Midband speedtest Megaathread

editorsean · 23-11-2015 8:28pm

A linear download test is the equivalent to running a single download or streaming video, i.e. single connection to the server. For example, most streaming services only make a single connection to the server.

A multi-threaded test makes multiple connections to the server, similar to opening a webpage with multiple images as the browser makes multiple connections to download groups of images simultaneously. Another example would be BitTorrent client or a download accelerator that makes multiple connections to download separate parts of a large file simultaneously.

The Ookla Speedtest makes multiple connections to try to saturate the link. The one main issue I find with it is that if an ISP needs multiple connections to saturate the link, the speed it reports will generally be considerably higher than what one would experience when downloading a file or streaming video.

So if let's say the Ookla Speedtest reports 8Mbps down and YouTube is struggling to play 480p even though 8Mbps is enough for 1080p, then it's quite possible that the single connection to the server is only sustaining a small fraction of that speed, while another ISP with the same 8Mbps result in Ookla Speedtest plays the same video on YouTube just fine in 1080p.

So far with my testing on Meteor, it seems to report the same speed with linear and multi-threaded transfers, while the Three network tends to have a vast speed difference between a multi-threaded test and a linear test, which probably explains why the Three network sometimes appears sluggish (in my area) even with a decent test result on Ookla's Speedtest.

It would be really nice if Ookla added linear tests to its Speedtest tool, but as it's the preferred testing tool by most ISPs, I'm sure some ISPs would rather users not seeing such a drastic difference between linear and multi-threaded tests, particularly those with heavy congestion on their network.

-=al=- · 07-12-2015 7:16pm

I don't know what the recent weather and storm have done, but I've managed to get an extra bar of signal out of it giving me 4/5 bars resulting in this

Usually get a 30ms ping, 10 down and 10 up... Thx Desmond!

Any thoughts as to what may have helped the connection?

monster1 · 12-12-2015 3:25pm

Been getting consistent high speeds with three in Roscommon... never been this fast

Thought the upload speed isnt great.

ACLFC7 · 12-12-2015 6:01pm

monster1 wrote: »

Been getting consistent high speeds with three in Roscommon... never been this fast

Thought the upload speed isnt great.

Nice, what router? B593s?

monster1 · 13-12-2015 3:43pm

ACLFC7 wrote: »

Nice, what router? B593s?

It was my phone tethered to the computer via usb. (vodafone smart ultra 6)

jay93 · 14-12-2015 2:05pm

-=al=- wrote: »

I don't know what the recent weather and storm have done, but I've managed to get an extra bar of signal out of it giving me 4/5 bars resulting in this

Usually get a 30ms ping, 10 down and 10 up... Thx Desmond!

Any thoughts as to what may have helped the connection?

One of the antennas might have moved in the wind lol :P

-=al=- · 14-12-2015 2:58pm

Indeed it has. I went out and had a gander at what happened and sure enough, it is now facing North East! The nearest mast is South West and I always had it facing that way, but it works great now. Almost 4 times better at it's peak from just moving a few inches, crazy really.

Nonoperational · 18-12-2015 10:24am

Vodafone in Cork

jay93 · 20-12-2015 6:39am

-=al=- wrote: »

Indeed it has. I went out and had a gander at what happened and sure enough, it is now facing North East! The nearest mast is South West and I always had it facing that way, but it works great now. Almost 4 times better at it's peak from just moving a few inches, crazy really.

That is crazy ! And lucky too , is it still the same ?

jay93 · 20-12-2015 6:40am

Nonoperational wrote: »

Vodafone in Cork

Wow crazy, do you have a 6s? Looks like 4G+ think you have to be on bill pay to get that too.

Nonoperational · 20-12-2015 8:24pm

Yeah it's a 6s plus on Red Extra. In fairness the caps are small, but it's a great service.

jay93 · 23-12-2015 3:44pm

Nonoperational wrote: »

Yeah it's a 6s plus on Red Extra. In fairness the caps are small, but it's a great service.

Insane data speeds though !

I have the iPhone 6 on pay as you go and the speeds are usually 40-60Mb/s down which is good considering I can't get 4G+. The caps are quite small alright I only get 3GB a month but I'm always on WiFi so it doesn't bother me.

-=al=- · 23-12-2015 4:11pm

3GB!

Jesus Christ Vodafone you miserable b*stards. It's 2015!

It's like giving someone a Ferrari with 10 seconds worth of fuel

I'll stick to my reliable Hyundai Accent :pac:

editorsean · 23-12-2015 9:15pm

I'm sure Vodafone's method would solve road congestion also - Just set a 3 trip per month limit per reg and voila, a congestion free road.

With Three's 4G speed slowing to a crawl through most of Co. Donegal, I decided to see if Tesco Mobile is affected. My manager is on that network with a bill pay plan, so I asked if I could run some speed tests with his phone.

As far as I can tell from running various tests, Tesco Mobile has its data rate capped at 2Mbps both down and up. While I heard about this in the past, I didn't realise this still seems to be the case. With test after test, I kept getting between 1.99Mbps and 2.01Mbps and similar up with large test block sizes on testmy.net.

cqpafw3QF.HupLEOPUe.png

The following is its "Test in Progress" graph during the 25MB download test just to show how flat the speed is around the 2Mbps grid line:

Tesco_Mobile_435pm_23Dec'15.png

Nonoperational · 24-12-2015 1:15am

I have 9GB a month with Vodafone which is perfect for all but HD streaming really. Loads of wifi around, only used 1GB last month!

mayo.mick · 24-12-2015 5:51pm

I'm hearing a lot of good things about the Huawei B539s-22 router, so I'm thinking of investing. Running some regular speedtests to be able to compare difference (hopefully improved). Will be the new year before it arrives.

jay93 · 02-01-2016 3:49pm

-=al=- wrote: »

3GB!

Jesus Christ Vodafone you miserable b*stards. It's 2015!

It's like giving someone a Ferrari with 10 seconds worth of fuel

I'll stick to my reliable Hyundai Accent :pac:

It's quite crappy the 3GB for €30 I get unlimited calls texts and 3GB of data .

I could get Data Extra as they call it for €10 they deduct €10 from a €20 top up and you get unlimited calls and texts to Vodafone customers only and 5GB of 4G data.

I'm thinking of switching back to that since I don't call or text at all really I use my data or WiFi for FaceTime audio calls or Skype or Facebook messenger calls.

I think with 4G the minimum data for a month should be 20GB they are still giving 3G style data allowances really annoying.

jay93 · 02-01-2016 3:52pm

editorsean wrote: »

I'm sure Vodafone's method would solve road congestion also - Just set a 3 trip per month limit per reg and voila, a congestion free road.

With Three's 4G speed slowing to a crawl through most of Co. Donegal, I decided to see if Tesco Mobile is affected. My manager is on that network with a bill pay plan, so I asked if I could run some speed tests with his phone.

As far as I can tell from running various tests, Tesco Mobile has its data rate capped at 2Mbps both down and up. While I heard about this in the past, I didn't realise this still seems to be the case. With test after test, I kept getting between 1.99Mbps and 2.01Mbps and similar up with large test block sizes on testmy.net.

The following is its "Test in Progress" graph during the 25MB download test just to show how flat the speed is around the 2Mbps grid line:

Threes issue is the unlimited data for sure a mobile network shouldn't have those kind of loads placed onto it it's a great deal and all and it's good not having to worry about using data but the speeds are crap everywhere even when I was lucky enough to get 4G on Three it was slower than my 3G on Vodafone . That's really odd though the issue your having with Tesco that shouldn't be the case they removed that 2Mb/s limit a long time ago when I was with them in fact they removed it I could get speeds up to 9Mb/s in my area with Tesco.

jay93 · 02-01-2016 3:54pm

Nonoperational wrote: »

I have 9GB a month with Vodafone which is perfect for all but HD streaming really. Loads of wifi around, only used 1GB last month!

Wish I had 9GB a month ! But I'm like you I rarely use the 4G I'm always on WiFi at home or friends and families houses. When I'm out and about all I use my data for is sending iMessages and other online messages so I usually have a good 1-2 GB left from my 3GB.

jay93 · 02-01-2016 3:56pm

mayo.mick wrote: »

I'm hearing a lot of good things about the Huawei B539s-22 router, so I'm thinking of investing. Running some regular speedtests to be able to compare difference (hopefully improved). Will be the new year before it arrives.

Let us know when you do get it and if any improvement in the service

I think that router is 4G not sure though I'm gonna have a look at it now .

Edit: yeah it's 4G

dunno if they have that service in your area or if you got the 4G plan.

mayo.mick · 02-01-2016 4:08pm

jay93 wrote: »

Let us know when you do get it and if any improvement in the service I think that router is 4G not sure though I'm gonna have a look at it now .

Edit: yeah it's 4G dunno if they have that service in your area or if you got the 4G plan.

Backwards compatible with 3G. Checked it out on a few other forums from people using it. Seems to give a great boost in speeds. I'll post up results when I get router, will pro be next week. Future proofing for when I do get 4G (hopefully for free as vodafone did with my phone acc) There is no 4G in my area (Swinford) though sometimes I do manage to get 1 bar of 4G when out in certain parts of town. App on phone shows signal coming from mast in centre of Kiltimagh town 7 miles away

Edit: here's the specs for this router if anyone else thinking of purchasing it. Its 2g/3g/4g compatible.

http://support.huawei.com/ecommunity/bbs/10176957.html

jay93 · 03-01-2016 7:07pm

mayo.mick wrote: »

Backwards compatible with 3G. Checked it out on a few other forums from people using it. Seems to give a great boost in speeds. I'll post up results when I get router, will pro be next week. Future proofing for when I do get 4G (hopefully for free as vodafone did with my phone acc) There is no 4G in my area (Swinford) though sometimes I do manage to get 1 bar of 4G when out in certain parts of town. App on phone shows signal coming from mast in centre of Kiltimagh town 7 miles away

Edit: here's the specs for this router if anyone else thinking of purchasing it. Its 2g/3g/4g compatible.

http://support.huawei.com/ecommunity/bbs/10176957.html

Hoping the 3G speeds are better on that router it's possible they might be I have had good results from using a certain router before when I had Three broadband

that's annoying no 4G

I'm around 1.5Km from my local cell which has 4G so I always get it on my phone the download and upload is crazy on 4G.

mayo.mick · 03-01-2016 9:07pm

jay93 wrote: »

Hoping the 3G speeds are better on that router it's possible they might be I have had good results from using a certain router before when I had Three broadband that's annoying no 4G I'm around 1.5Km from my local cell which has 4G so I always get it on my phone the download and upload is crazy on 4G.

I'm doing regular tests here recently since I decided to get the Hauwei. They have never been consistaintly so good, I'd swear its for spite

Should be here either tomorrow or Tuesday, it arrived in Dublin yesterday eve.

funnyname · 04-01-2016 12:37am

What app are you using to pinpoint the mast?

mayo.mick wrote: »

Backwards compatible with 3G. Checked it out on a few other forums from people using it. Seems to give a great boost in speeds. I'll post up results when I get router, will pro be next week. Future proofing for when I do get 4G (hopefully for free as vodafone did with my phone acc) There is no 4G in my area (Swinford) though sometimes I do manage to get 1 bar of 4G when out in certain parts of town. App on phone shows signal coming from mast in centre of Kiltimagh town 7 miles away

Edit: here's the specs for this router if anyone else thinking of purchasing it. Its 2g/3g/4g compatible.

http://support.huawei.com/ecommunity/bbs/10176957.html

mayo.mick · 04-01-2016 7:47pm

funnyname wrote: »

What app are you using to pinpoint the mast?

Open Signal app on android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en

warlikedave · 05-01-2016 10:36pm

mayo.mick wrote: »

Backwards compatible with 3G. Checked it out on a few other forums from people using it. Seems to give a great boost in speeds. I'll post up results when I get router, will pro be next week. Future proofing for when I do get 4G (hopefully for free as vodafone did with my phone acc) There is no 4G in my area (Swinford) though sometimes I do manage to get 1 bar of 4G when out in certain parts of town. App on phone shows signal coming from mast in centre of Kiltimagh town 7 miles away

Edit: here's the specs for this router if anyone else thinking of purchasing it. Its 2g/3g/4g compatible.

http://support.huawei.com/ecommunity/bbs/10176957.html

It is a damn fine router I have to say - It does tend to freeze once in the blue moon that needs a hard reset but besides that it is excellent. I have had it on 3g and 4g and on 3g it seemed to nearly double the speed.

As for 4g well:

I was getting 35 but it has dropped to 20 to 25 with additional users on 4g where I am but still - a damn sight better than I ever had it on 3g

editorsean · 05-01-2016 11:22pm

jay93 wrote: »

That's really odd though the issue your having with Tesco that shouldn't be the case they removed that 2Mb/s limit a long time ago when I was with them in fact they removed it I could get speeds up to 9Mb/s in my area with Tesco.

Indeed a Tesco rep confirmed this also in their forum section. So far I had little luck with them on the forum as they stopped replying to the thread. So I'll try talking with Tesco directly tomorrow.

Three's 4G speed on Monday morning was quite poor in Ballybofey. I forgot to check the evening speed before heading home.

I bought a Vodafone PayG SIM as I am curious to see what their speeds are like around Co. Donegal as well as along my drive to work for Internet radio. For anyone curious, their in-store bill pay mobile broadband plans are indeed more generous than on their website - 15GB for €22, 30GB for €30 and 50GB for €50 per month, all with 4G access and a 12 month minimum contract.

mayo.mick · 06-01-2016 12:35am

The Router arrived yesterday evening and had it set up in about 10 minutes. Haven't done much testing but so far seems good, not a huge improvement. I have it set up in same location as the old R-214 modem but am only getting 1 bar signal now

I have been moved to a different ip from vodafone when I switched over whether that's making any difference? Yesterday and today's results are from the new Huawei. Will try moving it around the house to see if it will improve.

[IMG][/img]

new%20router%20speeds%20comparason_zps9el8zbsk.jpg

I really like all that you can do with this. I can set up a proper network now. Just for any thinking that this is for 4G LTE, it is backwards compatible to 3G and 2G and will switch between networks.

[IMG][/img]

editorsean · 06-01-2016 12:56am

For those with Huawei routers, I recommend getting the Huawei HiLink app as it can provide functionality not present in the router's main user interface.

For example, on my Huawei E8278 (USB-powered MiFi), it does not have a menu for choosing the 2G/3G/4G or network selection. However, in the app, I can manually do a network search as well as force it to a specific mode such as 3G only.

-=al=- · 06-01-2016 5:10am

Did you have a fixed ip on Vodafone before?

As for signal, I found that 1-2 bars were similar results. 3 was decent and 4 bars was a big difference.

That's 4 bars of signal on Meteor, which actually dropped to about 6Mbps up/down over Christmas but has returned to it's usual decent self since January.

I'd generally only get 10Mbps up/down on 3 bars but it's almost 3 times better with the 4th bar of signal which is nice indeedy! I get 50GB a month and it does the trick :pac:

Midband speedtest Megaathread

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