Netflix's Fast.com Internet Speed Test gets better
There are numerous services on the Internet to test the Internet speed of any device you are using. While you had to use programs that supported certain technologies in the early days of the Internet -- Flash for instance -- it is no longer the case for the majority of Internet Speed Tests out there as they are based on HTML5 nowadays which any modern browser supports.
The functionality differs from test to test but the bulk tests upload and download speed to a particular server on the Internet. Some services may check the reliability of the Internet connection as well by checking the latency and other metrics that impact it.
The streaming service Netflix launched Fast.com some time ago to provide anyone, and not only customers, with options to test the Internet speed of their devices. Fast.com was a pretty basic service when it was first launched. Fast.com tested the download speed only and displayed its findings in the interface.
Netflix announced yesterday that more than half a billion speed tests were conducted on Fast.com and that usage of the service doubled in the past seven months. Users requested more information about the Internet connection and Netflix complied by integrating two new features:
- Fast.com measures the upload bandwidth of the Internet connection.
- Fast.com displays the latency of the connection.
The service runs the download speed test right away when you visit the website. You can click on the "show more info" button to display latency information and have the service run the upload speed test.
Fast.com differentiates between unloaded and loaded latency; Netflix explains the difference in the following way:
Unloaded latency measures the round-trip time of a request when there is no other traffic present on a user’s network, while loaded latency measures the round-trip time when data-heavy applications are being used on the network.
Netflix notes that big differences between loaded and unloaded latency values could be the cause for issues that users experience when they stream video or use other bandwidth-taxing activities on their devices.
A click on the settings link opens the preferences; you may use them to change the following parameters of the test:
- Change the number of minimum and maximum parallel connections. Default 1 to 8.
- Change the minimum and maximum test duration. Default 5 to 30 seconds.
- Enable the measuring of the loaded latency during uploads.
- Always show all metrics right away.
- Save the configuration for the device.
Closing Words
The new functionality improves Fast.com's Internet Speed test significantly as it tests the upload speed of the Internet connection and displays the latency as well.
Now You: Do you use speed tests?
I get “Backend not available” with the rest of the page totally blank :-)
I don’t understand this value
internet speed com
The figures that I am getting from the Netflix measurements site are not correct I am getting:
Latency: Upload (Ping) 10ms, Speed 180 Mbps Upload: speed 19 ms.
After testing a few seconds after the Netflix test under the same conditions with other sources (like Ookla and speedtest.net.in) I am getting main normale figures who are at least.
Latency: Upload (Ping) 9ms, Speed 208 Mbps Upload: speed 20.50 ms.
How are those figures explained from Netflix? Why are they so low?
When I would like to make a funny remark could I say they are about the same quality as there tv series and movies?
Only that pothead from the tv stand up show Real Time with Bill Maher is funny on Netflix. But that’s main personal point of view! :-)
Speedtest has nothing to do with Netflix test.
Speedtest usually meseaurs the speed to your ISP’s servers which are not real world Internet network speed as you connect to many other servers, like ghacks… try test connecting to a server in Antarctica or Tokyo…
Netflix tests the speed of their streaming service from their own servers which could be thousans miles away from you. For an ok Netflix service speed should be about 25Mbps.
Like me I have Extreme 350 internet. i have found an issue that i believe to be Comcast. if you dont change anything it does one single connection and it will run slow, today it will slow way down to 25 Mbps. if i put in 24 parallel connections MIN and 36 Max, i get a steady 350-360 floating and i did a min 500 Sec test. WATCHOUT that consumes about 25Gb of data so if your one that is capped it will eat your data VERY fast. I have unlimited still and so i was stress testing my connection. being able to put as many parallel connections as i want allows me to speed up the connection. I have 1Gb at work and I have to use 48 parallel connections min to get that full speed. At the same time though if you put more then you can handle then you will slow your self down. so it’s a balance to know how many parallel connections you need for your speed. rule of thumb, add about 6 each time until you get stable and run the test for a min of 120 seconds to get a steady number.
I’ve been relying on https://speedof.me
for quite a while but fast.com appears to be a little more configurable.
Thanks for posting this.
My favorite speed test is:
https://testmy.net/
I find a lot to like in their statistics and historical record keeping
I just discovered TestMy.net and indeed seems complete, interesting.
jio fast internet
speed just
How are they able to compute the “loaded” value?
Interesting fast.com says 80 mb/s while Bing and others say 100 mb/s or more.
I get significantly lower download speed with Fast.com than with Speedtest.net (180MB/s vs. 193MB/s)
My DL/UL speed testers :
1- Speedtest by Ookla (HTML5) at http://www.speedtest.net/
2- SpeedOf.Me Speed Test (HTML5) at https://speedof.me/
3- Bandwith Place Speed Test (HTML5) at https://www.bandwidthplace.com/
4- TestMy.net Upload Speed Test at https://testmy.net/upload
5- DSLReports Speed test at https://www.dslreports.com/speedtest
6- Fast Internet Speed Test at https://fast.com/en/#
All are considered should the first (Ookla) provide an unusual result, which never happens with regular 190+MB/s and 17+MB/s speed results.
Ookla gives me the results I expect using a server 100 miles away by default. Fast IS uses by default a server 1900 miles away for me. Naturally its numbers are significantly lower.
Can you try testing with https://whatismyip.live/speed-test and let me know what results do you get.
@Katherine, not sure if you were asking chesscanoe or me.
Testing https://whatismyip.live/speed-test gives me similar results to Ookla (190MB+ & 17MB+) and indicates their server as located in Saarbrücken, Germany with my IP in France.
@Tom Hawack – Thanks for listing the speed testing sites, it was interesting to see my results. I’m wondering why all of them except DSLReports.com and SpeedTest.net give such poor results. On those two sites (as well as SpeedTest.net’s Windows 10 app) my U/D results are around 80Mbps/90Mbps. The rest of the bunch give me U/D results of about 30Mbps/30Mbps.
@Keith S.
First, you’ve got similar DL and UL flows which is a good thing. I’d prefer to have 80/80 as you than my 190/17.
As for the differences from one speed tester to another I guess as others have suggested that it’s related to the servers used by those testers, be they far or near from your computer location.
Netflix speed test is a joke.
The article tells you to “change” the 4 values under ‘settings’.
Do we increase them? Decrease them?
“Change” them to what????
Ugh.
I still do not know what the numbers at the bottom of the fast.com screen mean? 30MB and 9.5MB
Latency is the time (in milliseconds) that it takes for the ping to return to the computer.
Also, check this one – https://www.netspeed.xyz/
Thanks