What am I testing? / I am a brand new member here.

[Michael Sopchak]

I am a brand new member here.  Although I once considered myself to possess reasonable technological competence, I don't understand any of the dialog herein. The following is what I do understand:

I am paying my ISP eighty dollars per month and they tell me that this lofty price is for 100Mbps download speed.  A few hours ago I was trying to silence my night owl by streaming sacred choral music on YouTube.  I experienced repeated signal losses, so I went to testy.net and checked download speed:  500 Kbps.  I am mathematically competent enough to know that this download speed is ONE HALF OF ONE PERCENT of what I'm paying for.  I've also noticed in a limited browsing excursion of this site that nobody mentions the name of their ISP; at least not in the threads I've scanned.  Why is this?  

It's also my understanding that streaming live TV is generally of good quality at download speeds of 10 Mbps and above.  There is an entire back story to my issues that I hesitate to describe here for the same reason, I think, that "Earning Trust" appears under the screen names of this site's users.  How do I know that this site is not monitored by my ISP or is otherwise not in the back pocket of my ISP as I suspect the township where I live is?

I also believe that the ISP I use has a monopoly on internet service at my location.  I did try Hughes satellite service but found it even worse than my current service.  All I want is to get what I am paying for.  There's a lot of verbage on the internet about alleged unscrupulous practices of ISPs that they get away with because they either don't comply with FCC rules or, worse yet, because they control the FCC rules.

I hope that my content will be improved by a moderator of this site.  That action will go a long way toward "Earning Trust".

Thank you, CA3LE, for your time.

[CA3LE]

4 hours ago, Michael Sopchak said:

I've also noticed in a limited browsing excursion of this site that nobody mentions the name of their ISP; at least not in the threads I've scanned.  Why is this?  

 

I feel like people often mention their ISP by name.  But you have to admit... you just made your first post here and haven't told us who you're with.  ?

 

We can see you're on Comcast with a little research...

 

https://testmy.net/compID/160108503386

 

I'm with Comcast too.  But we have vastly different results. 

 

Please name them by name.  I encourage everyone to speak freely.  If you don't like what your ISP is doing, we want to hear about it so that it might help others in the future.  We also want to hear about positive stories as well, those help consumers make informed decisions just as much.

 

4 hours ago, Michael Sopchak said:

There is an entire back story to my issues that I hesitate to describe here for the same reason, I think, that "Earning Trust" appears under the screen names of this site's users.

 

"Earning Trust" is for members who haven't made enough posts to rank up yet.

 

 

There is also post moderation for the first few posts you make.  After that you're more free here.  You can thank the spam robot plague for that one.  That moderation is really only for that reason.  Humans tend to follow the rules here.  So anyone here with over 2 posts (since about 2012) has gone through the human approval process.  Forums that don't take these precautions are flooded with junk.

 

4 hours ago, Michael Sopchak said:

How do I know that this site is not monitored by my ISP or is otherwise not in the back pocket of my ISP as I suspect the township where I live is?

 

Your ISP might monitor these forums.  They're freely available to everyone.  They especially might read it if it contains their name.  I hope they're listening like that.  That would show that they really care.

 

But this is the only speed test I can guarantee you is not in the pocket of any ISP.  I'm just a consumer, not a conspiracy.  I started the predecessor to what would become TestMy.net when I was 15 in 1996 as a tool just for myself.  It was actually an accident that it ever got out in the wild.  I was afraid to open it to the public because of the cost of bandwidth... and then it became too popular too early and I had to shut down.  Later to re-open as TestMy.net.

 

4 hours ago, Michael Sopchak said:

I also believe that the ISP I use has a monopoly on internet service at my location.  I did try Hughes satellite service but found it even worse than my current service.

 

They definitely have a monopoly.  ?

 

I also think that they are in agreement with their "competition".

 

The monopoly is more because of the technology used.  Cable is better.  Hughes performed worse for you because --- it's worse.  Your connecting out to a satellite and the roundtrip distance is much further than you're getting with Comcast.  Even if the two connections were performing at the same exact download and upload speed it would feel much snappier on the land based connection. 

 

You'll rarely see two cable companies in the same territory but you'll often find DSL.  Cable companies gobble up other cable companies because they want the infrastructure and they don't want to eventually be gobbled up by the other company.  I believe they allow DSL providers to exist so they aren't technically viewed as a monopoly.  Coaxial cable is capable of amazing bandwidth, we actually don't know the real limit because we keep improving the technology on the end of the cables.  But unless the DSL provider is connecting you with direct fiber to the home (FTTH) like Fios... they can't truly compete with cable.  In my experience trying to get FTTH, it's never available wherever I'm looking to move.  The screename FI3ER would confuse people even more than CA3LE so I guess it's for the best.  

 

SpaceX is developing Starlink, a low Earth orbit satellite network that I think is going to change the entire game and redefine how we view satellite connections.  Because light travels faster in a vacuum than it does through fiber and Starlink can make much shorter routes to get to the same location... I imagine it will be (one of) Elon's real money makers in the end.  Please make it affordable -- for everyone!

 

4 hours ago, Michael Sopchak said:

I hope that my content will be improved by a moderator of this site.  That action will go a long way toward "Earning Trust".

 

The only thing I'd improve on is to have you spell my domain name correctly. 

 

Let's see if we can improve your situation.  If we can't then I will advise you to call and demand credit until the situation is remedied.  And you will get a credit.  In fact, I'm still getting monthly donations from someone who told me proof provided by TestMy.net got them $420 credit (credited to them over a 12 month period).  I've had to do it myself numerous times.  If you're only getting 500 Kbps, that's patently absurd and you're definitely due credit for the broadband service you didn't receive.  I've received credit in the past for way less disparity.

 

But you need to prove (first to yourself) that it's not your own fault in any way.  We can guide you through that process.

 

Tell us a little more about your setup.  Let's start with ... how many computers/devices do you have and are you testing on wifi?  Tell me more details about your computers, do you have ethernet?

[REMEKTEK]

I just joined. Hurrah for me :). I like the reply by Mr. Admin! +1 :)