DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Internet Speed tests

OK,, So about a month or so ago, I decided I wanted to make some changes to my entire entertainment package from Time Warner.

I dumped all the HBO's, Showtimes, etc etc

I upgraded my internet speed to up to 30mbps download and and 5 mbps upload speeds. I pay just a little more for that. But after cutting out all my premium channels, I come out about 40+ dollars ahead.

For the record, I added whole house DVR and DVR Playback, a Blueray player and Netflix.

OK,, my question. It's been a month and for whatever reason, I'm not seeing any really big difference in internet speed.

Using the TWC Test site, I read out 31.07MBPS down and 5.06 mbps up

That sounds like I'm getting what I'm paying for. But knowing that TWC is less than honest about so damn many things, I decided to check the speeds using other test sites.

These are the results:

BandwidthPLACE shows me at 10.76 Down and 4.57 Up. The up is close enough not to question it, but the Down is way off

testinternetspeed.org shows me at 6.16 down and 3.76 up Way off

Internetfrog.net shows me at 13.38 down and 4.83 up. Again the up is close enough but the down is way low.

After I did all those tests at other sites, I thought I'd just go back and do a control sample test at the TWC site again.. came up 31.07 down and 5.06 up.

Same as before.

One or all of these are wrong.. how do I tell?

www.speedtest.net is the standard i think

Yeah, I use speedtest.net.

Lord knows what shady things TWC does to give their product a patina of quality. As much as i hate Comcast's customer service and their "nickle-and-dime" tactics, their product is top notch (as far as my experience here in Boston goes).

Yeah, that sounds good - also some tests might read slower than average, based on the speed of the server administering the test, and the distance between you an the server (a slow point at any node connecting you will give slower than normal answers).


Speedtest.com has a lot of servers spread throughout the country, so they are pretty accurate, as far as I can tell.

Also be careful about the difference between MBps and Mbps (1 MBps is 8 Mbps)

~Lyuokdea

Keep in mind that they use words like "Up to" when advertising the speeds. Meaning you will not always get those top speeds.

As mentioned above, the server your interacting with, and other usage related instances will affect your speeds.

But yes, speedtest.net is the benchmark used by most.

I second speedtest.net. Although even with them, I'd check around and test a few different servers. Even when I'm testing here from my work connection, I get speeds all over the place, depending on the server I use. Some are overloaded, some may not even have enough bandwidth themselves nowadays to reflect what you're actually getting.. You can pick your server. I have had good results almost every time w/ the Columbus server hosted by www.DataCenter.bz

I work at a smallish local ISP, and we have an app made by speedtest.net that runs on a server here for our customers. But we don't have it listed on the main speedtest.net site, so it doesn't get bogged down w/ traffic. I can PM it to you if you'd like.

while we're on the subject, don't get Clear 4G as your home ISP. It stinks. Well, sometimes it's good, but they will throttle all users in a vicinity if they are getting too much traffic in that area.

Anybody have a recommendation for ISPs in the Austin area? Can you have TWC internet if you have directv without having two different sets of coax going through the house?

You can get different speeds from minute to minute, and from site to site depending on the route your request takes.


I find that www.speedtest.net is one of the very best test sites.

i think you need to speedtest your replies.

Thanks FF. Looks like I'll have to look into alternatives. Getting my Sunday Ticket is more important to me that pwning n00bs is battlefield... especially with a baby coming.

A lot of ISPs will recognize that you are visiting major sites like speedtest.net and give that traffic priority so that it looks to customers that they are getting the service that they paid for. That way you won't call and complain.