Gio Bacareza

Hi @Gio Bacareza,
There really in my opinion is not set guideline.
The way I use testmy.net is to first test the closest server to my current location. Getting a baseline average of how the local or regional flow reacts.
 
Then I'll branch further outward, testing the ISP peers to verify how well their infrastructure is connected, quality wise.
With this, over time I can determine network loads, time of the load if any, and availability.
At the same time I'll test the furthest locations of the mirrors, this accomplishes how well the top tier ISP peering is connected (backbones), or main arteries connecting global networks.
 
It takes quite some time to get a rational image (as in records stored in your personal database here at testmy.net) as well as a mental image of network paths, usability as well as an availability baseline compared to others in your area, and worldwide. You can however shortcut to what is already in the public database, [https://testmy.net/country] which is compromised of all tests taken at testmy.net on a granular level of geography, country, ISP (and much more)  for informational purposes to use against your test results.

I trust your results and I have to say that I'm so grateful for this tool. It is the most comprehensive tool out there.
 
The problem is the Telco (or ISP). They will always point out to some other reason but not them when there's degradation of speeds or when they are not giving the speeds that they have marketed and what customers are paying for. It's the main reason I'm trying to understand how TMN works (I'm just a noobie right now.) The clearer I can explain to them the results and the more variables we can put as "control" the less reasons they will have to point the finger to something else.
 
Good work guys! And thanks for the patience as I try to understand TMN.
 
As promised, I will update this post with the results of the latest 24-hour run which should finish in 5 hours.

Hi Ken,
  I have users that regularly pull over 600 Mbps (>70 MB/s). My servers are ALL very well connected with at least 1000 Mbps symmetrical.  My main server has dual symetrical 1000 Mbps connections connected into Softlayer's multi-homed network >> http://www.softlayer.com/about/network/carriers. I'm in all of their datacenters. I've got a lot of bandwidth to back up my application, before anything... I make sure that my bandwidth is premium for my users. It's a bandwdith testing application, to be real.. it has to be on the best connected networks.  Research my host and you'll find that I'm very well connected and peered.   ... My main server is also very powerful with SSD RAID5 and 24 cores. Overpowering my end means that when you test you're guaranteed a private core, memory and plenty of bandwidth on tap. I'm running at a small fraction of my servers potential... and then I have 5 other servers on top of that to choose from.  All dedicated to the task of speed testing. https://testmy.net/mirror  -- 10 more mirrors hosted by other people too (new project, offering it up to anyone with a web server, you should host one at your school if you can). https://testmy.net/make-a-speed-test   I suggest testing to some of the mirrors to see if there may be a routing issue.  If you get limited speeds similar on most servers you might want to look into the problem locally. Either on the client machine or network. Often tweaking TCP settings can improve connections that fast. For Windows, which is the worst culprit, search for TCP optimizer from speedguide.net (I think it's) https://speedguide.net/downloads.php. For other OS search google for gigabit TCP tweaks for your specific OS. Note that TestMy.net is sensitive to many issues that other speed tests don't detect. It's purposely designed to be a hard test to ace... try to score as high as you can, then compare your subsequent results to your own average, highs and lows.  Don't expect to pull your full speed on every connection type you test with... especially gigabit and faster.  I can't... but the tools still makes the health of your connection very obvious in my opinion.   TestMy.net is more than just an Internet speed test. I've seen first hand where it scored my girlfriends macbook under 20 Mbps on a 50 Mbps connection... I swapped her hard drive for an SSD and upon reboot her TestMy.net score maxed out my connection. I purposely tested around to prove a point. No other speed test picked up on it... even though my download and Internet surfing performance were obviously degraded. I wrote every line of code and I don't even know what truly makes my test different, it just is. Some known differences between how I do it and how my leading competitors do it are touched on at https://testmy.net/ipb/topic/28902-why-do-my-results-differ-from-speedtestnet-ookla-speed-tests/.   If you like my life's work, please share it... it's totally word-of-mouth. - Damon

Hi Alex,
 
Distance will not be an issue if your provider is delivering.  GB to NL isn't that far, if your provider and the people they peer with were delivering... you'd be able to easily pull your speeds at that distance.  I have connections that I pull hundreds of Mbps from at distances of thousands of miles.
 
TestMy.net uncovers issues that other speed tests fail to detect.  It could be your TCP settings effecting performance.  It could be poor routing or it could be that your ISP is pulling a fast one.. shaping the way you can draw your bandwidth.  LOTS of people are contacting me telling me that this is happening to them. TMN is purposely designed to render as normal content would which makes it in tune with many issues that go undetected otherwise.
 
Before you're so quick to judge you might want to read this post one of my members wrote, just last night.  https://testmy.net/ipb/topic/30731-multithread/?p=339762 -- He's an aerospace engineer with a lot of experience with bandwidth.  His independent findings as well as others backup my claims.  That's coming from someone who's pulling over 600 Mbps frequently using the same exact test you used... it's not my test, it's not my bandwidth.  Other speed tests are wrong more often than not.
 
Believe the numbers you want to believe but before you rush to judgement you might want to put a meter on your line and compare.  TestMy.net is right on the money every time. Other tests myself and others compare to don't line up and obviously aren't taking the entire test into consideration.  They also often don't use enough test information to be accurate so results can be inflated from bursting.
 
Another way you can achieve higher speeds is by multithreading.  If you go to https://testmy.net/mirror you'll see information on it and a link to toggle it on and off.  Currently however I haven't expanded this to my servers outside of the US.  The way it's setup now you'll be pulling resources from all my servers in the US at the same time.  By opening more threads you may be able to pull more speed, even given the distance.  The resulting score will represent your speed not just to one location... but across the entire US.  Multithreading is not my default option because enabling it can mask issues that only testing a single thread will pickup on.  Again, this is what makes my site different.  Other sites are simply trying to max out your connection.  There is more to it than that.  The truth is, if your connection is running correctly and your ISP isn't shaping your bandwidth... you should be able to max a single thread.   ... personally, I have the same issue on my home connection as you might.  I can't come close to my speeds in a single thread, multithread opens me up an extra 30Mbps. Using the multithread speed test on my connection more accurately depicts the capability but the question remains, why can I only do that when I open more threads?  If there was an issue with the test or servers myself (on other connections I have) and other users wouldn't be able to pull many 100's of Mbps.
 
ISPs are starting to heavily shape the way you can draw your bandwidth.  Often limiting single thread transactions.  Other speed tests fail to pick up on this... maybe they design it that way on purpose because that's who the ISPs use.  ... Ookla brand speed tests in particular are BS.  They ignore part of the transfer and omit a portion of the data, the result is an inflated score. Read more - That information comes from their OWN admission printed in their own wiki.  Dude, you have to admit to me... if the results are adjusted, it nullifies the result.  You can't trust something that makes adjustments for a number that's variable.  ... Say that your connection dips for part of the test.  Chances are, it won't be accounted for in the final result.  You're testing to know that information and they're hiding it from you.  TMN accounts for EVERYTHING that happens during the test.
 
If you look at the TiP details on my results you'll see how much simply looking at different parts of the data can effect the result.  Look at 'middle average', that's removing the first and last reading... Not only does ookla/speedtest.net ignore the start and finish, they remove the worst portion of your results before calculation. Flash speed tests have been proven inaccurate by MANY people much smarter than I am.  I've also been told that ISPs that opt in can actually make adjustments to how much of the results are dropped off.  HAHA, sounds like fraud to me.  Letting ISPs basically make their own results.  BAH!  How they sleep at night escapes me.
 
Keep this in mind too... I was building my test nearly 10 years before ookla released their first test.  Believe who you want to... my program is just calling it how it sees it.  Other people in GB are able to pull well over 100 Mbps... even out to my US servers --- https://testmy.net/country/gb/max --- your connection just isn't delivering like you thought it was.  The truth hurts sometimes but when you searched for a speed test I don't think you were looking for someone to pull wool over your eyes... you were looking for a test.  If you don't believe my results, use the other guys test with results designed to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
 
Thanks for visiting, I hope that I've helped shed some light and that you'll trust and continue to use my service.  If I opened your eyes to anything, please help me spread the word.  I'm trying my hardest to get this information to people but I'm only one person.
 
- Cheers and Kind Regards,
- Damon Mueller

Sorry, long email... hopefully you read it since I wrote it just for you.  Your connection may be faster if you take the time.
 
Hi Ross,
  Don't be so quick to judge.  This isn't my first rodeo.  I've been testing bandwidth since 1996... (the name TestMy.net came about in 2001) I've dedicated myself to the subject and I've built TestMy.net myself line by line.  It IS the most accurate and compatible in browser speed test available and it's able to detect issues that slow you down that other speed tests fail to notice.   Ross, I hear this nearly every day.  Stick with me and I'll explain a few things.   First of all, I too use Usenet, every day.  Giganews to be exact. I also am able to pull faster speeds with Usenet than I get from my TestMy.net results.  There are various reasons for this.  First, your speed on Usenet doesn't instantly ramp up to full speed.  TMN is calculating your speed based on everything that happened from start to finish.  ...that doesn't account for your speed being THAT much slower, I know, but keep that in mind.     Second, Usenet is multithreading the download.  Some providers right now are actually shaping their users bandwidth, limiting single thread transactions.  TMN reflects this... Usenet and Torrents will be unaffected because they are threading.  There is also TCP stack optimizations that can make a HUGE difference.  It looks like you're running windows.  This is more often the case with windows and fixing it is as easy as running TCP Optimizer, it's free with no install... it simply optimizes your TCP stack.  Upon reboot most people have drastically improved speeds.  Thousands of users over the years have emailed me and posted in my forum about the success they have with that.  When I ran windows that was the first thing I did on a fresh install.  Every time it made a huge difference.  Trust me, if your results on TMN are effected, you're effected elsewhere too.  If TCP is the issue, you will find relief and feel a difference in how snappy things are afterwords.   Just because you can achieve 40 Mbps doesn't mean your optimized for that speed.  TestMy.net is VERY good at picking up on TCP issues and provider bandwidth shaping because it's a linear, single thread transaction.  It's the ONLY speed test that works the way it does.  I also offer a multithread speed test now.  I encourage you to try this method, it's brand new and the public is barely starting to even notice that I offer it.  Personally.... here, I'll just show you my speed.   Without Multithread enabled   :::.. Download Speed Test Result Details ..::: Download Connection Speed:: 46403 Kbps or 46.4 Mbps  Download Speed Test Size:: 80.8 MB or 82688 kB or 84672512 bytes | Timed:: 14.609 seconds Download Binary File Transfer Speed:: 5800 kB/s or 5.8 MB/s Tested At:: http://TestMy.net Version 13 Validation:: https://testmy.net/db/B0984KF TiP Measurement Summary:: Min 23.65 Mbps | Middle Avg 50.84 Mbps | Max 51.28 Mbps | 44% Variance TiP Data Points:: 24.89 Mbps, 47 Mbps, 51.28 Mbps, 51.19 Mbps, 50.94 Mbps, 51.11 Mbps, 51.19 Mbps, 51.06 Mbps, 50.98 Mbps, 51.28 Mbps, 51.19 Mbps, 51.02 Mbps, 51.15 Mbps, 50.98 Mbps, 50.72 Mbps, 50.81 Mbps, 51.02 Mbps, 51.28 Mbps, 23.65 Mbps More Stats:: https://testmy.net/quickstats/CA3LE https://testmy.net/compID/625710007986 Test Time:: 2013-06-26 08:09:47 Local Time  Location:: Phoenix, AZ US >> Destination:: San Jose, CA US 1MB Download in 0.18 Seconds - 1GB Download in ~3 Minutes - 829X faster than 56K This test of exactly 82688 kB took 14.609 seconds to complete Running at 253% of hosts average (Cox Communications https://testmy.net/hoststats/cox_communications)  User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_3) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/27.0.1453.93 Safari/537.36 [!]   With Multithread enabled   :::.. Download Speed Test Result Details ..::: Download Connection Speed:: 85954 Kbps or 86 Mbps  Download Speed Test Size:: 80.7 MB or 82668 kB or 84651996 bytes | Timed:: 7.879 seconds Download Binary File Transfer Speed:: 10744 kB/s or 10.7 MB/s Tested At:: http://TestMy.net Version 13 Validation:: https://testmy.net/db/pGvHWzK Multithread Test Utilizing:: west2.testmy.net More Stats:: https://testmy.net/quickstats/CA3LE https://testmy.net/compID/625710007986 Test Time:: 2013-06-26 08:08:38 Local Time  Location:: Phoenix, AZ US >> Destination:: Global Multithread 1MB Download in 0.1 Seconds - 1GB Download in ~2 Minutes - 1535X faster than 56K This test of exactly 82668 kB took 7.879 seconds to complete Running at 474% of hosts average (Cox Communications https://testmy.net/hoststats/cox_communications)  User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_3) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/27.0.1453.93 Safari/537.36 [!]   Both are testing from the same server, same amount of information, moments apart but the test is invoked differently.  Both results are right... put a meter on the line and you'll see.  Some faster connections need to multithread to pull their full speed.  Now, if I optimized my TCP stack just right I would probably be able to get those numbers more in line with each other... I leave settings default on my machines because it aids my development.  Having the issue myself showed me that I needed a multithread test to give people to compare the classic results to. ... so I recently built and released it.  If I always rocked optimal settings myself then I wouldn't be able to test the way the majority of my visitors test.  I have optimal setups I test with too, achieving hundreds of Mbps. (commercial connections, not my home connection... I wish!)   You can multithread to one or all of my servers... giving you the ability to get a global result from a single test.  No other speed test is able to perform this way.  Another feature that really sets TMN apart.   I also see that you're in Scotland, International routes and distance will drop your speeds as well.  I recommend testing off my server in Amsterdam.  Compare the results to what you get to my servers in the US (since you probably visit many sites hosted in the US).  Again, TCP optimization is important.  Because you're adjusting the maximum size of the packets.  Imagine it like this.  You have a bucket and a thimble.  The thimble is what you're working with now... when you increase your MTU you'll be working with a bucket.  You don't have to go back and fourth to the well as many times with the bucket.  At short distance it's less noticeable but testing all the way across the Atlantic... your speed is going to suffer with that thimble.  What also comes into play is that many consumer level international routes can be limited. (this is getting better over the years... it used to be a more widespread problem)  Multithreading will raise the speed in that situation as long as the route isn't being limited by congestion.   I hope that you find the issue, resolve it and email me back.  Like I said, I get this a lot.  Nearly everyone emails me back to say, "Sorry... I'm going to tell my friends about TestMy.net now..."    -- I hope that in the end you'll see that TMN reports the truth and share my site with your friends.  I work day and night to make it better for you.  I don't advertise so I rely on my work to speak for itself and let the public decide if it's worth sharing.  So far, so good.   Cheers, - Damon - TestMy.net   P.S.   I realized I forgot to give you a link to the Amsterdam server http://eu.testmy.net will default you to Amsterdam, NL.  You can also make a selection at https://testmy.net/mirror ... a link to that is at the top of all the pages.  See attachement.  
I recommend the official servers because I control them but if you look under the self hosted tab you'll see a server in Huerth, NRW Germany and London, GB.  You might want to try those too.  Any mirror listed is capable of at least 100 Mbps, my official servers are all connected with a minimum of 1000 Mbps... my main server in Dallas has dual 1000 Mbps uplinks to the Internet. ... all of my servers are connected through the Softlayer Network which has some of the deepest peering in the industry and a worldwide private network.  The cities where I host my servers are chosen based on their website hosting popularity.  My site in Texas hosts well over 100,000 servers each of which can have countless websites... that's not to mention all the other hosts in Dallas, that's JUST Softlayer's servers.  You're going to connect to the areas where my servers are if you're on the Internet... so those are the areas I have you test to.  Other speed tests try to eliminate routing factors to boost your score... I believe those are important variables.  You already know the speed you're supposed to get... I'm trying to show you the speed that you REALLY get.   Cheers, - D