speed test results don't match performance

[KellyCha0s]

i'm trying to understand what is happening and why. when i run tests at testmy.net i usually get good results (for satellite internet anyway).

but in reality, using apps on my phone or browser or laptop or streaming on roku my speeds are not good at all. slow loading, constant buffering, regular error messages (ie. "you're not connected to the internet").

why is this happening? i'm definitely NOT getting the speeds on my devices that the test results are suggesting.

also, if i run a test at fast.com it'll give me results that seem to match my experience (1-10 mbps) as opposed to testmy.net that seems to be testing in the 20-50 mbps.

any help in understanding this would be greatly appreciated.

[CA3LE]

I suspect HughesNet is caching the test information somehow maybe with your help we can prevent that from happening.

 

Try this, enable multithread. After that's enabled run the download test as you normally do. Run it at least 3 times then respond back on here.

 

Looking at other HughesNet speed test results, filtering by multithread I see a significant decrease in the median. So that might be a clue. Maybe something about the operation of the multithread test is making it more difficult on their caching algorithm.

 

All download results (including multithread) - Median 24.22 Mbps

 

Multithread ONLY - Median only 1.31 Mbps!

 

 

[KellyCha0s]

turning the multithread on made a huge difference.

now the test results look a little bit more like what i expect them to be based on how y laptop, phone, and roku player on performing.

can you explain what you mean by "caching the test information"

thanks!!

[CA3LE]

1 hour ago, KellyCha0s said:

turning the multithread on made a huge difference.

 

I've been watching your results for days since you switched multithread on and as soon as I first saw it, "BINGO. Hope they respond back."

 

They're either caching, compressing or ignoring parts of the data. I'm not sure yet.

 

Caching is when the data has already been loaded and instead of loading fresh data the data previously loaded is used instead.

 

I do a lot on my end to instruct and in some cases force your browser and any proxies you connect through to not cache. 

 

The multithread test renders the test data much differently, otherwise the tests are identical.

 

Usually it's the opposite from your situation. The client is running much slower than other speed tests tell them but they feel like everything (e.g. laptop, phone, and roku player) is running slower, in line with what TestMy.net is reporting. Then they turn on the multithread test and their speed increases (in line with other speed tests). Showing that when they open multiple connections they run fast but a single transfer is still slow. Troubleshooting reveals an array of issues that cause that.

 

Anyway, your situation is the opposite and seems to be unique to Hughes. I'm not sure what their system is doing to cause it but maybe with your help we can figure it out.

 

Over the next few days I'm going to think about possible modifications and get back to you about testing them.

[KellyCha0s]

i don't know if you know this:

 

there's a help site for hn customers: hughesnet support community. if you think you have slow speeds and want help from a hughes customer service rep, you're expected to run tests at testmy.net first.

 

actually, pretty much any post where a customer complains about speed they tell us to head over here, create an account and start running tests. it's specific: wifi turned off, hard wired to the computer, 25 mbps download, 2-3 tests at a time over the course of a day.

 

i'm not sure they're going to find my results with the multithread turned off acceptable. i ran a keyword search for multithread and there seems to be a perception that it doesn't provide accurate "baseline" results. they say that multithread can skew results and that it doesn't work right with satellite internet.

[CA3LE]

(HughesNet Community) Think you have slow speeds?

 

 

I hadn't seen that before. Very cool.

 

I'd really like to get my hand on some HughesNet equipment for first hand testing.

 

They should accept the multithread results from TestMy.net. Under the hood it loads the test data in the same way a normal webpage loads images. The test data for the multithread test is in reality images. You can't really say it's an unacceptable test methodology if it's how you normally load data daily, everywhere you visit.

 

Other sites I can't speak for. They do all kinds of things to get the result they're looking to get. TestMy.net is straight forward and isn't making adjustments for anything on the backend. In general TMN is better suited for troubleshooting because variables can remain constant between tests.

 

Their service might not perform the way they'd like using multithread but it isn't about what they like. It's about putting a true gauge on your performance. It's more important to stress the connection in real-world scenarios. Downloading images into your browser is as real-world as it gets.

 

I've said it before under different circumstances but it's still true. It's always good to know how you run in the best case scenario it's even better to understand the worst case. For most ISPs my default test is usually harder, seems the opposite may be true for HughesNet. Don't grade them on a curve, make them earn it.

 

When testing on TestMy.net and comparing multithread to single thread test performance. If one is much slower than the other, you should consider that slower result highly important. The more pronounced it is, the more important. It's most often trying to clue you into something.

 

Looking at your results again, when you're running poorly the single thread results still reflect it. Down to 0.53 Mbps recently. And you were still able to get nearly 27 Mbps using multithread. But it does seem more difficult for you to achieve higher results using multithread.

 

?t=u&d=06-01-2022+%2F+06-07-2022&l=25&q=KellyCha0s's Speed Test Results

 

[KellyCha0s]

hey, i've been out of town. sorry for the late reply.

 

i'm guessing here (i don't pretend to understand satellite technology): i had a service tech at my house change the beam i was on. now it seems it doesn't matter whether i'm running single thread or multi thread. i'ts just slow all the way around.

 

hughesnet forums not helping me....they just tell me it's the "inherent limitations of the technology"...nothing i can do about it.

but average speeds measuring in kbps?  and what's up with the little random spikes in speed? are they doing that to skew test results so that when i go to customer service they can say "hey, but look, you're speeds aren't always slow?"

 

so, i've put in another service call. i'm going to ask the tech to change the beam back to what it was before. we'll see how that goes.

 

the hughes representative that replied to me on the forums said that both of the gateways that i can be switched to "experience issue frequently". end of discussion. nothing we can do to help.

 

either the technology itself is just really wonky or hughes is manipulating speeds and data.