SamKnows whitebox testing - video tests

To anyone who has (or is considering) a SamKnows testing unit:

This week the video testing which was in beta test and activated from a option at the top of the dashboard has gone fully live. The opt in has been removed and the tests are automatically enabled for anyone they believe is on an ISP offering unlimited usage. As a result the about of this a the amount of usage consumed by the tests has shot up.

They have confirmed to me that their tests via the box I have is consuming at least 2.1GB per day. From the experience of a number of people there is reason to suspect it could be much higher. One user has reported usage of 7GB per day when he's been away!

I believe they still recommend you only connect it on connections that are unlimited bandwidth and not on metered connections. As long as the intelligence works and only runs when the network is idle then it shouldn't cause people an issue (although that does mean you have to have it connected up properly - ie everything routed through it which isn't good if you want gigabit Ethernet from your router).

Time for ISPs, in particular wholesalers, to start blocking or charging Samknows it then. It's a serious addition to backhaul requirements and could easily add to congestion on ISPs. But that doesn't work well with the idea of net neutrality.

https://www.samknows.com/ - 440,000 volunteers

Even if only half of them are on video testing that's at least 13PB of data they are shifting round the internet each month!

I have one. But given that most months I am well below average for my bandwidth usage then I don't see it as a big deal.

The black box has gigabit Ethernet ports on it. Simply email support, you send the white box back and they send you a black (D-LINK Archer) as a replacement...

Not at home at the mo but think I already have the black one (it was replaced about 6 months ago because the old one failed). Didn't remember it had gigabit ports but that is good news for those who need it.

Some of us have the original blackbox (a Linksys WAG160N if I remember rightly) and that definitely has 100Mbit ports...

The newer black boxes are the TP-LINK WDR3600 as I have one sat in my cupboard.

In reply to a post by jelv:

https://www.samknows.com/ - 440,000 volunteers

Even if only half of them are on video testing that's at least 13PB of data they are shifting round the internet each month!

I doubt if anything like that number are actually using the boxes. In the UK Ofcom have been struggling to get statistically valid results from the samknows data http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/b...