Tag Archives: speed test

I Am Using ‘M-Lab’, Rather Than ‘Fast’ Or ‘SpeedTest’, To Test My Internet Speed.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 25, 2024

Click to ENLARGE.
Click to ENLARGE.

I am paranoid. I test my Internet speed, to my desktop PC, first thing every day BEFORE I start doing any work. That way I know whether I have enough bandwidth for my demands — & my demands are exacting & high.

For the longest time, many years, my go-to option was “Netflix’s” ‘FAST.com‘.

But, I came to realize that FAST was too dependent on how BUSY the Netflix servers were. That makes sense & is OK. The readings you got with FAST reflected the load on the servers.

I have used ‘SpeedTest.net‘ for decades. They have issues & so much depends on which SERVICE you opt for. Plus, I don’t like their non-stop advertising — which to I does NOT make sense since that messes with the internet port & my PC’s workload. Basically the constant streaming of ads has to compromise — & slow down — the speeds they report.

I found M-Lab a couple of years ago. They have got better over time. I have started to kind of trust them. Their readings seems viable.

Check them out. Let me know. OK?

With The Holidays Behind Us Netflix’s ‘Fast.com’ Speed Test Seems To Have Got Its Mojo Back.

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by Anura Guruge
on January 8, 2023

Click to ENLARGE. Just now. See below for what it was like the week before Christmas.
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As I discussed in this post, fast.com was reporting suspiciously slow download speeds in the days before Christmas & during the holiday period.

Then a couple of days ago, with the holidays behind us, I noticed — to my relief & delight — that FAST again was back to showing numbers in the range I was used to (& expect to see).

I had suspected that the slow speeds over the holidays were due to Netflix’s servers being overloaded. That theory still holds water.

Well, I will keep on monitoring — since I invoke FAST first thing every day just to make sure that my Internet connection is copesetic. Check it out yourself. Interested to hear what you see. All the best. Cheers.

Has Netflix’s ‘Fast.com’ Speed Test Got Slower Of Late — Compared To ‘Speedtest.Net’ Which Used To Be Slow?

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by Anura Guruge
on December 17, 2022

Click to ENLARGE.

For a very many years now I have always started my day at my PC by running ‘fast.com‘ to make sure that my wired (i.e., Ethernet-attached) Internet connection is copacetic (or close to it). I am not that interested in the exact number it quotes, but the trend, i.e., that the speed is always within +/- 10% of what I have got used to getting.

Well over the last 6 weeks or so I have noticed that the speeds quoted by ‘fast.com’ have got CONSISTENTLY SLOWER! Yes, of course, this could mean that my Internet service (from TDS) has got slower. That is possible. But, here is the RUB.

‘Speedtest.net‘, which was notorious, for its lower speed readings now give me a higher number than ‘fast.com’ — as you can see above. What makes that even more puzzling is that speedtest.net is RIDDLED with interactive ADs which have to be sucking up some bandwidth!

I suspect 2 things:
1/ Speedtest.net is quoting INVALID, over-inflated numbers to make it MORE attractive, i.e., if it quotes high numbers people will go back because they like what they are seeing. So, I am taking the new, faster speedtest.net reading with a large grain of salt.

2/ All speed test apps. are contingent on the load at the server. If the server is busy it can’t pump out & measure data as fast as it could if it was less busy. I think the issue could be that the Netflix servers have got more congested. That is plausible.

Bottom line: I no longer have a speed test I trust!

P.S., I have always believed that TDS’ own speed test is totally corrupt. Doctored from scratch to report over-inflated speeds so that customers can’t complain that their service is slow. I refuse to use it.