Broadband speed tests

The broadband speed testSome weeks ago quite a few users of Audlem Online independently mentioned that their broadband speeds appeared to have reduced significantly over the previous few months, and in some cases that the service had become very irregular and subject to interruption.

So we set up a test to try to establish what the speed actually is and whether the speeds obtained are affected by particular variables – time of day, type of computer, ISP (Internet Service Provider) being used etc.

The survey was carried out over the period 19th September to 10th October 2010 during which period many Audlem Online readers have carried out the test from their computers – by the end of the test period 540 test results had been logged.

The test set up on Audlem Online was to time the transfer of a 1Mb file from the server to the client (i.e. download speeds only). This time was then converted into a Kbits per second speed, displayed back to the user and recorded on a database on the Audlem Online server.

There is some evidence that the speeds recorded by this test may sometimes be lower than those obtained using an "industry-standard" test, but since individual results vary so widely, it is extremely difficult to get a valid comparison.

The test resultsClearly speed results from individual tests need to be treated with a great deal of caution, but the overall averages do seem to give some useful trends.

All speeds noted below are in Kbps.

The average speed recorded was 2361.

The best result recorded was 8449.
The worst result recorded was 14 (these very low figures may represent occasions when the service was interrupted altogether).

The individual test results were sorted using various criteria and the results considered

• Client computer – very little variation was observed between the averages for different client computers.
• ISP – There was considerable variation between speeds obtained from different ISPs. However at this stage we do not think it is helpful, given the relatively small sample and the crude nature of the test itself, to publish a table comparing speeds from the various ISPs.
• Road (i.e. position in village) – there was wide variation in the results from different roads. Much of this is probably due to there being relatively few tests recorded in each specific street, but in general terms the nearer to the village centre, the better the speeds obtained.
• Day – the test was run for 24 days and there was a noticeable trend downwards in the averages over that period

period	speed
17th Sep to 22nd Sep	2692
23rd Sep to 28th Sep	2251
29th Sep to 4th Oct	2278
5th Oct to 10th Oct	2137

• Time – the 24 hour period was broken down into ten equal periods and the speeds compared in each period. The speeds were, on average considerably better in the 7.30am to midday period than in the afternoon and evening.

#Submission of evidenceWe intend now to submit a report to Martha Lane-Fox, asking for assistance in improving the broadband speed available in the village.

One of the founders of lastminute.com, Martha Lane Fox, was made the previous Government's first Champion for Digital Inclusion and was to head a new cabinet-based Digital Public Services Unit.

This has been cut back under the Coalition government and in June it was decided that the unit will not be established. She, however, continues as the Government's digital champion with her main public job being to widen public access to the internet.

Vote for superfast broadbandMeanwhile it is important that as many people as possible vote for the superfast broadband service to be brought to the village – see yesterday's story on Audlem Online on how to vote.

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