Internet Connection speed tests with HTML5
It makes sense at time to check the connection speed of an Internet connection. Maybe you just got a new line, upgraded an existing one, or are traveling.
Maybe it is just for making sure that you get the advertised connection speed, or making sure that the hotel's Internet connection is sufficient for pushing that Gigabyte video to YouTube or a company server.
Most Internet speed tests up until now used Adobe Flash to power the tests. While that worked, it required Adobe Flash to work at all.
The rise of HTML5 brought along with it services that either added a HTML5 version on top of the existing version, or created new solutions based purely on HTML5.
HTML5 Internet Connection Speed tests
The following guide lists some of the services that provide you with plugin-free speed tests using HTML5.
All tests conducted on an idle machine with 50 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up.
Bandwidth Place
The service tests the upload and download speed, and the ping. The download speed measured was the lowest in the test with 45.12 Mbps. Upload speed was measured at 9.10 Mbps which was also fairly low.
The service allows you to change servers for the test, but result remained the same or were even worse. The site displays quite a few ads around the content area.
Fast
Netflix's Fast.com is the simplest speed test that we have tested for this article. You open it, it starts testing the download speed right away and displays only it in the interface.
It does not display distracting ads on the page, but links to Speedtest.net and Netflix.
The speed was significantly lower than what the line is capable of (46Mbps measured).
Open Speed Test
The service tests the download and upload speed of the Internet connection, and measures the ping while the test is running.
The highest upload and download speed is displayed in the interface afterwards. Options to switch locations are not provided.
The interface is quite messy with lots of ads displayed near the main content area.
Results were fairly accurate. Not as good as Speedof.me, but close enough.
Speedtest Beta
Speedtest by Ookla is one of the most popular Internet connection speed tests. The beta version of the HTML5 version of the service is currently available as an alternative to the Flash-based speed test.
The test checks the latency, upload and download bandwidth. Results were a bit lower on the test device with the download reaching only 47.xx Mbps and the upload only 9.xx Mbps.
You may change the host however either by selecting one of the available hosts from the list or by using search to find another host that is not necessarily in the vicinity.
Settings are provided to change metrics from miles and Mbps to Kilometers and Kbps.
The interface of the speed test is quite messy as well, with loads and loads of ads displayed around the tiny (in comparison) content area.
Speedof.me
The Speedof.me site is only available as a HTML5 version. It tests the latency of the connection as well as upload and download speed using different file sizes.
The site looks somewhat messy with the large ads listed on the left and right of the actual content. The test picks a server closest to your physical location, and updates the data as the test runs.
Results were accurate with upload and download speed correctly maxed out on the test connection. There is no option however to switch servers.
Results may be downloaded as images, PDF or CSV files.
Closing Words
Speedof.me came closest to the actual speed of the Internet connection. While it lacks options to change servers, it was the most accurate HTML5 Internet speed testing service.
Your mileage may vary depending on your location in the world though.
Now You: Do you test your Internet connection speed?
Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.
When will you put an end to the mess in the comments?
Ghacks comments have been broken for too long. What article did you see this comment on? Reply below. If we get to 20 different articles we should all stop using the site in protest.
I posted this on [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/] so please reply if you see it on a different article.
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Article Title: Reddit enforces user activity tracking on site to push advertising revenue
Article URL: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
No surprises here. This is just the beginning really. I cannot see a valid reason as to why anyone would continue to use the platform anymore when there are enough alternatives fill that void.
I’m not sure if there is a point in commenting given that comments seem to appear under random posts now, but I’ll try… this comment is for https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
My temporary “solution”, if you can call it that, is to use a VPN (Mullvad in my case) to sign up for and access Reddit via a European connection. I’m doing that with pretty much everything now, at least until the rest of the world catches up with GDPR. I don’t think GDPR is a magical privacy solution but it’s at least a first step.