Is Physics Forums Moving to a New Server Tomorrow? Stay Updated Here!

  • Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date
In summary: Firefox 17.0.1 for Windows :frown:In summary, Due to an imminent disk drive failure, the decision has been made to switch to a new server. There should be little downtime of approximately 2 hours over the next couple of days, mostly due to DNS propagation. The new server will be faster and ready to serve Physics Forums discussions at high speeds. Due to this development, the announcement of PF Award winners will likely be postponed until Thursday. Thank you for your understanding.
  • #36
Michael Redei said:
... copyright 2007 and not compatible with the newest Firefox 17.0.1 for Windows :frown:

Why not just use speedtest.net?
 
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  • #37
Michael Redei said:
... copyright 2007 and not compatible with the newest Firefox 17.0.1 for Windows :frown:

:cry: So I'm not seeing PF screaming fast?

Dang. I should have believed the reviews.

Uninstalling :mad:
 
  • #38
PAllen said:
Why not just use speedtest.net?
Because they showed a slower speed? :biggrin:
 
  • #39
PAllen said:
Why not just use speedtest.net?

How does that work? I need to download some utilities first? Do I end up paying for them, or are they free forever?

speedtest.net said:
Includes over 30 powerful tools... try it for FREE!
 
  • #40
berkeman said:
How does that work? I need to download some utilities first? Do I end up paying for them, or are they free forever?

free online service. just click start :)
 
  • #41
Greg Bernhardt said:
free online service. just click start :)

Actually, just click "Begin Test", ignore everything else on the site.
 
  • #42
PAllen said:
Why not just use speedtest.net?

Thanks for the hint. I've tried that, and apparently my download speed is ~5.7MB/s; less than half of what's said to be average worldwide, but still nearly 6 times as much as what dlgoff's machine reported. :biggrin:
 
  • #43
Michael Redei said:
Thanks for the hint. I've tried that, and apparently my download speed is ~5.7MB/s; less than half of what's said to be average worldwide, but still nearly 6 times as much as what dlgoff's machine reported. :biggrin:
:confused:...:cry:...:frown:
 
  • #45
Evo said:
Try this http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1

For me, none of the servers are well located. I use 3 different speed test sites (that agree well), while this one is very much an outlier - disagrees way low compared to all the others. I've tested actual large file download times and upload times, and the other sites agree with direct measurement.
 
  • #47
PAllen said:
Evo said:
Try this http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1
For me, none of the servers are well located. I use 3 different speed test sites (that agree well), while this one is very much an outlier - disagrees way low compared to all the others. I've tested actual large file download times and upload times, and the other sites agree with direct measurement.

I found the servers rather untrustworthy. Two were offline and one reported my download speed to be over 60MB/s. (Six-TY! I tested it three times.) Most gave me figures between 2.4 and 2.9, which seems more likely.
 
  • #48
PAllen said:
For me, none of the servers are well located. I use 3 different speed test sites (that agree well), while this one is very much an outlier - disagrees way low compared to all the others. I've tested actual large file download times and upload times, and the other sites agree with direct measurement.
Would depend on if you want to know how you connect to nearby sites or sites you might actually access. Are all of the sites you access located near the test sites?

Also, different carriers have different routes. It's always good to know what routes your carrier uses. It can make a huge difference. As well as their peering arrangements. Less to do with the speed you might get from a local server, but will give a truer picture of speeds you get farther away.

I just did a test with dsl reports and speedtest.net

speedtest.net says I have a download speed of 20.36 mbps, I don't have that kind of connection.

dslreports shows me at 3.5 mbps download, that I can believe

A couple of weeks ago I had my cable company check my speeds because of some troubles I was having and they said I was averaging ~2.5mbps download, which is within my expected speeds.

No speed test will be exact as it depends on your carrier and the carrier of the speed test and the reasons I cited above.
 
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  • #49
Evo said:
Would depend on if you want to know how you connect to nearby sites or sites you might actually access. Are all of the sites you access located near the test sites?

Also, different carriers have different routes. It's always good to know what routes your carrier uses. It can make a huge difference. As well as their peering arrangements. Less to do with the speed you might get from a local server, but will give a truer picture of speeds you get farther away.

I just did a test with dsl reports and speedtest.net

speedtest.net says I have a download speed of 20.36 mbps, I don't have that kind of connection.

dslreports shows me at 3.5 mbps download, that I can believe

A couple of weeks ago I had my cable company check my speeds because of some troubles I was having and they said I was averaging ~2.5mbps download, which is within my expected speeds.

No speed test will be exact as it depends on your carrier and the carrier of the speed test and the reasons I cited above.

Interesting. For me, speedtest.net matches what I measure if I e.g. download a large install file from a commercial site, while dslreports was 1/3 the speed I actually get for typical file downloads.
 
  • #50
PAllen said:
Interesting. For me, speedtest.net matches what I measure if I e.g. download a large install file from a commercial site, while dslreports was 1/3 the speed I actually get for typical file downloads.
If the speed test server and places you download from are on the same network, they will be the fastest. Even if they are different backbones, if the routing and peering are optimal, you will see better speeds. That could explains the results. It's not really so much about your "connection" speed. This is why website optimizations such as edge router caching can speed up your download times when viewing a website.

In other words, the speeds you see from speedtest.net may be correct if it more realistically reflects the connections you get.

I have no idea why it was so off the charts for me.
 
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  • #51
Evo said:
If the speed test server and places you download from are on the same network, they will be the fastest. Even if they are different backbones, if the routing and peering are optimal, you will see better speeds. That could explains the results. It's not really so much about your "connection" speed. This is why website optimizations such as edge router caching can speed up your download times when viewing a website.

In other words, the speeds you see from speedtest.net may be correct if it more realistically reflects the connections you get.

I have no idea why it was so off the charts for me.

I found that the problem with dslreports test for me was simply that there are a couple of versions of it. The flash version is stated as not reliable for high speed connections. The java version is recommended for fiber connections. With that, even over wifi on opposite corner of house from router, I get the 25 megabit per sec download, and 18 megabit per second upload that I expect (and carefully configure all of my hardware to support).
 
  • #52
PAllen said:
I found that the problem with dslreports test for me was simply that there are a couple of versions of it. The flash version is stated as not reliable for high speed connections. The java version is recommended for fiber connections. With that, even over wifi on opposite corner of house from router, I get the 25 megabit per sec download, and 18 megabit per second upload that I expect (and carefully configure all of my hardware to support).
Yes, they let you test dsl/cable, dial up, T1, etc... You need to select your access type. They've changed their tests servers recently. dslreports has been considered the most-ut for many years, but I don't endorse them, I just know of theor reputation and that the old Chicago Sprint server gave me accurate speeds (that is gone now).
 

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