Getting Speedtest consistent with TestMy

[KHC]

Here's what I did to get SpeedTest scores consistent with TestMy scores.

I simply picked a test server WAY ACROSS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNITED STATES. I'm in the San Francisco bay area. I simply go to SpeedTest, zoom out, pick Boston or Miami. And my scores will be roughly inline with TestMy scores when averaged for both download and upload.

The DOWNLOAD score is dependent on distant of test server. So to match, you simply TEST THE ENTIRE INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK across the country. Scores vary by time of day and day of week. Mine at SpeedTest nearest server (default ping) ~30Mbps. TestMy ~7Mbps. SpeedTest distant server ~7Mbps! Time and time again!

The UPLOAD score seems consistent regardless. It seems to be due to the "ceiling" being much lower than what the entire infrastructure can handle. In other words, if most test servers can easily handle super high speeds, then the bottleneck at either my local network, my ISP equipment, or my nearby infrastructure will always be the limitation. Anything beyond is easily gobbled up and won't make a difference. My upload average at SpeedTest nearest server (default ping) ~4Mbps. TestMy ~ 3.3Mbps. SpeedTest distant server ~4Mbps.

Also consistent with Comcast's test servers.

[CA3LE]

You may want to ask yourself a more important question. Why? Seriously, there is no reason to drop speeds that drastically going across the country.

What package do you pay for?

I'm only about 600Miles closer to the server than you are and I'm able to max out my 50Mbps line. Everyone always talks about the distance from the server. It does not have to be a factor if you have a good host and good connection. But the test server must be configured correctly to optimize how packets are sent over distance.

My server is hosted on one of the most major internet pipeline cross roads on the internet. As long as your host is well peered and your running through a clean route you should be able to nearly max your connection regardless of distance. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either in the pocket of the ISP's or doesn't know what they're talking about. The point to this website is to hopefully raise awareness and ultimately help make a better connected internet. But it's hard with so much misinformation out there.

Yes, distance adds latency and blah blah... Think of this guys. Good example (out of many), I've had visitors from Japan pull over 200Mbps off here... distance wasn't an issue for them, why should it be an issue for you when you're 100X closer?

I'm paying for a 50Mbps INTERNET connection, not a 50Mbps local area connection. If I were you and was getting only 7Mbps after crossing three states... I'd be pissed and on the phone with Comcast, cause that's BS ----- and then they send you to their speed test that eliminates the variable of THE INTERNET, make you think your line is okay and send you on your way.

Your host is responsible for who they peer with... if one of those providers that they're going through to get to my server is bottlenecking don't you think that your provider should do something about it? And if they can't get the problem solved maybe they should peer through better providers themselves. Let me know if I'm wrong guys.

[xs1]

Personally no matter where i lived, sarasota, tampa, lakeland, mulberry, all in florida, As well as cedar-rapids, olen, & twincities Iowa, i've always been able to max out whatever connection , whatever isp i currently dealt with. Distance shouldnt be a factor till you hop overseas.

[nanobot]

Personally no matter where i lived, sarasota, tampa, lakeland, mulberry, all in florida, As well as cedar-rapids, olen, & twincities Iowa, i've always been able to max out whatever connection , whatever isp i currently dealt with. Distance shouldnt be a factor till you hop overseas.

Still not a factor really. The internet line between the United States and Great Britan/the rest of Europe is the Tat-14. (Transatlantic telecommunications cable system.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAT-14

1.87Tb/s Speed.

Thanks,

EBrown

[mudmanc4]

I don't think your wrong ca3le , but as you say , there's so much BS out there , mostly from the mouths of the ISP , then the end user starts blabbing as if they know about these things , and on it goes , one post to another and soon it becomes a false truth.

The ISP's are full up of tripe when they claim they can't guarantee your speeds past there servers. They simply skimp on the bandwidth to spread out over more oversold nodes. Not only that , so I have heard they sell blocks of bandwidth to certain companies for specified amounts of time, so they need the overhead.

You make a great point when you say you pay for an internet connection , not a local connection.

[KHC]

You may want to ask yourself a more important question. Why? Seriously, there is no reason to drop speeds that drastically going across the country.

What package do you pay for?

I'm only about 600Miles closer to the server than you are and I'm able to max out my 50Mbps line. Everyone always talks about the distance from the server. It does not have to be a factor if you have a good host and good connection. But the test server must be configured correctly to optimize how packets are sent over distance.

My server is hosted on one of the most major internet pipeline cross roads on the internet. As long as your host is well peered ...

Okay, in real world experience, I am only enjoying a huge boost coming from their lower-tiered service (Comcast's 6 to 12Mbps) to what they call the 20Mbps tier, which tests out to be a consistent ~30Mbps at Speedtest, same at Comcast's own "bogus" test site, 7Mbps at Comcast's "super bogus" test site (delete your cookies after several runs), and here. All numbers are downloads. I'm getting near-instantaneous web page loads. This is regardless of website location and time of day, whereas previously I had some lag at peak hours. So I'm *FEELING* like I'm now FAST.

But also, as CA3LE pointed out here and in the other discussions, what do I know? Maybe I don't know what I'm missing!

But then again, am I really missing anything in real world user experience? The web pages, multiple videos, music downloads, etc are already coming in blazing fast. Could it be just the occasional SUSTAINED UNCOMPRESSED HUGE RAW FTP-TYPE file downloads that would show a difference? Is that what I would be missing? What kind of file transfers would I possibly need as a "normal" internet user? I upload my website to FTP with Transmit only once a year or so. The videos I regularly vist, by the way, are streaming such as Ustream, Youtube, ESPN, Hulu, Apple's App Store, etc. They could be categorically different as videos. Maybe not even videos. I don't download full-length HD movies. Maybe I should.

So if I were to ask "why?" — I might wonder about Comcast's technology called PowerBoost. I'm still using a DOCSIS 2.0 modem (and although I'm subscribed to Comcast's DOCSIS 2.0 tier, I suspect they may have switched me to some kind of "filtered" DOCSIS 3.0 program — more on this later). I'm starting to think their PowerBoost makes up for the single pipeline. My Internet use include the usual/ common/ normal and just a little more. Maybe PowerBoost is effectively designed for this such that 30Mbps *FEELS* like 30Mbps even though it's not a sustained 30Mbps?

So that's my guesstimate-answer to the question of why.

Later I might post more info after upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0.

[CA3LE]

But then again, am I really missing anything in real world user experience? The web pages, multiple videos, music downloads, etc are already coming in blazing fast.

Well, if it 'aint broke, don't fix it! If you're happy with how it's running then you're good-2-go. If they're quoting you 6-12 Mbps and you're getting 7Mbps... that's right on the money really. But, I don't know why they would call it 20Mbps, I know that's with powerboost... but they should really do what Cox does and call it what it really is and include powerboost as an added bonus. In my opinion that's allot better way to sell the product, makes the customer almost always feel like they're getting more than they paid for.

I think you're in good shape though. But you'll really just have to feel out a faster internet connection to see if you'd benefit from more speed. Insane connections aren't necessarily for everyone

[KHC]

Well, if it 'aint broke, don't fix it! If you're happy with how it's running then you're good-2-go. If they're quoting you 6-12 Mbps and you're getting 7Mbps...

No. When I was on their 12Mbps tier, I got only ~15Mbps at Speedtest. So when I upgraded to their 20Mbps tier, I *FELT* the difference in terms of near-instantaneous web page loads, a subjective improvement.

And Speedtest numbers went up to around ~30Mbps to reflect the change.

TestMy went from around ~3Mbps in my old tier at Comcast (unfortunately I didn't testmy as much in that tier) to now around ~6Mbps and ~7Mbps. Actually, just now I tested here at TestMy and got just 3.8Mbps download. Maybe TestMy was always around 3Mbps regardless of improvement?

Speedtest right now is 23Mbps (to match the same time of the 3.8Mbps at TestMy).

[TriRan]

speedtest doesn't usually pull accurate numbers for me.. take now for instance i'm having pretty big local issues here modem keeps dropping out, signals are bad.

so when i test at speedtest its as though nothing at all is wrong.. look

if i go by that then i'd never know anything is wrong with my connection. but the ISPs can't fool me... i'm going to keep having them come out and look into my issue forcing them to spend thousands until they fix it and give me what i'm paying $89.99 a month for, a good company wants a happy customer and i will be one when they fix my problems which they are trying to do

if i test to testmy.net or any other speedtest site that does not use flash i see results like

as you can see speedtest isn't even close. even if i test to a server over 1400 miles away on speedtest its still showing incorrect results

[CA3LE]

speedtest doesn't usually pull accurate numbers for me.. take now for instance i'm having pretty big local issues here modem keeps dropping out, signals are bad.

so when i test at speedtest its as though nothing at all is wrong.. look

if i go by that then i'd never know anything is wrong with my connection. but the ISPs can't fool me... i'm going to keep having them come out and look into my issue forcing them to spend thousands until they fix it and give me what i'm paying $89.99 a month for, a good company wants a happy customer and i will be one when they fix my problems which they are trying to do

if i test to testmy.net or any other speedtest site that does not use flash i see results like

as you can see speedtest isn't even close. even if i test to a server over 1400 miles away on speedtest its still showing incorrect results

Can you post this to --- it's exactly what I'm talking about there. -- Thanks