Robert Davies wrote: > > Take a look at www.webperf.net, they discuss this. Perhaps the ISPs are > already rated on there and have a track record.
Thank you, unfortunately I and 95% of my customers are in Canada, and www.webperf.net does not cover Canada (I wish it did). >> What is the best method for benchmarking potential ISPs for an existing >> website? My only concern is speed from my paid members to my website. > > ping definitely wrong... routers are often configured to rate limit ICMP > packets. Good idea for security reasons, did anyone say smurf? It wasn't that I thought ping was good, it was a question of tools available. With my current upstream ISP (PSInet), traffic tops out at below top speed (64k) during peak internet periods, according to my SMTP monitor, mrtg (I've accounted for known mrtg problems). I would guess that this is a problem with the bandwidth of my upstream ISP, not my bandwidth to the ISP. It seems like a reasonable idea to try to evaluate a backbone ISP from a traffic speed perspective, from a random sample of my customers (94% of whom have dedicated, high-speed connections) to the nearest hub of the ISP. I need no services from the ISP other than basic throughput, my web server to customer. After spending a considerable amount of time at this, I've found the decision generally seems to be made on a hunch. Large sites have redundant service from two or more backbones, but I am not near that stage. So, logic be damned, I guess it's time to flip a coin. I do appreciate the suggestions. Regards, Jeff Hill > webperf pools web server and transfers a URL, measuring the download speed. > Application level benchmark which is best. Problem is you need many points > to poll from to avoid bias, at present servers run at just a through main > hubs (switching points). > > Rob -- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------ HR On-Line: The Network for Workplace Issues ------ http://www.hronline.com - Ph:416-604-7251 - Fax:416-604-4708 ------------------------------------------------------------
