Wild Variances in Speed Tester Results.

[caravanj]

I've been monitoring our speeds since we upgraded to Full Fibre 900 & the results have ranged wildly with the lowest result coming from a PPPOE test at the ONT at 120 down but a much higher upload sped which I can't remember.

The MyBT checker shows 950 down & 112 up for 99% of the time while the BT Wholesale spedd tester never showed a download speed of higher that 620 but the uploads were always around the 110 mark. 

I've installed the Ookla desktop speed tester, which doesn't require a browser to run, & this has shown an average of 887 down & 111 up, over 12 tests, which is what I'd expect.

Anyway I'm very satisfied with how it's performing so my query is another one of pure interest as to why the results vary so much.

[NigelB72]

I'm on a 500mbps Openreach connection and I get different results from Ookla, Fast and Google. Fast.com seems to be the most consistent though as that tests to the Netflix servers 

[imjolly]

You share your fibre connection with other customers and it will depend on how many others are on line and how they are using the connection

[caravanj]

@imjolly 

Yes I understand that but when I did the tests I used three different speed testers in as many minutes which is why I didn't understand the wildly differing results. 

Even doing three tests on one tester one after the  other often gave hugely different results.

The Ookla desktop speed tester shows consistent speeds that are more or less in line with the MyBT results so those are the two I now use.

I've just done two tests now, which is probably one of the busiest times, & it was 857 down & 111 up on Ookla desktop & 612 down & 89 up on BT Wholesale.

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

It just shows what a waste of time speed tests are

[caravanj]

@licquorice 

Lol, time I'll never get back & at 79 I can't afford to waste too much of it. 😁

[gg30340]

The best test is ..... without doing a speed test do you notice any poor performance from your broadband?

If your broadband is doing everything you expect of it why fret over a slower speed which you never noticed without doing a test. 

Leaving aside that you are probably paying over the odds for speeds that you will never need, save your self some money and get a broadband package that suits your needs rather than what the adverts tell you what you need.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@caravanj 

You would be surprised what you can do on just 9Mbs ADSL, if you are just a light user without any BT TV services. 

[caravanj]

@gg30340 

The speed doesn't bother me per se, I was just interested in the vastly differing speed test results.

@Keith_Beddoe 

I'm a light user insomuch as I don't play games or stream 4k TV but I do have around 80 smart devices & cameras that are connected 24/7.