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FCC Asks Americans to Use FCC Speed Test App to Measure U.S. Broadband Availability
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I'm cynical but I don't think they necessarily want great data, there's data available from other sources. I think they're looking for data that can be cherry picked to use as a club against organizations they dislike.
Because democracy produces great governance?
Following and reading the links, especially the MBAP one, was interesting.
Undecided if I will participate.
Undecided if I will participate.
If they made an iOS app, isn't making an M1 app almost no work at all?
Wasn’t this what Net Neutrality did/was supposed to do? (Not to get political on whether you think it was a good or bad idea).
I’ve heard for best results, the user should be vaccinated and keep their arm close to the smartphone. I’m not sure why...
PS I’m joking folks, get yourself vaccinated!! 😃
PS I’m joking folks, get yourself vaccinated!! 😃
I'm just wondering. What'll stop the internet providers from kicking you into the fastlane whenever they detect a connection to an FCC server?
FCC: Apparently everyone in the US has 1 gigabit up and down.
FCC: Apparently everyone in the US has 1 gigabit up and down.
I'm not downloading an app for this.
There's no reason they couldn't have made it a simple website-based test like fast.com if they wanted maximum participation.
There's no reason they couldn't have made it a simple website-based test like fast.com if they wanted maximum participation.
The app isn't just available for iOS.
Original FCC Speed Test App FAQs
What is Measuring Broadband America's mobile performance testing all about?
Why the heck does it need to be app to begin with?
Neither Ookla nor Fast need an app.
Neither Ookla nor Fast need an app.
You can view the data:
www.fcc.gov
Measuring Broadband America Mobile Data
Measuring Broadband America (MBA) is an ongoing, rigorous nationwide study of consumer broadband performance in the United States. In September 2012, the FCC expanded the program to include information on mobile broadband service performance in the United States. The program uses the FCC Speed...
For those interested, here's what the app will collect:
https://www.fcc.gov/general/mobile-broadband-performance-application-privacy-notice-and-terms-use
What I think is interesting is this section:
So from this, it seems like the app runs continuously on it own. That's a bit odd.
https://www.fcc.gov/general/mobile-broadband-performance-application-privacy-notice-and-terms-use
What I think is interesting is this section:
So from this, it seems like the app runs continuously on it own. That's a bit odd.
If anything, ISPs will throttle the connection.
Slow connection = more federal funding
Remember the 1990s and the $400 billion fiber optic scam by providers? Most areas are still copper.
Used the FCC app to do a speed test and these are my results:
FCC - 10.8 down 6.93 up 41.5 latency and 12.7 jitter. No packet loss
Speedtest - 19.4 down 7.02 up 31 latency and 7.5 jitter. No packet loss
I literally had the phone on my desk, opened FCC and ran it, then opened speedtest and ran it.
FCC - 10.8 down 6.93 up 41.5 latency and 12.7 jitter. No packet loss
Speedtest - 19.4 down 7.02 up 31 latency and 7.5 jitter. No packet loss
I literally had the phone on my desk, opened FCC and ran it, then opened speedtest and ran it.
Installing a Google app on your smartphone - what a GREAT idea. </sarcasm>
Or from any popular site that logs such data, like Netflix or Youtube. Indeed, I bet the FCC has the power to compel the ISPs to log and provide this data anyway. Seems really odd to release a janky app like this.
Already covered, but 1) this doesn't need to be an app, and 2) just buy that data.
Waste of FCC money.
Waste of FCC money.
Not necessarily, but at least there's a modicum of accountability.
The carriers provide "best case scenario" data which does not align with reality. And in some cases they don't even know what connections they actually have available in a given location. Here's a fun little romp by way of example: https://arstechnica.com/information...months-without-internet-despite-5000-payment/
Ars Technica's coverage of this stuff is top-notch, by the way. The more you learn, the less sense it makes to trust the telecoms to police themselves.
"...we are working to build a comprehensive, user-friendly dataset..." because we love our lists.
It's worth a shot to crowd source it, but they'd probably get more valid results grant funding a university to do a study.
Potentially but can go both ways. People with bad service may be more likely to download it in order to show the FCC how bad their service, in hopes it helps get them to push for better speeds.