Ireland Internet Performance Index

Vexorg

Some of you may be interested in the attached Ireland Internet Performace Index report by Epitiro and I expect more of you might be interested in their ISP measurement and comparison software - isposure.

The software monitoring tool looks very interesting allowing you to share your connection performance data and compare it against other ISP providers in your area allowing you to choose the best local provider.

I mailed the guys in Epitiro to let them know about the post - so if you have any questions / suggestions about the software or how they measure etc, they may answer you here on the thread.


Ireland Internet Performance Index (PDF - 536K attached below)

Software measurement tool - isposure - www.isposure.com

It will be great to be able to compare isps and to get a picture of their overall performance.


V.

Cabaal

Seems like an idea lets see how it pans out

KoKane

After my tests, when I go to create my profile, my ISP is coming up as Internet Services Ireland?
I'm on BT.
Is this just a naming thing?

Magnet: Rory

I cant see NTL or Magnet on that report? Am i blind or am i missing something?

watty

How is this better or different than speedtest.net which compares ISPs and locations?

Obviously one difference is that it's a download.

BendiBus

Not including UPC is a glaring omission.

dub45

It would be great if someone measured the performance of isps as regards proper billing, adherence to the direct debit system, good customer service etc etc.

KoKane

Now its showing I'm on ESAT telecommunications limited...

Why has it changed ? :S

thebman

KoKane wrote: »

Now its showing I'm on ESAT telecommunications limited...

Why has it changed ? :S

I'm guessing its getting the information from your IP address and BT's aren't up to date.

Governments across the globe have linked
broadband performance quality to social and
economic development. Claims by numerous
research bodies endorse the importance of highperforming
broadband services.

Can we send this bit to Eamon Ryan :P

mickoneill30

Is this report sponsored? I heard it mentioned on Newstalk this morning (although they popped up percantages that are different from the report). The highest they reported was 64% . They didn't mention Perlico with 79% for some reason. The report doesn't even have Irish Broadband. The executive summary says it's for "wired and wireless (3G) ISPs". That probably means they're ignoring the other wireless packages? I'd say a fair percentage of users use the other wireless offerings.

Maybe including them would have bumped up the percentages.

Magnet: Rory

This has just hit RTE.....have the authors come out to tell people why they did not include some of the major players in the market?

mickoneill30

Rorser wrote: »

This has just hit RTE.....have the authors come out to tell people why they did not include some of the major players in the market?

You can be pretty sure the media won't have the brains to ask that question.

Fair enough the report is valid and shows problems but by leaving out some ISP packages it looks (to me) that they're trying to skew the results to suit themselves.

watty

The report is abysmal in detailed metrics or statistics to back up its claims. We don't know what proportion of BT was LLU or Bitstream, or what the Digiweb consumers used.

They claimed on RTE to not know why ping is high on Mobile. A quick google of HSDPA explains why, it's inherent to the technology and made worse by TDM rather than native IP backhaul.

How many people? (Sample size is very important). How where HSDPA bases chosen (They vary between 1 or 2 users and dialup speeds due to 10+ users 24x7)?

Was the report compiled from data before or after all the Bitstream "Speed upgrades"?

Why no mention on RTE that people are NOT sold a 3Mbps 1:1 but a 3Mbps 48:1 contention, generally and this is why Smart is ahead (as their LLU only offering is very low contention)? You'd have to mention what percentage of phone line users can get Smart at all or above 1Mbps/3Mbps/6Mbps DSL sync etc due to exchange availability and line length.

Magnet: Rory

Silicon republic have just reported this.......the reports source page has only 2 sources from 2008.

no homevision (fully unbundling supplier)
no magnet (largest fibre broadband supplier on the entire island)
no UPC (2nd biggest line broadband company in Ireland)
not to mention around 50 other suppliers

whats going on here?

mickoneill30

I think I'll do a report and release it to RTE and other stations to see if I can get some free advertising too.

charlie_says

Yeah, I heard this on Morning Ireland and scoffed. Fair enough they did a lot of testing (5 million tests was quoted, over a period of time) but why oh why if they went to so much effort did they not do all the major broadband carriers?

Also "mobile broadband" IS NOT broadband, so why was that included? It came out a higher percentage than fixed line broadband in the average speed for the connection speed quoted just again cementing the "fact" that ****ty mobile broadband will do.

Grrrr!

The media just reported on the figures with no background research into what they actually mean or WHY they appear like that in the first place. The fellow from the testing company in fairness in the interview would not comment on what the figures meant just that they had collected the data. Without analysis it really is a poor piece of reporting by the media (poor IT reporting shock horror!) imo.

Also contention wasn't mentioned and neither was the technical aspect of line quality and distance from exchanges that can limit a lines maximum throughput.

:rolleyes:

godskitchen

The media just repeating what they are told without doing any research? Never!

Username!

Some decent research but not very thorough. The only focused on DSL or 3G providers... why?

72hundred

As others have said the report is very poor indeed; lack of detail and coverage of ISP's.

Also I've downloaded that software before and uninstalled it as very invasive.

epitiro

Thank you for your interest and comments . We would like to provide some answers to your queries regarding our recent Irish Internet Performance Index report.

Firstly , Epitiro are an independent technology company. We are not sponsored by Governement , Regulators or ISPs. We are uniquely placed to comment on broadband performance. Our independent analysis has contributed to improved broadband in other countries.We have been doing broadband benchmarking in the UK for a number of years which has, to a degree, influenced the accountability and performance of ISPs. We started a similar effort in New Zealand last year – a country similar in size, demographics and challenges as Ireland. Independent monitoring and reporting has been a big catalyst in improving NZ’s broadband – at a faster rate than the UK according to a recent report.

Q1. Coverage, UPC , Magnet , Homevision , IBB and others?

A1. This report is the first with more to come over time. Our initial analysis focused on adsl and 3g and we took a good sample of ISP's from that. Further analysis will be carried out on more ISP's as this project develops. In parallel with our own infrastructure , as more and more people download Isposure (http://www.isposure.com) we’ll get more and more insight into all ISPs and how they perform in urban and rural Ireland. We could have an early view in a matter of weeks. Still, we’ve completed over 5 million tests so far and the results we’ve published represent Irish ISPs that service many users.

Q2. How do we compare to Speedtest.net and the others?

A2. In common on-line speed tests, a split second test is executed which doesn't really represent how well a broadband connection does typical tasks, or how that broadband connection performs throughout the day. Our testing is representative of typical user actions; we test how well the broadband service does actual web browsing, sends email, downloads movies and music, or can be used for playing internet games. We also check the broadband's ability to do VoIP calls and stream live video. Then we repeat it at different times of the day to get a good understanding of actual user experience. It's very customer-experience focused rather than a split second test.l]Users of Isposure (http://www.isposure.com) are able to see a history of their broadband performance also. And as numbers of Isposure users grow you’ll be able compare your services to those in your area. So, instead of a snapshot, Isposure offers Irish customers a true, meaningful view of their overall broadband service.

Q3. Does our free software download spy? Does it interfere with internet performance?

A3. Absolutely NO. Please check the FAQs on Isposure and you’ll see our commitment to privacy and ensuring we are transparent to the user.

This is an ongoing process and the report we have just published is a very good independent benchmarking report that will be used for comparison with further results in the coming months. Thereby giving the Irish customer and the industry a view on where broadband stands now and how it will look in the near future and beyond.

We welcome your comments and will respond as often as we can to queries and suggestions you may have.

Epitiro

http://www.isposure.com

Magnet: Rory

epitiro wrote: »

Q1. Coverage, UPC , Magnet , Homevision , IBB and others?

A1. This report is the first with more to come over time. Our initial analysis focused on adsl and 3g and we took a good sample of ISP's from that. Further analysis will be carried out on more ISP's as this project develops. In parallel with our own infrastructure , as more and more people download Isposure (http://www.isposure.com) we’ll get more and more insight into all ISPs and how they perform in urban and rural Ireland. We could have an early view in a matter of weeks. Still, we’ve completed over 5 million tests so far and the results we’ve published represent Irish ISPs that service many users.

Why then did you call it Ireland Internet Performance Index? Why not Ireland ADSL and 3g broadband performance. Why did you not mention this when releasing press releases? I cant find any of the articles which mention that the report is limited to Adsl and 3g?

Im all for exposing the holes in the Irish national broadband network but why did you limit the study and then not mention the limitations? I don’t recall any mention of these limitations on any of the articles or in any of the radio reports, why was this left out?

In another note, how can you make an assumption about ping speeds without looking at all the players, no fibre providers were mentioned here, no coax providers were mentioned here either, why is this?

Also it must be noted that your statistics on Perlico are, to my mind, misleading. How could Perlico come out 50% faster, its the exact same product as Eircoms, they are both bitstreem. Perlico operates entirely from the Eircom network and only delivers slower broadband speeds (1mb, 2mb etc) so they would not be exposed to the same instability that would arise from maxing out the capacity of a copper line, yet you did not mention this, why?

charlie_says

Just out of interest, who is the client that pays for these tests? Where does the revenue of epitiro come from?

I may seem very skeptical about all of this but that is because of being Irish and having sub standard broadband, reporting on it and regulatory action on it for years.

KoKane

brim4brim wrote: »

I'm guessing its getting the information from your IP address and BT's aren't up to date.

Now its saying Ireland On-Line.... arent up to date is an understatement