Episode #005: Speedtest Tools Comparisons
Air Date: 01/18/2022 8:00 a.m. EST
Let’s take a look at the various speed test tools:
Google: Search “internet speed test”. This is run by M-Lab: https://www.measurementlab.net/about/
You can also run the M-Labs version here: https://speed.measurementlab.net/#/
Ookla: https://www.speedtest.net/
Speedcheck: https://www.speedcheck.org/
Fast.com (Netflix): https://fast.com/
Others you may not have heard of:
https://testmy.net/ – I love the latency tests
Cloudflare:
https://speed.cloudflare.com/about/
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/cdn/glossary/anycast-network/
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/performance/test-the-speed-of-a-website/
https://dev.to/qainsights/deep-dive-into-cloudflare-s-speed-test-3dp7
Comcast Xfinity: https://speedtest.xfinity.com/ ATT and Spectrum, and other ISP’s have their own as well. However, they may not be accurate. See below.
From the Command Line:
https://opensource.com/article/20/1/internet-speed-tests
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-check-your-internet-speed-directly-in-macos-mont-1848211312
Do some ISP’s cheat? Some ISPs are known to fastlane bandwidth to speed test services so they look better.
2016 Article: https://www.myce.com/reviews/internet-providers-caught-inflating-speed-test-results-78458/
It is actually not illegal to do this. The rules changed when the Net Neutrality Laws were repealed
Specifically, this is what has changed:
- BLOCKING : Internet service providers could not discriminate against any lawful content by blocking websites or apps.
- THROTTLING: Service providers could not slow the transmission of data because of the nature of the content, as long as it was legal.
- PAID PRIORITIZATION: Service providers could not create an internet fast lane for companies and consumers who paid premiums, and a slow lane for those who didn’t.
All of this is now legal to do. What do you think ISP’s are doing?
Takeaways:
Anytime a service is free, you are the product. What do these providers get in exchange for the free service? Aggregate network metrics across the web to provide network profiles for modeling. Your data is correlated with many others to provide the insights needed to shape network traffic. These data sets are sold to third parties by some (Cloudflare states they do not, but they still have the data internally). While probably not individually targeted, it is interesting to see just how much information they can gather about your network connections – whether at home on a PC or on a mobile device en route.
For casual users, the web pages we looked at today are some great places to do a quick check of your speed and how your ISP is doing. For those techies out there, I suggest testing several of these services and find out how they match or do not match over the course of several days. Many of you who know how to programmatically call and API or create an automated script could create something that does this on a regular basis and graph it out. There are sites that will show you how to do this. This way you can see how well your ISP is keeping to their service levels. Of course, proving it and getting anything done about it is another thing altogether. Good luck on that. But it may also lead you to the conclusion that (if you have an alternative) that you might seek another ISP.