# Test your internet speed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999 "2004-02-13T05:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/61 "2004-02-13T23:36:53Z")
I had no idea some internet connections were so fast! Can you guys get, like the WHOLE internet downloaded in an hour? I think there is such a thing as TOO fast! ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/62 "2004-02-13T23:37:25Z")
My theory only said that OSX screws up the test, making the speed appear 50 times faster than it really is, not that there were any actual differences. Evidence so far: > [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Your line speed is: > > 51000 Kbps > > 6250 K bytes/sec > > Home, OSX, Safari, SBC Yahoo DSL > [@yosemitebabe](#): > > OS X, Safari browser, Comcast cable. > > > [@](#): > > > > Your line speed is: > > 64761.9 Kbps > > > > 7936.5 K bytes/sec > > I think cable is shared? Well, no one else in Hooterville seems to be sharing my cable right now. (I think it gets faster than this, though.) Very nice. > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Home, Comcast, ran the test 3 times: > > > [@](#): > > > > 68000 Kbps > > 8333.3 K bytes/sec > > > > 81600 Kbps > > 10000 K bytes/sec > > > > 12363.6 Kbps > > 1515.2 K bytes/sec > > dslreports gives me more consistent results around 3000 K bytes/sec, my rated speed. **rowrrbazzle** , are you using OSX? > [@drm](#): > > Your line speed is: > 1588.8 Kbps > 194.7 K bytes/sec > > Home, OSX, Cogeco Cable **drm** , are you using the standard browser? ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/63 "2004-02-14T00:25:54Z")
The Manxnet test gave me: > [@](#): > > 419.8 Kbps > 51.4 K bytes/sec I thought that looked slow and it also didn’t mesh with my bandwidth meter I have running on my desktop (which shows current speeds at an average of 1401 KB) I headed over to [www.dslreports.com](http://www.dslreports.com) and they gave me a reading which matches what I’ve been seeing. > [@](#): > > 2004-02-13 19:07:11 EST: 1286 / 136 > Your download speed : 1286666 bps, or 1286 kbps. > A 157 KB/sec transfer rate. > Your upload speed : 136054 bps, or 136 kbps. > Seems like broadband … above the 1mbit barrier! I don’t think manxnet is correct. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/64 "2004-02-14T02:46:53Z")
Your line speed is: 953.3 Kbps 116.8 K bytes/sec Comcast Broadband. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/65 "2004-02-14T02:53:21Z")
\*\*709.6 Kbps 87 K bytes/sec Verizon DSL\*\* Seems a bit slow but I used to have an AT&T Cable modem and I’d say it is about the same. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/66 "2004-02-14T03:23:12Z")
Prolog Cable, NE PA, Mandrake Linux 9.2, Mozilla 1.4 (home) 2566 Kbps 314.5 K bytes/sec ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/67 "2004-02-14T03:34:38Z")
Now that I’m at home: (WinXP, Earthlink Cable, Mozilla FireFox) > [@](#): > > Your line speed is: > 943.1 Kbps > 115.6 K bytes/sec However, using the speed test available at [www.midsouth.rr.com](http://www.midsouth.rr.com) (which is a local server to me) gets me: > [@](#): > > Road Runner Bandwidth Results > Loaded 1349385 bytes in 3.725 seconds. > Your throughput is 2898 kilobits per second. What a difference a choice in servers make! ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/68 "2004-02-14T03:34:41Z")
Safari does appear to mess up the test. Looks what happens when I test using KDE’s Konqueror (which Safari was based upon, then had some of Apple’s modifications built into it.) Your line speed is: 151111.1 Kbps 18518.5 K bytes/sec ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/69 "2004-02-14T07:37:39Z")
I always thought Kbps WAS kilobytes per second. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/70 "2004-02-14T07:54:00Z")
**dutchboy** , nope, kiloBITs per second, one eighth as much. The correct way is to capitalize Bytes, and use lowercase for bits. In practice even the most prominent websites fuck it up. Thank you, **Chief Crunch**. So then it’s Linux’s fault, not Apples! 😃 Not that I really give a rat’s ass, it’s just fun for me to get to the bottom of it. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/71 "2004-02-14T07:54:07Z")
Your line speed is: 1642.5 Kbps 201.3 K bytes/sec Insight broadband (cable). Little ‘b’ is bits, big ‘B’ bytes, and there are 8bits per byte of course. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/72 "2004-02-14T08:36:46Z")
> [@dutchboy208](#): > > Would the browser make a difference? Still waiting to have this one answered 😉 I know pages will load quicker in certain browsers but I always thought that was because they were streamlined: ie. had minimal plugins and used the original formatting as much as possible and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/73 "2004-02-14T11:26:28Z")
> [@dutchboy208](#): > > > [@dutchboy208](#): > > > > Would the browser make a difference? > > Still waiting to have this one answered 😉 > > I know pages will load quicker in certain browsers but I always thought that was because they were streamlined: ie. had minimal plugins and used the original formatting as much as possible and all that. I’m sorry, I could have answered that earlier, but I stupidly hypothesized that it was the operating system, and not the browser, which was causing the inconsistencies within this thread. Yes, the browser _can_ make a difference. In general, however, the differences would be limited to overhead loading the browser into memory in the first place, ie. 5 seconds vs. 45; or how quickly the browser can download many small files at once, ie webpages. There are really two different criteria to define your functional internet speed: latency and bandwidth. If you open a command prompt, and type “ping [yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com)” and “tracert [yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com)” this will give you an idea of your latencies. My pings to Yahoo usually hover between 75 and 250 ms. Hopefully you have less than 10 or 15 hops in your trace route. For a pure speed test of your bandwidth, however, you should really send a much larger file or send several large files and average the speeds together. The proprietary test in the OP is not the best IMHO. As others have mentioned, [www.dslreports.com](http://www.dslreports.com) is a much better gauge of speed. For now, all I can conclude is that the default browser, Safari, which is shipping with Macintosh OS X, which is based on an offshoot of the open source linux KDE Konqueror; and the Manxnet test linked in the OP, cannot communicate properly. The inconsistencies reported could be due to programming errors (read: not up to spec) either with the website or the browser. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/74 "2004-02-14T12:52:22Z")
I did another test (speakeasy @ [dslreports.com](http://dslreports.com)) and got slightly different results: 2004-02-14 07:49:05 EST: 2612 / 321 Your download speed : 2612876 bps, or 2612 kbps. A 318.9 KB/sec transfer rate. Your upload speed : 321207 bps, or 321 kbps. Seems like broadband … above the 1mbit barrier! Again, using RoadRunner broadband via Brighthouse cable/ Win XP and IE 6.0.2 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/75 "2004-02-14T14:32:15Z")
Roadrunner is our cable provider, bnth computers are attached to the cable modem via a Netgear Linksys router. My PC (Dell latitude) with Win XP using internal centrino for wireless connnection to router: With Mozilla: Test 1: Line Speed is 302.9 kbps Test 2: 1725.9 kbps Test 3: 1787.1 kbps I think the first test may have been affected by the initial page load, which seems much slower on Mozilla. With IE: Test 1: Line Speed is 1010.9 kbps Test 2: 977 kbps Test 3: 1669 kbps Her iMac with OSX with hardline to router: 1656.4 kpbs (this was more or less the mean of three different results, ranging from over 2000 down to about 800). Do you think the Safaria browser skews the test, or is just a better browser (as Apple claims)? Per their website: > [@](#): > > Safari, the Mac OS X default web browser, offers you a superior web experience with outstanding performance. Even the most complex of pages load at breakneck speed. In fact, Safari loads pages more quickly than any other Mac web browser. But that’s not all. Safari uses the advanced interface technologies underlying Mac OS X to offer you an all-new view of the web, one that’s much easier to use. I’ll have to set up the Safari browser on our Mac and see if it affects test speed or apparent speed at all. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/76 "2004-02-14T14:38:40Z")
So I used the Safari browser on the Missus’ iMac, and the result (everything else the same as the post above) was: 92,727 kbps It is noticeably much faster, although I think that both are probably overstated (results for IE and Safari). But we’ll just use the Safari browser, which came with our 10.3 upgrade, over the old IE browser. Plus there’s the added benefit of one less Microsoft product in use. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/77 "2004-02-14T17:03:37Z")
Your line speed is: 502.5 Kbps 61.6 K bytes/sec Verizon DSL, IE6, Win98. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/78 "2004-02-15T00:22:54Z")
541.8 Kbps 66.4 K bytes/sec on adsl Damn I want cable. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/79 "2004-02-15T03:57:46Z")
2559.6 Kbps 313.7 K bytes/sec Adelphia Cable, eastern suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999/80 "2004-02-15T19:16:43Z")
Win98 NYC Roadrunner (Time Warner) Manx sez: > [@](#): > > Your line speed is: > 658.1 Kbps > 80.6 K bytes/sec Can’t do dsl reports because my Java is broken. Has been broken for a while. I tried everything including re-installing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-internet-speed/228999.md?page=5)