ISP performance measurement

On any existing Internet connection, you can use any of the following sites to get a reading on delivered bandwidth. If you want to use this to compare ISPs, make sure the testing is all done using the same test page and server.

Speakeasy Speed Test http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

This test is the coolest looking, lets you choose a server location from several around the US, including one in Seattle, and gives you separate numbers for upload and download speed.

Devtoolz Speed Test http://www.devtoolz.com/speed_test/

I've linked to this one for quite a while, and it still works.

CNET Bandwidth Meter http://reviews.cnet.com/7004-7254_7-0.html

This test page gave me results inconsistent with the other two.

One thing is clear: it's not enough to just pick the national provider with the most subscribers. It's common for the largest providers to have significant problems with connection failure rates, network throughput, and other performance factors. On the other hand, subscriber base translates directly to revenue base, and providers in a given market (national or local) with the smallest subscriber bases are obviously the most vulnerable to the natural market shakeout process. There's a tradeoff situation here: what you need is a provider with good network performance, who's also big enough not to suddenly disappear on you.

A company called Inverse Network Technology at one time maintained a statistical database on the actual performance of national Internet providers, based on the results of thousands of test calls per month. A very limited version of the results of this testing was made publicly available on the Web. Inverse merged with Visual Networks in 1999, and ISP performance data no longer seems to be available there.

You can find something that looks like comparison at isprank.com, but when I first tested it, it failed to list Icehouse, which at the time was about the strongest local ISP in my area. Icehouse was acquired by OneEighty Networks in January 2006, who are keeping the Icehouse domain alive; the site doesn't list OneEighty either.

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