Built in Speed Checker highly inaccurate?

Post new topic   Reply to topic    DD-WRT Forum Index -> General Questions
Author Message
scope2
DD-WRT User


Joined: 12 Jul 2017
Posts: 181

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 10:10    Post subject: Built in Speed Checker highly inaccurate? Reply with quote
Hi,

What is the point of the built in speed checker in DD-WRT? Every time I try it is reporting only 1/3 of the actual speed - for me anyway it is highly inaccurate.

Anybody else experiencing this?
Sponsor
eibgrad
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Sep 2010
Posts: 9157

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 0:01    Post subject: Reply with quote
How do you know it's inaccurate? You must be comparing its results to something else? What is that? What your ISP tells you he's providing? The test results from some other test site? For all I know, it could be that when you test against well known performance testing sites, your ISP *knows* it and purposely removes any governors! Then you test against a site the ISP doesn't recognize and you see the *real* performance. That's why you have to take the results from *any* of these performance testing tools w/ a heavy grain of salt. Way too easy for your ISP to fool you into thinking you're getting all the bandwidth you're paying for.
feliciano
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 24 Oct 2008
Posts: 1079
Location: Latin America

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 0:21    Post subject: Reply with quote
FYI: I have written my own speedtest scripts, and depending on the remote site I use for reference, and/or the methodology used I get different results.

On the other hand, as eibgrad told, normally you don't get the full speed advertised by your ISP, and/or your ISP can throttle your traffic when detecting your are conducting an speedtest. Therefore, regarding overbooking, YMMV.

_________________
If you want support, please read first the announcements and forum rules.
Si usted desea ayuda, por favor lea primero los anuncios y las reglas del foro.
scope2
DD-WRT User


Joined: 12 Jul 2017
Posts: 181

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:25    Post subject: Reply with quote
eibgrad wrote:
How do you know it's inaccurate? You must be comparing its results to something else? What is that? What your ISP tells you he's providing? The test results from some other test site? For all I know, it could be that when you test against well known performance testing sites, your ISP *knows* it and purposely removes any governors! Then you test against a site the ISP doesn't recognize and you see the *real* performance. That's why you have to take the results from *any* of these performance testing tools w/ a heavy grain of salt. Way too easy for your ISP to fool you into thinking you're getting all the bandwidth you're paying for.


Im basing my statement on the fact that I get around 500Mpbs when downloading files, the same when performing speed tests using other means.. The fact that the speed tester on DD-WRT reports only a third is a bit weird.
eibgrad
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Sep 2010
Posts: 9157

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 20:23    Post subject: Reply with quote
The router's speedtest feature is NOT all that useful, even if NOT being governed by your ISP.

Any such test is ultimately limited by the capabilities of the router as a client, which means it doesn't necessarily reflect what some other client behind the router w/ better hardware will experience.

It's the same issue as w/ OpenVPN. As an OpenVPN client, the router is severely hampered when compared to a full-blown PC. With the router hosting the OpenVPN client, my PC gets 25-30Mbps. Host the OpenVPN client on my PC and it's more like 110Mbps (limited by my VPN provider). So clearly the router is *capable* of delivering 110Mbps, but NOT when it's the client. Same thing happens w/ speedtest.

Obviously a better router will perform better, but never as good as your PC. So all in all, the feature has limited usefulness, at least if you want an accurate projection of the performance for your local network devices.

_________________
ddwrt-ovpn-split-basic.sh (UPDATED!) * ddwrt-ovpn-split-advanced.sh (UPDATED!) * ddwrt-ovpn-client-killswitch.sh * ddwrt-ovpn-client-watchdog.sh * ddwrt-ovpn-remote-access.sh * ddwrt-ovpn-client-backup.sh * ddwrt-mount-usb-drives.sh * ddwrt-blacklist-domains.sh * ddwrt-wol-port-forward.sh * ddwrt-dns-monitor.sh (NEW!)
Display posts from previous:    Page 1 of 1
Post new topic   Reply to topic    DD-WRT Forum Index -> General Questions All times are GMT

Navigation

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum