Speedtest

I am a newcomer to broadband and am interested in the speed of the service I am receiving. I have used the speed test at thinkbroadband and received a result.
However, I'm not sure how to read the result or what it means. Horizontal bars are in blue or red and the red appear to be very low!
I am subscribed to BT's 8Mb Total Broadband service and understand that I am unlikely to achieve 8Mb; but, I don't understand from the result how close I am.
Is there an area of the site that explains the graph.
Also the graph does not appear like the graph that is proposed on the website if I register.
Can anyone help please?
Jim

post a link to your results and someone can look at them and tell you if they are infact low.

Hi wrtpeeps. Thanks for the quick reply.
Not sure about how to post a link! Does this work?
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/11676681244903466507.html
Jim

Yeah, it works. You have a problem

Thanks Movie, but can you tell me how big the problem is?
What exactly is the speed of my connection?
I was expecting a graph result in Mb/sec!
Jim

I doubt that you have a problem. This speedtester is, frankly, flaky at times - I get similar results shown but know for sure that I run at 6mb.....

Go here:-

http://www.speedtest.net/

and try this one. Use the London server and you shoud get a reasonably accurate picture.

If nothing else is using the connection, you should get something like mine. You have very poor speeds.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/11676705152436807342.html

Try what I said. This speedtester is not consistently accurate!!

I use five different speedtesters. All except this one show similar results. This one is flaky!!

In reply to:

---

This speedtester is not consistently accurate!

---

Works for me Maybe you have a problem?

Hi Garyilka,
Thanks. I'll try the link.

PS Interesting question about the universe. Remember, it is space that is expanding. Also, consider that not only is space expanding but that the rate of expansion is excellerating! Weird! Something is working against gravity which would return the universe to it's origin - the big crunch.
Jim

Nope - used to work for me until the site changed. I then started getting inconsistent results which weren't supported by other speedtesters (or my own experience). I reinstalled Java and so on but still get inconsisent results which simply aren't accurate. I'm not at all sure why that is - but given that other speedtesters give consistent and pretty accurate results, I simply stick with them.

Given that several friends have the same problem (one of which is a software designer and a bit of a buff on the subject) - I suspect it's a glitch in the system.

As I say - given that there are other speedtesters around it doesn't worry me - but wouldnt like someone like the OP assuming he had a bad ADSL speed based purely on this one speedtester.

you arent on eclipse are you?

OP is on BT up to 8mb (as he says in his oiginal post). I'm on the same........

Garyilka, just tried Speedtest.net with a result of 4996kbps download.
If this is the same as 5.9mbps, I am much happier. Thanks for your help.
Jim

Eclipse?

My pleasure. Your speed is about 5mbs - OK on an up to 8 service depending on distance from exchange etc.

You can confirm it on another speedtester - try:-

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/

Don't expect the same results as different server locations and time of day can effect your speeds drasticaly.

Try different times of the day for a week or so and you'll build up a profile of your service....

Try it early in the morning before 0800 to get a pretty good idea of your speed when the Internet is relatively quiet, as contention (number of people on the internet) can affect speed hugely.

Think of it as a motorway - when it gets full it slows down.......

If yo mean 5.9mb being the speed your router/modem connects at, then that would mean you're on a 5mb profile. Meaning that the 4996kbps download speed you got on that speedtest is spot on

Just come online here as connection has been flakey today and thought i'd try a speedtest after reading your post. Below is the router details...

DownStream Connection Speed 7072 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 448 kbps


Here is my speedtest...

Speed Test Results
Date 01/01/07 17:53:13
Speed Down 1098.72 Kbps ( 1.1 Mbps )
Speed Up 378.37 Kbps ( 0.4 Mbps )

Oh dear and i get similar on other speedtests. Weather is terrible and we've had thunder and lightening here too.