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Don't use Speedtest.net. The major providers all prioritize their traffic and it gives unrealistic results. I built a graphical console-based speed tester (cl

Don't use Speedtest.net. The major providers all prioritize their traffic and it gives unrealistic results. I built a graphical console-based speed tester (client+server) that you can run yourself to get a more accurate picture and test between your home and servers you actually use: https://github.com/chrissnell/sparkyfish https://github.com/chrissnell/sparkyfish

Mtinie 10y ago
I appreciate the tool you've built. Having options is awesome. That being said, when you know that Comcast and others prioritize their traffic through Speedtest AND you encounter subpar speeds even with this allocation in place, you know there is a problem.
jftuga 10y ago
For firewall rule purposes, I wish your program would have used 5201 by default, the standard iperf port.
- chrissnell 10y ago
  It's configurable! Just use --listen-addr on the server side and on the client side, just run it like sparkyfish-cli <hostname:port>. I think it's a good idea not to use standard ports, to avoid any sketchy prioritization practices on the part of the provider.
foota 10y ago
Would also recommend fast.com, which uses Netflix cdn as the test, and so theoretically will reflect actual usage.
johnbellone 10y ago
I think that Google provides one if you search "Speedtest" on a non-mobile device.
fake-name 10y ago
Another reason to not use speedtest.net is they use compressible data for their tests. DOCSIS has some support for stream compression, so you'll often get highly unrealistic results. On the other hand, basically all internet content is sent over the wire already compressed, so any stream compression doesn't help with it at all. I've had speedtest.net overrate my connection by 2-3 times it's actual throughput.
- chrissnell 10y ago
  Interesting. I didn't know that. For what it's worth, sparkyfish uses randbo [1] to generate a fast random stream of data for the speed testing. [1] https://github.com/dustin/randbo https://github.com/dustin/randbo
- MertsA 10y ago
  >DOCSIS has some support for stream compression, so you'll often get highly unrealistic results. Do you have a source for this? I've never heard of it and I can't find any reference for this or even proposed support for this.
punkrex 10y ago
Yo, is your DNS server down? I get no responses for either the US or EU endpoints when I try to query for A records.
- chrissnell 10y ago
  Sorry, I should update it. All of those public endpoints went down a long time ago. People were donating the endpoint machines and they eventually just disappeared. You'll have to set your own up on a server somewhere.
cpeterso 10y ago
Netflix's fast.com speedtest uses Netflix's nflxvideo.net CDN servers and HTTPS so it should be a good model for real-world Netflix video usage. https://fast.com/ https://fast.com/
- Flammy 10y ago
  Sadly still only providing download speeds, as Netflix (understandably) doesn't care about upload speeds.
  - mikeyouse 10y ago
    I like fast.com for friends and family since it's so unambiguous, and then https://speedof.me/ https://speedof.me/ for anything requiring more detail.
    - Flammy 10y ago
      Thanks for the recommendation.
- jdeibele 10y ago
  Hadn't tried that (fast.com) before. Interesting results: iPhone 6+ very close to router: 110Mbps 2012 MacMini (WiFi 802.11ac) very close to router: 120Mbps 2011 MacMini (ethernet but USB-powered switch in between): 92Mbps With dslreports.com speed test the ethernet is consistently the fastest. I have limited the download speed on the TP-Link Archer C7 router to 100Mbps in an effort to cut down on bufferbloat. Seems to work pretty well on the dslreports test - get A, A, A.
- shaftway 10y ago
  I get > 50% higher speeds on fast.com vs. speedtest.net
- akerro 10y ago
  90Mbps on speedtest, 5Mbps on fast.com... BT isn't any better than comcast.
LordDragonfang 10y ago
Anecdotally, I've had several instances across multiple ISPs where I've suspected the connection of being throttled, open up speedtest.net, and then immediately my overall internet speeds improved to "normal" and I could browse freely again.
- eridius 10y ago
  Probably meaningless. If Comcast is un-throttling speedtest.net there's no reason why they'd need to un-throttle your entire connection just because you're talking to speedtest.net, since they can just un-throttle any connection talking to speedtest.net's IPs. More generally, if your response to suspected bad network is to open speedtest.net, and given that a lot of bad network issues are transient, it's not at all surprising that you'll have cases where you suspect throttling, open speedtest.net, and the connection problem just happens to go away at that point. So this just becomes confirmation bias.
vinay427 10y ago
https://testmy.net https://testmy.net has worked great for me and tests both downloads and uploads in increasing sizes.
deleted 10y ago
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Mtinie 10y ago

I appreciate the tool you've built. Having options is awesome. That being said, when you know that Comcast and others prioritize their traffic through Speedtest AND you encounter subpar speeds even with this allocation in place, you know there is a problem.

jftuga 10y ago

For firewall rule purposes, I wish your program would have used 5201 by default, the standard iperf port.

chrissnell 10y ago
It's configurable! Just use --listen-addr on the server side and on the client side, just run it like sparkyfish-cli <hostname:port>. I think it's a good idea not to use standard ports, to avoid any sketchy prioritization practices on the part of the provider.

foota 10y ago

Would also recommend fast.com, which uses Netflix cdn as the test, and so theoretically will reflect actual usage.

johnbellone 10y ago

I think that Google provides one if you search "Speedtest" on a non-mobile device.

fake-name 10y ago

Another reason to not use speedtest.net is they use compressible data for their tests. DOCSIS has some support for stream compression, so you'll often get highly unrealistic results. On the other hand, basically all internet content is sent over the wire already compressed, so any stream compression doesn't help with it at all. I've had speedtest.net overrate my connection by 2-3 times it's actual throughput.

chrissnell 10y ago
Interesting. I didn't know that. For what it's worth, sparkyfish uses randbo [1] to generate a fast random stream of data for the speed testing. [1] https://github.com/dustin/randbo https://github.com/dustin/randbo
MertsA 10y ago
>DOCSIS has some support for stream compression, so you'll often get highly unrealistic results. Do you have a source for this? I've never heard of it and I can't find any reference for this or even proposed support for this.

punkrex 10y ago

Yo, is your DNS server down? I get no responses for either the US or EU endpoints when I try to query for A records.

chrissnell 10y ago
Sorry, I should update it. All of those public endpoints went down a long time ago. People were donating the endpoint machines and they eventually just disappeared. You'll have to set your own up on a server somewhere.

cpeterso 10y ago

Netflix's fast.com speedtest uses Netflix's nflxvideo.net CDN servers and HTTPS so it should be a good model for real-world Netflix video usage. https://fast.com/ https://fast.com/

Flammy 10y ago
Sadly still only providing download speeds, as Netflix (understandably) doesn't care about upload speeds.
- mikeyouse 10y ago
  I like fast.com for friends and family since it's so unambiguous, and then https://speedof.me/ https://speedof.me/ for anything requiring more detail.
  - Flammy 10y ago
    Thanks for the recommendation.
jdeibele 10y ago
Hadn't tried that (fast.com) before. Interesting results: iPhone 6+ very close to router: 110Mbps 2012 MacMini (WiFi 802.11ac) very close to router: 120Mbps 2011 MacMini (ethernet but USB-powered switch in between): 92Mbps With dslreports.com speed test the ethernet is consistently the fastest. I have limited the download speed on the TP-Link Archer C7 router to 100Mbps in an effort to cut down on bufferbloat. Seems to work pretty well on the dslreports test - get A, A, A.
shaftway 10y ago
I get > 50% higher speeds on fast.com vs. speedtest.net
akerro 10y ago
90Mbps on speedtest, 5Mbps on fast.com... BT isn't any better than comcast.

LordDragonfang 10y ago

Anecdotally, I've had several instances across multiple ISPs where I've suspected the connection of being throttled, open up speedtest.net, and then immediately my overall internet speeds improved to "normal" and I could browse freely again.

eridius 10y ago
Probably meaningless. If Comcast is un-throttling speedtest.net there's no reason why they'd need to un-throttle your entire connection just because you're talking to speedtest.net, since they can just un-throttle any connection talking to speedtest.net's IPs. More generally, if your response to suspected bad network is to open speedtest.net, and given that a lot of bad network issues are transient, it's not at all surprising that you'll have cases where you suspect throttling, open speedtest.net, and the connection problem just happens to go away at that point. So this just becomes confirmation bias.

vinay427 10y ago

https://testmy.net https://testmy.net has worked great for me and tests both downloads and uploads in increasing sizes.

deleted 10y ago

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