Speedtest vs Speedof.me

Forums › Online streaming services › Speedtest vs Speedof.me

Rikkitic

7181 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3377

Subscriber

Topic # 185238 15-Nov-2015 14:44

I notice that Speedof.me consistently reports much lower results than Speedtest. In my case, download speeds are always around 30 mbps or better with Speedtest, much slower with Speedof.me. I have run tests with both, one after the other, using the same computer and connection. 7 mbps is the best I have had with Speedof.me, often it is as low as 3 or less.

I realise that different servers will produce different results, but should they consistently be this different? What is the significance of this, if any? Which should I believe?

I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2600
Inactive user

Reply # 1428357 15-Nov-2015 15:18

Carriers provider capacity off to speedtest.net

Sideface

4013 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2198

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1428358 15-Nov-2015 15:21

4 people support this post

The SpeedOf.Me server is presumably in Sydney, as it has a latency of 46ms

On a 100/10 Mbps cable connection in Wellington, I get:

SpeedOf.Me (Sydney?) 22/10 Mbps
nPerf (1Gb/sec Exigent Sydney) 100/10 Mbps

I don't think that SpeedOf.Me is suitable for testing high-speed connections

Sideface

Jase2985

7572 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2454

Subscriber

Reply # 1428367 15-Nov-2015 16:00

speedtest sydney - 39/10 with a ping of 31ms
nperf sydney - 39/10 with a ping of 31ms
speedof.me sydney - 25/10 with a ping of 31ms

my connection is 41/10

speedof.me doesnt seem to have enough bandwidth, nor the way it seems to test seems to be the best as it takes ages to ramp the connection up to its top speed, which is no where near what a connection is capable of

common sense would suggest you dont believe speedof.me

Sideface

4013 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2198

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1428371 15-Nov-2015 16:16

One person supports this post

Jase2985: ... speedof.me doesnt seem to have enough bandwidth, nor the way it seems to test seems to be the best as it takes ages to ramp the connection up to its top speed ...

This slower ramp may be because it downloads a 32MB file, and uploads a 16MB file.

Other testing servers use smaller files.

Sideface

richms

21019 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4155

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 1428379 15-Nov-2015 16:34

speedofme is inconsistant even when testing once after another. Even moreso when testing different browsers or PCs on the same connection.

I mean its great that there is an alternative to speedtest.net, but when it works as bad as speedofme does its not really an alternative.

Richard rich.ms

Talkiet

3508 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1994

Trusted

Spark NZ

Reply # 1428406 15-Nov-2015 18:27

As I say every time something like this is brought up, go and have a dig on the speedtest.net site to find the ACTUAL METHOD they use to conduct the tests and ESTIMATE the line speed. Read it and you'll understand why Brand X and Brand Y of various speedtests won't give you comparable results.

"Tell someone and they'll forget, show someone and they'll remember, INVOLVE them and they'll understand"
- Attributed in various guises to Ben Franklin or an ancient Chinese proverb

Cheers - N

Jase2985

7572 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2454

Subscriber

Reply # 1428471 15-Nov-2015 21:07

Talkiet: As I say every time something like this is brought up, go and have a dig on the speedtest.net site to find the ACTUAL METHOD they use to conduct the tests and ESTIMATE the line speed. Read it and you'll understand why Brand X and Brand Y of various speedtests won't give you comparable results.

"Tell someone and they'll forget, show someone and they'll remember, INVOLVE them and they'll understand"
- Attributed in various guises to Ben Franklin or an ancient Chinese proverb

Cheers - N

and thats fine, keep saying it but there is no other method of checking the speed of your connection so until someone comes up with a better method its all people have.

and as speedtest is widely used and isnt too bad in giving you an estimate on the speed of your line, its interesting to compare it to other methods.

your knowledge on the subject is appreciated but unless there is a better method what can people do?

Talkiet

3508 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1994

Trusted

Spark NZ

Reply # 1428475 15-Nov-2015 21:17

Oh... I use speedtest as well... But I understand the limitations and what they actually measure. It's critically important to understand the metrics used when looking at numbers.

If I was to say I was traveling at 60... Do I mean kmh or mph... Our some other measurement? And is it an instantaneous measure or a distance over time measurement?

The frustration is that the general public and most of the people here expect a speedtest to reflect their access speed and if the results don't say that then there's something wrong. That's really frustrating.

Cheers N

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2600
Inactive user

Reply # 1428477 15-Nov-2015 21:19

Speedtest.net need a pop up saying ' Best test results are done over Ethernet '

Rikkitic

7181 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3377

Subscriber

Reply # 1428481 15-Nov-2015 21:22

I am aware of that danger. I use Speedtest for relative measures but I stream actual video files and calcualate the speed to see what it actually is.

I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage

dwl

362 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 42

Reply # 1428618 16-Nov-2015 09:02

Any time I use speedof.me it is coming from Sydney so that adds a segment compared to more local. Often ISPs will host a speedtest server in their network and that may be best starting point if using a speedtest server. As discussed above, it is a guide but can be very useful.

Speedtest.net is tied to Ookla and many/most speedtest servers are running some version of Ookla code. The method was changed several years ago from a HTTP GET and POST to downloading and uploading defined sizes depending on the estimate of speed. The old POST method for upload was especially shakey (even Ookla said not to use at higher rates) and hopefully the newer NetGauge version is now used.

The other variable was number of threads. Original versions could be limited to two threads but ISPs could turn on up to 8 threads. For international (high delay) this made a big difference with older PCs. In my experience, with the older version downloading a chosen JPG file (depending on speed estimate) was a reasonable indication of available bandwidth noting the number of threads limitation.

I thank speedof.me for giving us a HTML5 based option (with minimum 8 second file size) but unfortunately I don't think it has the geographic presence to be very accurate for NZ users.

timmmay

13840 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2451

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 1428651 16-Nov-2015 09:45

Try this.

AWS Certified Solution Architect Professional, Sysop Administrator Associate, and Developer Associate
TOGAF certified enterprise architect
Professional photographer