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    How accurate is Speedtest.net?

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by Qing Dao, Dec 15, 2014.

  1. Qing Dao

    Qing Dao Notebook Deity

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    I used to swear by it, but now I'm not so sure. No matter what I try, my upload and download speeds according to them are always very close to 20Mbps. However, I have had downloads, as reported by both Firefox and uTorrent, that were zipping along at 5MBps. My service provider is China Unicom, and Speedtest.net always gets the best ping (4ms) with their China Unicom server here in Shanghai. I'm also not exactly sure what type of internet connection I have. I know that cable, DSL, and fiber are available in my building, but I just have an ethernet jack in my apartment that I connect to and I have to use some login info. I live in a pretty large building, of 25 floors with 30 apartments on each floor besides the first, and on the first floor there is some big networking or server looking room.
     
    Qing Dao, Dec 15, 2014
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  2. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    KCETech1, Dec 15, 2014
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  3. Qing Dao

    Qing Dao Notebook Deity

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    My advertised speeds match 100% with speedtest.net, 20Mbps up/down. But sometimes I download things at much higher rates than that. 5MBps is about 40Mbps, twice the advertised speed.
     
    Qing Dao, Dec 16, 2014
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  4. downloads

    downloads No, Dee Dee, no! Super Moderator

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    Some ISPs use boost in speed for certain number of MBs downloaded - so basically, it's possible that first 100MB or so will download at much faster speeds and then it will settle down do the advertised speed.

    Considering you share the connection it's possible that sometimes you are the only one downloading and you get the temporary boost and sometimes you aren't and don't get it.

    Also who says it's 20mbps? Because it is quite likely that there is a much faster line for the building and it's then divided between the tenants in such a way that you are limited to 20mbps - however these limits might not apply at certain hours (usually at night) or there might be load balancing involved which allows you to use more bandwidth if there is very light load on the connection.

    So if China Unicom says it's 20, than it probably is but it the building administration says it's 20, than it most likely is an artificial limit imposed on tenants while in fact you are most likely connected via a fiber connection (and as mentioned earlier these limits might not apply in certain situations)
     
    downloads, Dec 16, 2014
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