Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


JohnButt

374 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 47

Trusted

#154480 29-Oct-2014 13:35
Send private message

TrueNet measures Latency from all ~450 panelists every hour of every day.  Thats a lot of data and our monthly report cannot do justice to the information imbedded in the data.  I would like to find a way to better use the data for public consumption by those most affected by Latency.

This is a request for comment on presentation more than data, but the data is real September results.

To gather Latency data we ping the target a number of times and collect the minimum, maximum and average response time of the pings for a test, usually every hour of every day on all connections we measure. 

Current targets include:

 

  • Wellington
  • Auckland
  • Sydney
  • Melbourne
  • Perth
  • Dallas
  • UK (Portsmouth)
To analyse I take the median of the tests for a single panelist's connection for tests with common times, e.g. the median of 1am is the median of all tests at 1am for the entire month, usually 30-31 tests.
The medians are then averaged for all probes fitting the criteria we are showing in any plot, e.g. Urban, Auckland, ISP=Spark etc

The attached charts are the result of that analysis, the Min and Max show the spread of results, but the spread is low, I have an idea why, but I have not seen the result of so many latency results together so I thought it a good idea to ask others for opinions before we publish on our website:

I have included the UK pivot table to demonstrate the analysis for those who understand pivot tables


Click to see full size     Click to see full size     Click to see full size


Create new topic
Ragnor
8240 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 543

Trusted

  #1164394 29-Oct-2014 15:17
Send private message

I think the style of graph used is fine, except the UK one that starts at 200ms.... I don't like it when graphs don't start at 0.



webwat
2036 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 145

Trusted

  #1167305 3-Nov-2014 09:22
Send private message

Yup a graph that doesn't start at zero can look like you're trying to be tricky...




Time to find a new industry!


JohnButt

374 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 47

Trusted

  #1167319 3-Nov-2014 09:38
Send private message

How about a more useful chart showing the difference between the speed of light and the actual Latency.  That effectively gives a useful Zero where one actually exists



NonprayingMantis
6434 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1528


  #1167321 3-Nov-2014 09:39
Send private message

webwat: Yup a graph that doesn't start at zero can look like you're trying to be tricky...


It's a very useful way of showing relatively smallish differences between larger numbers whilst retaining a chart that fits practically onto a page.

It's totally fine to use where the relatively smallish differences are still impactful, and the cut-off scale is needed to be able to appropriately visualise the difference and make appropriate comparisons 

It's 'tricky' when the small differences are not really impactful at all (like the difference between 300 and 310ms latency - which nobody would ever notice, nor care about, not even the most responsive pro-gamer) , but the graph makes it appear that the difference is meaningful



Inphinity
2780 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1184


  #1167324 3-Nov-2014 09:44
Send private message

Given a relatively small number of samples for any given ISP, what steps do you take in the calculations to minimise the impact one or two outlier connections has on the overall result?

JohnButt

374 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 47

Trusted

  #1167354 3-Nov-2014 10:16
Send private message

We review all tests and cut out any clearly faulty probes (e.g. tests interrupted too much by traffic, or say a clear technical fault we identify with the panelist)

We then use the median of any measurement to exclude outliers for each probe, followed by taking the average of all medians

Sorry this is a quick answer to a complex question, I hope I have it exact.  Our website is a bit more detailed

Create new topic








Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.