Are some speedtest.net servers capped to max out at certain speeds?

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Zepanda66

533 posts

Ultimate Geek

#236103 17-May-2018 21:17

I hope the thread title makes sense. I have gigabit fibre with slingshot and noticed that some test servers like vodafone often cap out at certain speeds like I never see more 500-600mbps while with other servers like worldnet, spark and 2degrees I get my full 940mbps. And my upload speed is better on some than others as well. Is it just better optimisation or congestion/capacity of the servers? Why do I see better results on some over others? Just curious.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/7315955530.png

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#2017982 17-May-2018 21:24

If your only seeing this at peak time, could it be possible the test server simply has a 1G uplink and others are also testing?..

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Talkiet

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#2018068 17-May-2018 22:03

Short answer... No, not unless the ISP is being silly.

Longer answer... Achieving gig throughput requires work, not just on the service, but on their own network and servers. Not every ISP has an optimised configuration.

It's unlikely to be deliberate.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

afe66

3181 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2018152 18-May-2018 09:42

I had a little frustration last year with this exact issue.

Did speed test to default and could never get more than 500, spoke to Vodafone , checked correct plan on system and we went through Ethernet cable swaps, bypassing the switch etc and connecting directly to router. Never more than just under 500.

So after a week or so of this, I nearly decided fxxx it and stopped caring. But then for some reason I tried a different server and hit just under 1000.

Tried 3 servers all gave just under 1000. Returned to default server and it was back to just under 500 again...

So sample size of one.

A.

PS not saying t was deliberate, maybe just something abouy that server.

noroad

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#2018157 18-May-2018 10:00

Getting 1G or more out of the speedtest.net servers is actually not easy, I've got multiple speedtest.net hosts and trying to tune them to produce over 900meg results has been quite a bit of (still ongoing) effort. This is even with 10G uplinks, SSD drives etc. I have servers that I can iperf test at 9G consistent throughput, but using the Ookla software I struggle to give out consistent over 900meg results.

From what I have seen most hosts only have 1G uplinks, I'm, not convinced the Ookla platform can be trusted to accurately test 1G user services.

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#2018598 18-May-2018 20:58

noroad:

Getting 1G or more out of the speedtest.net servers is actually not easy, I've got multiple speedtest.net hosts and trying to tune them to produce over 900meg results has been quite a bit of (still ongoing) effort. This is even with 10G uplinks, SSD drives etc. I have servers that I can iperf test at 9G consistent throughput, but using the Ookla software I struggle to give out consistent over 900meg results.

From what I have seen most hosts only have 1G uplinks, I'm, not convinced the Ookla platform can be trusted to accurately test 1G user services.

This is indeed a issue i've had with my 10G links over in europe.

The windows/mac client goes a long way in improving things however...

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

703

131 posts

Master Geek

#2020784 22-May-2018 22:21

Hitting more than 1Gbps no biggie.

@instance-1:~$ speedtest-cli --server 2629
Retrieving speedtest.net configuration...
Testing from Google Cloud (35.197.185.244)...
Retrieving speedtest.net server list...
Selecting best server based on ping...
Hosted by Telstra (Sydney) [9040.92 km]: 2.089 ms
Testing download speed................................................................................
Download: 3872.52 Mbit/s
Testing upload speed...............................................................................................
.....
Upload: 1051.43 Mbit/s