How fast are US-based ISPs ? [Netflix index 2012 12]

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freitasm

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#112559 12-Dec-2012 17:09

Netflix has listed US ISPs by speed:

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tonyhughes

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#731525 12-Dec-2012 17:46

Important to read their article stating that these are for comparative checks between listed providers, and not peak speeds of those networks clients for general internet use.

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JohnButt

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#731532 12-Dec-2012 18:00

As per Tony, this includes downloads from many types of connections, including bottlenecks from Wifi in the link. It not only has little meaning from a point of view of performance capability by ISP, but it should also not be used to compare ISPs. Some US ISPs may have encouraged customers with special offers that reduce speeds, eg lower prices for low speeds.
It is important to note that in the US, broadband connection usage is limited by speed, not by cap, so this represents more of a customer selection mix than a speed capability. ie you buy a 200kb/s or 400kb/s or 1Mb/s, not "as fast as your line can go" as in NZ
A similarly inaccurate comparison is published regularly for NZ from both Speedtest and Akamai measurements, but this to is not safe for comparing ISPs. It includes not only overloaded PC impacts, but also Wifi impacts and a lack of clarity over IP address impact. eg, Akamai treats all Telecom IP addresses as "fixed" and all Vodafone's as "mobile" with consequent impact. ie NZ has a very slow fixed line performance and one of the highest mobile performances - both nonsense.

chevrolux

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#731534 12-Dec-2012 18:05

Looks to be about as accurate as the results that will be coming out of REANNZ speedtest.

The only sort of results that should hold any weight are ones from people like Truenet. Obviously not a full proof scheme but so so so much better than letting people do tests from slow wifi access points.

freitasm

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#731536 12-Dec-2012 18:06

FTA:

"... an accurate indicator of relative bandwidth typically experienced across all users, homes, and applications."

Reality is that customers will perceive broadband based on a series of factors, not only ISP speed but their own infrastructure, including but not limited to modem, router, ethernet/wireless connectivity, operating system, etc.

This is no different than people running speedtests in New Zealand. Some have crappy routers on fast connections. Or use WiFi for testing and complain about the ISP when there's interference even from their thoughts. Some run speedtests on old Windows XP machines that will give different results from Windows 7 machines.

Truenet could be a good indicator but it is still not 100%.

JohnButt: Some US ISPs may have encouraged customers with special offers that reduce speeds, eg lower prices for low speeds.

Exactly like they do in New Zealand where some ISPs have "managed" plans, isn't it?

JohnButt: It is important to note that in the US, broadband connection usage is limited by speed, not by cap...

Actually the cap exists and most cable providers now have caps. Granted the minium is around 250GB, but at some point it will be reached. The same as in New Zealand where there was a minimum that was reached and made ISPs push this up.

chevrolux: Looks to be about as accurate as the results that will be coming out of REANNZ speedtest.

Correct. And that means like the REANNZ speedtest it's flawed. But it represent user experience nonetheless.

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NonprayingMantis

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#731545 12-Dec-2012 18:41

This is also the average speed of the stream from netflix, which maxes out at something like 5mbps for their hd content. So the average will be impacted by having a hard limit on the top speed.

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#731547 12-Dec-2012 18:51

Yes it does represent user experience - I totally agree, so long as the selection is weighted according to users, but this is not.

Just to put the concept of price by speed into context, Cox ISP prices are easy to find and demonstrate my point: https://store.cox.com/residential-store/ordernow.cox;jsessionid=0846F9A8EFA38D665629283636D5A889.resi_06

Starter; 1/0.34Mbps = $29 (ADSL1)
Essential; 3/0.77Mbps = $20 (ADSL2+)
Preferred; 18/4Mbps = $30 (VDSL)
Premier; up to 28/4Mbps = $40 (VDSL)
Ultimate; up to 50/5Mbps = $75 (VDSL)

NZ
We have most ISPs now offering just one speed - ADSL2+ up to 22/1Mbps and as fast as you can get and a small number offer VDSL, as fast as you can get with the theoretical limit of ~40+Mbps

Our monthly report to be published tomorrow will show the differences between ADSL and VDSL in NZ. Including some real examples :-)

LWJCarroll

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#739538 2-Jan-2013 23:55

John...
"NZ
We have most ISPs now offering just one speed - ADSL2+ up to 22/1Mbps and as fast as you can get and a small number offer VDSL, as fast as you can get with the theoretical limit of ~40+Mbps"

No I disagree as saying "most ISP's" is just pushing the old adsl/vdsl bandwagon again...there are faster wireless and now fibre offerings in the Nz market...

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