Broard band speed test web sites....any good.

[magpienja]

I wonder are they accurate....I thought I had a problem with my broadband giving very slow downloads speed...this was based on checking my connection on one of those broadband speed test sites...this one,

Broadband Speed Checker - THE UK's No.1 Broadband Speed Test


Used it for a while now and of late it was indicating I was only getting a down load speed of around 1kbps on my Virgin 10kbps service,

Tried a few more speed checkers and they all seem to indicate more or less 10kbps ping 34ms inc this one,

Namesco BroadbandMax ADSL Broadband Bandwidth speedtest | Test your ADSL Broadband connection speed

I wonder why this should be and which one do I believe.

[OFSO]

I use speedtest.net and seems OK. I appear to be getting what I pay for (which ain't cheap but doesn't rely on copper wires to my house): 1.02 megs downlink and 0.98 up, 24hrs a day.

[lomapaseo]

I tried it here in the US and got 12.36 and 3.24. Once I read that they were asking for a UK postal code it made me wonder if the test was legit for me.

[mike-wsm]

These tests can be slowed by all sorts of technical thingies.

I got a very low 11Mb/s on your first link and a much more realistic 20Mb/s on the namesco one.

[EGTE]

Just my two penneth worth. Don't just look at "Download Speed" in isolation. Also look at "Line Speed" i.e. the speed that your ISP is delivering broadband to your router. If there is a large difference between the Line Speed and the Download Speed there may be problems with the broadband setup at home. Dodgy ADSL filters or extension wiring, interference from other electrical equipment etc. If possible always plug your router into your "main" 'phone socket and not an extension socket.

Most routers will allow you to interrogate them to find the Line Speed and some speedtesters provided by ISPs will tell you as well.

[mixture]

this is usually accurate
thinkbroadband :: UK Broadband Speed Test

I'll second that recommendation. I know the people behind it and they've got a decent network and go to great lengths to try to ensure the quality of the broadband speed tests on it.

speedtest.net is pretty useless and inconsistent.

[mike-wsm]

It depends where you live and when you test.

I once found a site which will ping you from any selected location worldwide. Very useful.




edited to remove a few words which apparently show me up as a complete dimbo

[mixture]

Very useful if you want to video skype someone abroad and want to find the best time of day.

No, its not good for that. Nothing is good for that.

Skype is a peer-to-peer network.

In order to get from A to B, it builds a network of nodes that consist of other people's installations of Skype. There is no way of knowing what path your traffic will follow at any second of the day, and there is certainly no way of guaranteeing it will follow the same route the next time.

Skype run no servers themselves other than for back-office stuff (authentication etc).

[Bushfiva]

That's no longer an accurate description of Skype. After MS bought it, it moved all the supernodes into data centers, running the nodes on MS-designed hardware, So the supernodes are effectively on an MS-owned backbone.

For the vast majority of users, after call setup the connections are direct (and always have been).

[mike-wsm]

Thanks, Sesqui, nice to know I'm not a dimbo!


PS - Ian Messiter, great guy!

[mixture]

That's no longer an accurate description of Skype. After MS bought it, it moved all the supernodes into data centers, running the nodes on MS-designed hardware, So the supernodes are effectively on an MS-owned backbone.

Erm.... no.

It is still a peer-to-peer network. The supernodes are not transit nodes, they are directory nodes.

Skype's own words:
Skype isn’t a network like a conventional phone or IM network – instead, it relies on millions of individual connections between computers and phones to keep things up and running. Some of these computers are what we call ‘supernodes’ – they act a bit like phone directories for Skype. If you want to talk to someone, and your Skype app can’t find them immediately (for example, because they’re connecting from a different location or from a different device) your computer or phone will first try to find a supernode to figure out how to reach them.

Yes they've now moved the supernodes away from clients and onto their own network, but the limited role of the supernodes is unchanged.

In Microsoft's own words (Mark Gillett, CVP, Skype Product Engineering & Operations):
"This has not changed the underlying nature of Skype’s peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture, in which supernodes simply allow users to find one another (calls do not pass through supernodes)."

For the vast majority of users, after call setup the connections are direct (and always have been).

No such thing unless you're on the same subnet, you'll always be transiting other networks and subject to the vagaries of the internet and ISP routing policies.

And again, in Skype's own words......

By using every possible resource, the P2P system that supports Skype communications is able to intelligently route encrypted calls through the most effective path possible. Skype even keeps multiple connection paths open and dynamically chooses the one best suited at the time. This has the noticeable effect of reducing latency and increasing call quality throughout the network.