Correct speeds on speedtest.net?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Correct speeds on speedtest.net?

Jelliedsoup

26 posts

Geek

#69858 14-Oct-2010 10:07

Hi Guys,

As much as I'd like to believe that the speed results I'm getting are true, I'm somewhat sceptical of the following result:

https://www.speedtest.net/result/989355957.png

The test seems to hover around 1-2Mb/s then seems to max out and gives the above result.

I would assume that as my modem says I'm connected at:

Status:
Up

Downstream Rate:
6421 kbps

Upstream Rate:
1025 kbps

Would I need a downstream rate of approx 40000kbps to actually achieve the results I got?

Thanks.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
78995 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#391674 14-Oct-2010 10:09

It's easy for an ISP to cache the resources used for speedtests, and to whitelist speedtests so that they always get non-managed speeds. These are no longer reliable at all.

My technology disclosure

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

Jelliedsoup

26 posts

Geek

#391678 14-Oct-2010 10:20

That's not good if ISPs do actually do that. Surely this is illegal on the basis of 'false advertising' as it creates a perception of the speeds an ISP will actually provide.

nzscom

67 posts

Master Geek

#391687 14-Oct-2010 10:52

I guess it still applies in terms of comparison though right? I mean if you and I are on the same ISP and we both get different results from speedtest.net.

Although the actual figures returned might not be accurate, it could still be accurate in terms of 'mine is comparatively faster than yours' right?

- Mark

wjw

162 posts

Master Geek

#391692 14-Oct-2010 10:58

freitasm: It's easy for an ISP to cache the resources used for speedtests, and to whitelist speedtests so that they always get non-managed speeds. These are no longer reliable at all.

These have never been reliable as they depend on the amount of bandwidth available at the other end, ie where the server is located. If you perform speedtests to a US colo provider your download will be shocking as they don't have much upstream available, whereas a company that provides mainly commodity internet will have heaps of upstream available and will give you a good result.

scuwp

3871 posts

Uber Geek

#391695 14-Oct-2010 11:02

I get two different results from my laptops running through the same wireless router. I guess thats an indication that there is an actual performance comparison being accounted for and measured?

One has to remember there is a difference between accuracy and precision. The speedtest may be precise, but not necessarily accurate, especially if the ISP's are fudging the results

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

nzscom

67 posts

Master Geek

#391699 14-Oct-2010 11:05

I always had about 10Mbps download on my home Telstra cable connection until a technician (finally!) came round to replace a connection on the telegraph pole outside - the connection had been quite intermittent. After that I suddenly had 15Mbps download ... which was nice.

- Mark

old3eyes

9110 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#391775 14-Oct-2010 12:39

Speaking of speed tests. has anyone with opera 7.xx been able to use this NZ site??
http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/. Ok with Chrome..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Charles000

78 posts

Master Geek

#391998 14-Oct-2010 22:00

old3eyes: Speaking of speed tests. has anyone with opera 7.xx been able to use this NZ site??
http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/. Ok with Chrome..

Why are you using Opera 7? That's a 7 year old browser! The current version of Opera is 10.62.

nzscom

67 posts

Master Geek

#392077 15-Oct-2010 08:29

0.16% of visitors to NZS.com that were using Opera browsers were on version 7 :) And we still had just over 30,000 visitors on IE 6 :(

- Mark

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
78995 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#392080 15-Oct-2010 08:40

Every couple of months I post some Geekzone stats in my blog. The latest was http://www.geekzone.co.nz/freitasm/7346.

My technology disclosure

Cymro

283 posts

Ultimate Geek

#392091 15-Oct-2010 09:15

Jelliedsoup: That's not good if ISPs do actually do that. Surely this is illegal on the basis of 'false advertising' as it creates a perception of the speeds an ISP will actually provide.

It can't be false advertising unless the ISP's say "Hey! Look at how fast our Speedtest results are!!! The rest of our internets is just as fast!!!"

Don't get me started on how much ISP's used to game the Epitiro scores.....

RunningMan

8877 posts

Uber Geek

#392128 15-Oct-2010 10:22

I would have thought that even if the ISP cached the speedtest data and/or whitelisted it for priority, then the OP would still only see a speed approaching the sync rate of his connection (in this case 6421 kbps).

A speed higher than this (especially this high) would suggest the data is being cached on the user end of the connection instead

Perhaps I've overlooked something

old3eyes

9110 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#392209 15-Oct-2010 13:18

Charles000:
old3eyes: Speaking of speed tests. has anyone with opera 7.xx been able to use this NZ site??
http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/. Ok with Chrome..

Why are you using Opera 7? That's a 7 year old browser! The current version of Opera is 10.62.

Sorry . Your correct. Was thinking of Chrome 7 which has just gone to 8.. I'm using Opera 10.70.

Regards,

Old3eyes

mikenzb

371 posts

Ultimate Geek

#393749 19-Oct-2010 19:38

Wow if that was Real u must be on vdsl2 or something cause i dont think u can get that much speed anywhere unless ur on fibre

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
78995 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#393751 19-Oct-2010 19:41

mikenzb: Wow if that was Real u must be on vdsl2 or something cause i dont think u can get that much speed anywhere unless ur on fibre

Hmmm. Not necessarily. I get this on TelstraClear cable in Wellington (100Mbps service trial):

My technology disclosure