The FCC Introduces Their Own Speed Test

Please note that the Consumer Broadband Test in its current software based form may not be an accurate representation of connection quality provided by your broadband provider. The results can be impacted by a range of factors -- for instance, the test can vary based on the geographical distance of the user from the testing server, end-user hardware, network congestion, and time of day.

FCC may use data collected from the Consumer Broadband Test (Beta), along with submitted street address, to analyze broadband quality and availability on a geographic basis across the United States.

said by Ericthorn:

Agreed - it's giving me about 2.7m down and any other test anywhere I go gives me less than 2m, usually in the 1.8m range which is accurate.

It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the carriers have some hand in this...

said by fifty nine:

The problem is that the mlab test doesn't work with Firefox on Linux, which is what I'm using.

It also doesn't work with chrome on windows 7 which is what I also used.

If this test is IE only they're going to get a lot of skewed results. Not everyone wants to use IE.

said by Ericthorn:

If it's the same then why are the results so skewed? Ookla had inaccurate d/l data while speedtest was accurate.

said by houkouonchi:

said by AMDUSER:

I tested my cable internet on it, and it said I had about 30 Meg (even though I only have 7 Meg Road Runner, but with Powerboost(tm).

If they want accurate, they are going to have to do something to mitigate the Powerboost to get the rated service speed.

said by funchords:

Powerboost is real speed. So some credit should be given to that fact. But it is really temporarily and not assured, and I agree that something should also measure that. But what we don't want measurement tools to do is to discard actual performance.

said by funchords:



The goal here is to see whether you're getting what you paid for.

said by jlivingood:

Robb - You are the resident M-Labs expert... Do you know how many TCP connections that the M-Labs tool uses?

Also - do you have any idea how the test decides to use one test or the other (M-Labs or Ookla)?

Users will be assigned to one of the two chosen testing tools: Ookla or M-Lab, or they can directly choose one of these tools at the links at the bottom of this page.

said by funchords:

If it measured 30 meg, you want it to dismiss it?

The goal here is to see whether you're getting what you paid for.

If it says 3 Mbps and you're paying for 7 Mbps, then you're not.
If it says 7 Mbps or 30 Mbps and you're paying for 7 Mbps, then you are.

Powerboost is real speed. So some credit should be given to that fact. But it is really temporarily and not assured, and I agree that something should also measure that. But what we don't want measurement tools to do is to discard actual performance.

said by tschmidt:

I ran the test twice; the first time jitter and latency were the same, which is impossible. Transfer speed measurement seemed reasonable accurate.

Overall I think having FCC do its own research is laudable but there are several serious caveats:

1) This is by no means a scientifically credible poll of US broadband.

2) We, like many others, have home network. To be an accurate determination of ISP performance no other computer should be using the Internet for the duration of the test. I did not see any mention of that on the test page.

3) Likewise applications on the test PC should not access the Internet for the duration of the test.

4) Performance testing is end-to-end. Issues outside the control of the ISP can degrade performance.

5) As already mentioned, temporary speed increases, will artificially inflate test performance.

/Tom

said by Bill Dollar:

The FCC should take a cue from Offcom, and do a SamKnows style testing, which corrects for selection bias as well as all sorts of other intervening factors.

said by xirian:

It stalls at 50% for me, must be overloaded. Last night when it worked it said I had 7mbit up, when I have 25 up. It also gave me the choice of m-labs at the end, but when I clicked begin on that test is redirected me back to the main test.

said by noworit :

i just went to the site and tried the test and it would not work for me wonder, if verizon had anything to do with that,i tried 3 times.

said by noworit :

if verizon had anything to do with that,i tried 3 times.

said by aciddrink:

Comcast and Time warner Boost are going to screw up the results quite a bit. Lets see if they find a way to overcome this.

said by Linklist:

Exact accuracy of speeds is NOT the point.

said by jbrewno:

Why not get some cable or DSL out my way?