Re: Speed Test Results

[Joel Maslak <jmaslak () antelope net>]

On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 2:18 AM, jacob miller <mmzinyi () yahoo com> wrote:

> Am having a debate on the results of speed tests sites.
>
> Am interested in knowing the thoughts of different individuals in regards to this.

It's one data point of many.

Depending on the speed test site, the protocols it uses, where the
test is located, any local networking gear (I've seen transparent
proxies get great speedtest ratings!), etc, they can be useful,
particularly in verifying that a provider's off-net interconnects and
partners are doing well.

However, they are susceptible to things like wireless network issues,
TCP limitations (one stream vs. many streams), and misconfiguration of
devices at the customer location.  And the speed test box isn't
necessarily configured/speced correctly either.

I second the thoughts on NDT and I like the ICSI Netalyzer.  But I
wouldn't necessarily put either tool in most end users' hands (I think
they are too complex for most end users to interpret the results
properly).