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Ask HN: Internet magically gets faster when opening speedtest?

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

#221

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

Is there a way to automate this speed test every few minutes to make sure the ISP prioritizy stays up all the time

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

#222
post #218

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

I’m not sure why, but I’m seeing 1mbps on fast.com, and 20mbps on speedtest.net. Weird how there’s such a huge difference

We’ll that would support the creation of fast.com — your ISP is either lying to you (prioritizing only speedtest), or they’re punishing Netflix. Or both.

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

#223
post #201

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

Does that mean that having Netflix streaming in a window would make my connection faster as well?

Probably not, they would likely prioritize your packets to Netflix addresses but everything else would be subjected to any kind of traffic management.

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

#224

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

Is there a way to automate this speed test every few minutes to make sure the ISP prioritizy stays up all the time

It's probably per-traffic, not a blanket speed boost, lol

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

#225

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

Google does the same if you search “speed test” they have one that runs through the search results page.

Cloudflare runs one too. https://speed.cloudflare.com/

Those are all harder to game than speedtest.net

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

#226
post #136

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

Strangely, fast.com still reports faster connection speeds than my broadband is supposed to offer. No, my broadband is not faster than what I'm paying for, I can see that when monitoring actual transfers(including the transfers when doing the tests). They do offer about %95 of the promised speed, not %110 that fast.com or speedtest.net measures.

You can't always saturate transfers to and from random servers (whose bandwith is) not controlled by you.

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

#227
post #218

Yes, this is true. This is why Netflix runs fast.com: it serves Netflix content from Netflix servers, so if ISPs want to prioritize fast.com content they'll have to prioritize Netflix content as well. Of course, that doesn't help non-Netflix sites...

I’m not sure why, but I’m seeing 1mbps on fast.com, and 20mbps on speedtest.net. Weird how there’s such a huge difference

I would do a little further investigation. 1080p on Netflix is like 5MB/s. If you have a router that can give you real time feedback or maybe glasswire, that's probably how I would measure it.

Also make sure nothing else is consuming your total upstream bandwidth. With asymmetrical bandwidth, TCP acknowledgements that get choked out or buffered will limit your downstream bandwidth too.

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

#228
My ISP's support told me to always use their local copy (https://speed.aussiebroadband.com.au/) as it avoids routing issues downstream but more importantly, it logs the history onto my account for them to view.

The numbers are often higher than what I pay for, but I think they are honest. When I was having connection issues (dialup-tier download speeds, 20 megabit upload) it was reflected accurately. Since I trust them, I like this arrangement. If I didn't then I wouldn't.

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

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not necessarily true. It’s trivial for an isp to exempt Speedtest.net traffic so it doesn’t get throttled while the rest of your traffic does. It’s unlikely they would do something more complex like lifting all traffic limits once a connection to Speedtest.net opens.

I’m suspicious that what they’re saying is true. If so, a simple curl to the site would be all that is needed without running a full speed test. It’d be great if they could be more methodical and track down what’s really going on. I’d also wouldn’t be surprised to see an ISP doing something like this, but at the same time, it’s much more likely to be networking issues on the consumer’s side than a malicious ISP imho.

I'm not. This would not be the first time ISPs have lied to consumers about their service. https://stopthecap.com/

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

#230
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's that, and also visiting a speed test site is an indicator that a particular user is more sensitive to speed than the general user base (and perhaps considering jumping to another ISP). It absolutely makes business sense to prioritize traffic to users who pay more attention.

No, as an isp these are the worst customers. It’s better to piss off an dump people who consume a lot of bandwidth an are obsessed with throughput if you’re “business obsessed”.

In the US most people are reportedly served by a single ISP and cannot really choose. ISP that intentionally pisses off speed-sensitive customers would be sued in no time.
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