Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#1

Post by halgir » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:01 PM UTC

I want to start by saying this is anecdotal, and I feel paranoid for even thinking it. But often my internet will feel very slow, so I'll open speedtest to check if something's wrong. When I do, all of my stalled tabs suddenly spring into action and finish loading.

The tinfoil hat wearer inside of me speculates that my internet provider is overloaded and throttling my bandwidth, but immediately prioritizes me when it senses that I'm trying to check if I'm getting what I pay for.

Has anyone else noticed this pattern? Is there a way I can test this more scientifically?

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#2

Post by thayne » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:10 PM UTC

I've also noticed this, at least subjectively. I haven't done any rigorous experiments to confirm this is actually happening, but my ISP has a reputation for doing shady stuff, so it wouldn't surprise me if they prioritized traffic to speed test sites.

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#3

Post by lostlogin » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

Another weird one: Open fast.com and check your speed.

Now reload the page and and run it again but as soon as it starts, open another tab and do some browsing.

The second test gives me higher speeds consistently.

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#4

Post by b20000 » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:23 PM UTC

i am using spectrum business and i’ve been paying close to $200/m. this is in LA in a residential building. the speed looks good when i run a test but i notice that page loading times are total shit at least initially. if i start a download for a video game that ramps up quickly in speed but i actually don’t need that. what i really want is very fast resolving and page loading, which is different than just large downloads. i am wondering if other people here have the same problem and what they have done to fix this. i have been thinking about trying to replace my spectrum router with a pfsense box while still using their modem. but not sure if that will fix the issue. i use debian workstations and have gigabit ethernet for my internal network.

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#5

Post by Proudmuslim » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:26 PM UTC

I notice this too! I really hope I'm insane, because the implications of this are... concerning

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#6

Post by jonnycomputer » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:32 PM UTC

So the trick is to always be running a speed-test in the background?

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#7

Post by btown » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:32 PM UTC

Impossible to know for sure, but the ROI on “accelerate packets that match an IP whitelist that is drawn nightly from the DNS records for well-traveled speed test sites” must be quite high.

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#8

Post by CursedUrn » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:35 PM UTC

btown wrote: post #7

Impossible to know for sure, but the ROI on “accelerate packets that match an IP whitelist that is drawn nightly from the DNS records for well-traveled speed test sites” must be quite high.

Could speed test sites do something about this? Like obfuscate the traffic somehow to get more genuine results?

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#9

Post by AlexandrB » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:35 PM UTC

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the ISP was doing something like this. It's an easy way to make their service look better and there are few consequences for getting caught. It's also hard to prove conclusively that it's happening.

Re: Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

#10

Post by vyrotek » Sun, Apr 17, 2022, 6:35 PM UTC

This is one feature I like from my Wifi router. It does regular speed tests and tracks the results over time. I like to think it reminds my ISP that I want the speed I'm paying for.