[147837] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Speed Test Results
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Cutler James R)
Fri Dec 23 09:03:00 2011
From: Cutler James R <james.cutler@consultant.com>
In-Reply-To: <005301ccc173$e6e6ffc0$b4b4ff40$@paulstewart.org>
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:02:01 -0500
To: NANOG list <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
On Dec 23, 2011, at 8:07 AM, Paul Stewart wrote:
> In my opinion they are only "somewhat reliable" if they are on your =
network
> or very close to your network -we operate one of the speedtest.net =
sites and
> for our own eyeball traffic find it to be a "reasonable indicator" of =
what
> kind of speeds the customer is getting.
>=20
> To put it a different way, if a customer is getting 20X1 Internet =
service
> and the speedtest shows 17 X 0.8 then case closed - if they are =
getting a
> speedtest result of 5 X 0.5 then our helpdesk will take a further look =
-
> this is really in rough terms...
>=20
> Paul
=46rom the consumer viewpoint:
No single data point should be extrapolated to infinity, but comparing =
problematic behavior with "normal" behavior is a standard process across =
all fields.
Speed tests from several locations done regularly give a baseline for =
performance. Major departure from expected numbers from a set of speed =
test sites can be regarded as an indicator of local loop problems. Did =
you know that local loops suffer from backhoe fade? And, DSLAMS fail.
In my home office, speed tests are just another useful diagnostic =
helping to locate problem areas - just like in Paul's example. =
DSLReports line monitoring service is a similarly useful tool.
James R. Cutler
james.cutler@consultant.com
