We've been converted from TWC to Charter - now Spectrum - for cable internet. The fastest speed Time Warner advertised was about 25 Mbps. The slowest Spectrum advertises is "up to 60" Mbps. I was supposed to be getting 15 Mbps with my old TWC connection, and all my testing was consistent with that (unless there was a connection problem or other short term glitch).
I just signed up for the Spectrum plan and now my results are dramatically different depending on which test I run.
Clearly, all three sites use different protocols. Besides that, what's the take away?
I just signed up for the Spectrum plan and now my results are dramatically different depending on which test I run.
- M-Labs continues to report approximately 15 Mbps, though the speeds are higher initially and fall gradually as the test proceeds. M-Labs also links to historical data that indicate 15 Mbps or less is the typical speed available in this area. DSL is under 10, fiber is only slightly higher than cable. They claim they test 'real world' thoughput from servers that are dispersed around the country.
- Ookla always reports the fasted results, at or above the advertised speed of 60 Mbps. This test appears to link to just one server. Although I can choose from a list, the connection for a test is only to the selected server.
- DSLReports agrees with Ookla initially, but the speed typically drops dramatically near the end of the test, and the final reported speed is often below 10 Mbps. They also introduce the concept of "bufferbloat" which I'd not encountered before.
Clearly, all three sites use different protocols. Besides that, what's the take away?
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