On 12/23/11 11:16 , Joel Maslak wrote: > On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 2:18 AM, jacob miller <mmzi...@yahoo.com> wrote: > >> Am having a debate on the results of speed tests sites. >> >> Am interested in knowing the thoughts of different individuals in regards to >> this. > > It's one data point of many. > > Depending on the speed test site, the protocols it uses, where the > test is located, any local networking gear (I've seen transparent > proxies get great speedtest ratings!), etc, they can be useful, > particularly in verifying that a provider's off-net interconnects and > partners are doing well. > > However, they are susceptible to things like wireless network issues, > TCP limitations (one stream vs. many streams), and misconfiguration of > devices at the customer location. And the speed test box isn't > necessarily configured/speced correctly either.
I don't imagine it accounts for l3 emcp either... To be clear, what one is I assume generally looking for from a speed test is usable throughput from the vantage point of the end-user running it. > I second the thoughts on NDT and I like the ICSI Netalyzer. But I > wouldn't necessarily put either tool in most end users' hands (I think > they are too complex for most end users to interpret the results > properly). >
