nanog mailing list archives
Re: Speed Test Results
From: Cutler James R <james.cutler () consultant com>
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:02:01 -0500
On Dec 23, 2011, at 8:07 AM, Paul Stewart wrote:
In my opinion they are only "somewhat reliable" if they are on your network or very close to your network -we operate one of the speedtest.net sites and for our own eyeball traffic find it to be a "reasonable indicator" of what kind of speeds the customer is getting. To put it a different way, if a customer is getting 20X1 Internet service and the speedtest shows 17 X 0.8 then case closed - if they are getting a speedtest result of 5 X 0.5 then our helpdesk will take a further look - this is really in rough terms... Paul
From the consumer viewpoint: No single data point should be extrapolated to infinity, but comparing problematic behavior with "normal" behavior is a standard process across all fields. Speed tests from several locations done regularly give a baseline for performance. Major departure from expected numbers from a set of speed test sites can be regarded as an indicator of local loop problems. Did you know that local loops suffer from backhoe fade? And, DSLAMS fail. In my home office, speed tests are just another useful diagnostic helping to locate problem areas - just like in Paul's example. DSLReports line monitoring service is a similarly useful tool. James R. Cutler james.cutler () consultant com
Current thread:
- Speed Test Results jacob miller (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Leigh Porter (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Bret Clark (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Joe Maimon (Dec 23)
- RE: Speed Test Results Paul Stewart (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Cutler James R (Dec 23)
- RE: Speed Test Results Brandon Kim (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Cutler James R (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results C Tate Baumrucker (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Octavio Alvarez (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Alex Brooks (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Livingood, Jason (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Joel Maslak (Dec 28)
- Re: Speed Test Results Joel Maslak (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Valdis . Kletnieks (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Joel jaeggli (Dec 23)
- Re: Speed Test Results Michael Holstein (Dec 23)
(Thread continues...)
- Re: Speed Test Results Leigh Porter (Dec 23)