How reliable are online download speed testers?

[frankcastle]

Called rogers to say that I wanted to check my downloading speed with the extreme package.

Guy referred me to www.speakeasy.net now the skeptic in me says oh they use this site to make things look good.

Any thoughts?

 

[hunter001]

Should be ok give it a try.

 

[hot rod]

speakeasy is an excellent speed testing site. I've used others from time to time, but speakeasy is my favorite. Try a couple of their mirror sites, you'll find substantially different results from each. You may think it's distance but it isn't - it's load rates dependant on the respective time zones and usage factors.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Guy referred me to www.speakeasy.net now the skeptic in me says oh they use this site to make things look good.

Any thoughts?

The skeptic in me would agree with you.
Adelphia used to push, Toast.net, for me and I always got my fastest readings when using that site.

There are hundreds of 'speed test sites' out there.
Just Google 'speed test sites' and pick a few out and give them a try, noting the distance they are from you.
Still there are plenty of variables involved besides distance that cause results to vary widely.

 

[l69norm]

Called rogers to say that I wanted to check my downloading speed with the extreme package...Any thoughts?

Ever notice how the first time you run the test on some sites (like http://performance.toast.net/ , the results are so-so. If you run it again right away the results are good?

Browsers can cache (on the hard drive) some of the test components like http images and this also affects subsequent test results. Toast could run faster in firefox than IE 5/6 depending on the browser settings.

Also, a lot of big ISPs use transparent http proxy servers. Depending on how the speed test is set up (http), the first time you use it, it gets downloaded into the proxy first, then to you. The second time you use it, it comes from the proxy cache. The site then stays cached for some period (5-10 min) in case someone else wants to use it.

 

[thewheelman]

Rogers should have directed you to www.speedcheck.rogers.com

That is their local speed test server at the Toronto office. If you use test servers outside Rogers network then your test will be susceptible to the performance of other companies networks and will not reflect the performance of your Rogers network connection.

This test measures throughput at the socket layer, it does not use http unless your setup is unable to open the default ports for the tranfers.

 

[Papi Chulo]

my speed test was 8600kbps and 890kbps


another site is dslreports.com

 

[frankcastle]

5.65 Mbps dl, 798 kbps ul...... so why do things like torrents and limewire seem to be insanely slow if functional at all?

 

[Esco!]

Try this site, its pretty accurate:

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

5.65 Mbps dl, 798 kbps ul...... so why do things like torrents and limewire seem to be insanely slow if functional at all?

Because it depends how fast the upload speed is of the guy your downloading from.
If he has slow internet speed then you're stuck with him.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Here's a good site:

http://testmy.net

Click on download, upload, or dual, then click on smart test.

Other test choices are available.

 

[markvee]

Thanks for the speed test info

 

[agentman]

If you have Telus its: ehelp.telus.net

 

[Papi Chulo]

Here is a list of speed tests, by location

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?more=1

apparently, one of the factors which determines your speed in a test is the distance that the testing server is from you.. usually, if you choose one close to you, it will have a faster score than ones which are further away

Today I scored 8Mbps

 

[spheroyds]

bandwidth isn't the only measure of speed

Downloads are highly dependent upon a number of factors including:

Protocol - ftp, http, https, limewire, shared file servers
(all of these have differing properties and connection qualities)

Time of day - testing at 3 am is different than testing at noon or right after school

Target site - obviously a congested server is not going to download as quick

Connections allowed - by IP etc.

Your OS and application - IE, Firefox, download managers etc.

lastly...ISP filtering...nuff said.

 

[Mao Tse Tongue]

Speakeasy is the real deal. I used it to push Sympatico into bumping my speed after pathetic results.

 

[Never Compromised]

thanks for all the links