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Netflix Debuts 'FAST Speed Test' App for Quick and Simple Internet Speed Checks
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I have Comcrap at the moment and pay way too much for lousy service. Today the test shows 110. Great. Later It will show 25, not good. Very inconsistent. In a month I move to a place where I can get FIOS. They said they only offer 50 Mbps but if it is consistent I think I can live with that, especially because I got a two year contract.
The point is, they probably can't, if the test data looks exactly like Netflix traffic coming from Netflix servers.
I don't understand. Why would Netflix want to fake YOUR download speeds? If you're not getting their content at a healthy data rate, it's not their fault. The problem is with your ISP, and ISPs have been covering up their throttling for years by prioritising speedtest traffic over real traffic such as Netflix streaming.
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Terrible trolling attempt.
[doublepost=1470810611][/doublepost]Pretty accurate for me.
But what the hell is the icon in multitask view? Lol.
https://cordova.apache.org/ Looks like their app is just a thin wrapper that points to fast.com (or at least uses the same HTML and JavaScript).
They must've forgotten to change some of the icon assets, Cordova sets it to the Cordova logo by default for everything (home screen, multi-task view, settings, search)
Clean and simple, the way I like it. I tested it at home this morning and compared it to speedtest.net, which is what I normally use, and they were both very close on their measurements and I was getting speeds better than Charter promises me based on my pricing plan with them.
I can see you are passionate about things being minimal as you invented a word "minimaler" which is more minimal that the traditional method of expressing that concept. ;-)
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I think the point was that by using Netflix API and video data the ISPs can't (easily, maybe possibly) tell the difference between the speed test app and real Netflix viewing thus if they don't throttle the speed test they will not be throttling viewing either.
To add to that, I doubt the ISPs (including cellular) would whitelist this app so it doesn't count against data usage, because there is little difference b/w this and a 'real' Netflix stream. For example, I know that T-Mobile doesn't count data usage on Speedtest's app against your plan, not so sure they could do that with Fast. Going even further... I wonder if Binge-On would have any effect on the results.
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That's always my first thought too is "Don't the ISPs recognize when you're trying to ping SpeedTest's servers and automatically open a fast lane during your test?"
Can anyone with additional knowledge explain if this line of thinking is justified, or even technically possible?
Internet speed test are a funny thing...
I start watching 1080p on Netflix and its butter smooth. I try to watch 2min trailer on Apple Trailers and it get stuck after 30sec. A torrent file can reach speeds of 70mbps while iTunes downloads reach a maximum of 30mbps.
not sure if internet shaping, ISP throttling, different server speeds, or just the nature of the internet
I start watching 1080p on Netflix and its butter smooth. I try to watch 2min trailer on Apple Trailers and it get stuck after 30sec. A torrent file can reach speeds of 70mbps while iTunes downloads reach a maximum of 30mbps.
not sure if internet shaping, ISP throttling, different server speeds, or just the nature of the internet
Terrible trolling attempt.
[doublepost=1470810611][/doublepost]Pretty accurate for me.
But what the hell is the icon in multitask view? Lol.
You really should go through those emails
[doublepost=1470850936][/doublepost]Why isn't this bundled with the current Netflix app instead of a separate app for it?
If domain tasting still exists (I haven't paid attention in a while), it needs to die a fiery death - it's mainly used by domain squatters in order to reap profits from doing nothing useful.
Speedtest showed 170 down while fast showed 140 down. Hmm.
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Notice in the Speedtest URL that comes up that there is a referral from the fast website. So Netflix is probably getting paid every time someone runs fast and then clicks on Speedtest on their website.
[doublepost=1470861539][/doublepost]
I deleted it as soon as I found out that this app works just like the website. I just don't want to clutter my phone with another app. The funny thing is that, the service provides recommendation to a link to compare it to speedtest.net. It's kinda like promoting the competition, it feels like having a yahoo search or bing search link right on google homepage.
Notice in the Speedtest URL that comes up that there is a referral from the fast website. So Netflix is probably getting paid every time someone runs fast and then clicks on Speedtest on their website.
Why does my iPhone always report lower speeds than my MacBook Pro? I'm getting roughly 38 on my iPhone 6 Plus and 68 on my 15" rMBP 2012.
Edit: Hold the phone, I just got 68 on my iPhone...
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F**k, are you in the US? You guys have the best internet speeds. Ours has been below 20 for like a couple years now, we got a new router yesterday and now we're getting a solid 70. But 170?!?!?!?! That's mental. You must never see a loading symbol.
Edit: Hold the phone, I just got 68 on my iPhone...
[doublepost=1470907936][/doublepost]
Terrible trolling attempt.
[doublepost=1470810611][/doublepost]Pretty accurate for me.
But what the hell is the icon in multitask view? Lol.
F**k, are you in the US? You guys have the best internet speeds. Ours has been below 20 for like a couple years now, we got a new router yesterday and now we're getting a solid 70. But 170?!?!?!?! That's mental. You must never see a loading symbol.
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Why do people automatically assume money is involved the minute there's an external link? Netflix refers to speed test for the consumers to be able to compare the hit ratio against Netflix server and local server.
Indeed. It's not like SpeedTest.net charges money to use their tester. I'd hazard a guess that it's there, as the most well-known tester (and the one that cable/dsl companies are most likely to play benchmark games with, like throttling everything except SpeedTest to make themselves look good), to make it easier for folks to make comparisons. This serves as a support/diagnostic tool for Netflix, sure, but it also could cause a bunch of cable/dsl customers to angily ask their ISPs why there's a disparity between the numbers. And I don't think Netflix would mind if that happened.Why do people automatically assume money is involved the minute there's an external link? Netflix refers to speed test for the consumers to be able to compare the hit ratio against Netflix server and local server.
I was a little sad to see that the SpeedTest link in Netflix's app launched a webpage that told me there was a SpeedTest app for iOS (yes, I know), and further clicking took me to the App Store for the app I already have - the SpeedTest folks should add a url-scheme so that Netflix's apps (and anything else) could launch the SpeedTest app directly.
They may have a url scheme but probably don't give access to others?!
I like when good apps do have global url scheme available within their apps.
US is actually often not at the front of it all when it comes to speeds: https://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/global/
Yes, I am in the US on the east coast. I could get around 90mbps before on the iPhone but just got a new 802.11ac router and it makes the iPhone much faster. I'm always hard wired in on the computer, so those speeds I've had for a while. I'm paying around $70-80 a month for 150mbps.
Wow, hadn't seen that one before. Just tried it. Got wildly inaccurate results. Everything else consistently says about 85 Mbps down, 10 up. BandwidthPalace calls it 35 down, 31 up.
Hadn't heard of bandwidthplace.com before. Just tried it and compared it to fast.com and my usual speedtest.net and found it to be inaccurate. I pay for 60Mbps down and 4Mbps up and here are my results.
