Greetings from 1996...

[shark91962]

 Hey, guys...  I remember trying out the old speedtest.net back in '96 or '97 (maybe '98- I'm retired and inaccurate...). Anyhow, even back then it was obvious to tech guys (nerds, then) that the "flash" protocol was not efficient in quantifying throughput speed. 

[Pgoodwin1]

CA3LE who designed and operates this site has quite a bit of info. Pick the Flash tab here. https://testmy.net/legit-speed-test.php

And his info on the home page - see tabs in the middle of the page. https://testmy.net

[CA3LE]

Hey, guys...  I remember trying out the old speedtest.net back in '96 or '97 (maybe '98- I'm retired and inaccurate...). Anyhow, even back then it was obvious to tech guys (nerds, then) that the "flash" protocol was not efficient in quantifying throughput speed.

 

speedtest.net, as you know it now, was only started in 2006.  

 

The owner and operator of Speedtest.net, Ookla, was established in 2006 by Mike Apgar, who is also founder and previous CEO of the Internet service provider Speakeasy with a small team of other Speakeasy employees.[5]

source: wikipedia speedtest.net

 

Wonder why their results favor the ISPs...        One has to assume cronyism.  ...they weren't chosen for accuracy. 

 

So you see... the speedtest.net you saw in the 90's was someone totally different.  It was bought and converted in 2006, almost instantly was used by every ISP.   ... even though it was common knowledge among computer nerds/geeks/dudes that it was complete BS.

 

Wayback machine only goes back to 2000.  Here's a funny screenshot.

 

 

But yes, even the version before ookla stepped in required plugins to work.  I've never required plugins.

 

If you look testmy.net up in archive.org also check out surftohere.com (I no longer own that domain, couldn't afford the registration fees back in the day... lost it but it's part of my history and where this all started.) 

 

 

It's littered with clues that it was being run out of a bedroom by someone who didn't care what you thought.  Still true today... except I'm in an office and use spell check.  

1. 

     poopz.com ... I let that domain go too, lol.

    

2. 

   when you clicked it showed a screenshot of my whopping 5 Mbps connection (or something relatively slow, can't see the image now... web archive isn't perfect.)

    

3. 

 

(¯`·._( written by Damon Mueller {a 33-year-old punk} )_.·´¯)

 

[mudmanc4]

Freaking fantastic!  ==> punk

[shark91962]

Thanks for the info on speedtest.net CA3LE. I had no idea it was the Speakeasy dude. When I started building computers (1976), there were no speedtest sites; actually, no sites AT ALL! 

[shark91962]

Since you asked, CA3LE- my story: 52 yrs old; retired at 45 to start a small business building custom rigs for gamers, along with some networking for a few doctor's offices. Masters in Computer Science with Bachelors in Robotics. I started out as a programmer for a large tech company.

[Pgoodwin1]

I remember in the early 1980s when software quality and configuration control meant writing (in ballpoint pen on a floppy) "this is the latest version"

[shark91962]

Hey, Pgoodwin1- what is a Sophist Member?

Also, I remember my sister buying a rig from Micron Electronics in 1998 'cause I was out of state. When I got back, they had given her a new populated motherboard and hard drive, so I was tasked with re-installing ALL the software- 6 cd's for Office alone!