We got a fun and easy request from the Communication Workers of America — the Speed Matters folks. Last year, they published a state-by-state report on Internet connection speed based on regular folks visiting the Speed Maters web site to test and report their Internet speed and location.
Well, they have asked us to help publicize research for their next edition of the report. So, if you have a minute please check out your speed on their site to help them compile data.
The timing for the test could not have been better for me. We moved back to St Paul late last week – tomorrow my new phone number and upgraded DSL connection are supposed to kick in – so I was pleased to get a chance to test out the speeds today to compare with the results tomorrow.
Here are my stats today:
Download 1310 kbps (MN average 1385)
Upload 854 kbps (MN average 219)
I’ll let you know how the test goes tomorrow.
Blandin on Broadband 
Hello,
So many factors influence these speed tests. It makes me wonder about their usefulness. One thing that I have learned is that it makes a huge difference in how you connect to the Internet within your own home network. My desktop Dell, several years old, is wired to my wireless router. With Comcast, this computer – on the SpeedMatters test, hit 25 Mbps down and 982 up.
My laptop, connected wirelessly, was significanly slower 5.8 Mbps and a similar 976 up. Distance was not an issue as I am sitting about 3 feet from the router.
With the desktop, Comcast looks fabulous on the download speed, with the laptop only fair. The other issue with the speed test is the small size of the download file. Comcast’s power boost enables higher speeds for a short time, then throttles back. Is powerboost designed for better user experience or for fooling speed tests?!
I am sure that running the test on the same connection at different times of the day with different computers over different types of connections would provide a scattergram of results. So what are we really measuring and should we be making policy decisions based on this information?