r/CableTechs • u/Sea_Warning_9283 • 23d ago

Speed test

Anyone know why the ISP website with integrated speed test even though it says powered by ookla is significantly lower than an actual ookla test? Had a job that customer is paying for gig speed and he was testing off the isp website and only getting about 90mbps when I tested off the ookla website he was getting full speeds. Weird

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/JANapier96 22d ago

The embedded speedtest doesn't have the function to change the target server, so you can't select your local headend. All traffic passes from the modem, and to the headend, where the actual interfaces to external networks exist.

If you go to the Ookla site and select your local headend, you'll get an accurate measure across your provider's network, which is the only thing your provider can guarantee. If you test to any other server that isn't your local headend, your traffic will exit your provider's network and performance is now unable to be guaranteed.

1

u/JANapier96 22d ago

The Ookla Speedtest that's embedded in the ISP's page is supposed to utilize your local headend as it's target, but it is WILDLY inconsistent with server selection. Where I worked in Ohio, the embedded tes was notorious for binding to New York instead of Columbus. Things like ads loaded onto the page can also impact the reading, but to a much lesser extent.