- Joined
- 30 Jul 2006
- Posts
- 12,130
In the past, I have used SpeedTest.net to check my internet connection speed as it appears from signatures to be a popular and frequently used method.
However, I have come to the conclusion that it is inaccurate; it seems consistently to give similar results, even when there are clear variations in the speed of accessing websites which I would expect to have pretty good bandwidth (e.g. BBC online, CNN, Hotmail & Gmail).
Why might this be and can anyone recommend a more reliable, practical way of checking speed?
Is it practical and would it help to include the specific IP addresses rather than domain names for sites I access frequently in a HOSTS file rather than have my ISP do a DNS lookup or do sites such as the BBC & CNN use multiple IP addresses and servers to smooth traffic?
However, I have come to the conclusion that it is inaccurate; it seems consistently to give similar results, even when there are clear variations in the speed of accessing websites which I would expect to have pretty good bandwidth (e.g. BBC online, CNN, Hotmail & Gmail).
Why might this be and can anyone recommend a more reliable, practical way of checking speed?
Is it practical and would it help to include the specific IP addresses rather than domain names for sites I access frequently in a HOSTS file rather than have my ISP do a DNS lookup or do sites such as the BBC & CNN use multiple IP addresses and servers to smooth traffic?