noreen

The TB speed test is regularly being discussed in TTTS, with people reporting considerable discrepancies. That said, it's usually about where I would expect when I try it, though that may be easier on lower speed lines. The real problem with all these sites is that they use strange methods to do the testing, and the chosen method may produce better or worse figures in a given situation. That's why I recommend downloading a file - though even that is subject to the vagaries of server load.

I think we all test a new connection to make sure it's doing as well as we hope, I know I did. IDNet guarantee no congestion within their network, which may account for the extra speed you are seeing. I know they also monitor, and tweak, their routing to get maximum speed.

[colirv]

That's why I recommend downloading a file - though even that is subject to the vagaries of server load.

This is my preferred method - but I run NetStat Live http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/nsl.htm at the same time, which gives me the actual and average speeds without me having to calculate them.

[Rik]

Useful link, thanks. I'm a Luddite - I just keep a stopwatch handy.