| Bandwidth Speed Testers | |
| Evaluation 1 - Toast.net | |
| As discussed in Part 1, so-called bandwidth/speed test services provide one way to measure the performance of an Internet connection. Some tests give more accurate results than others, but the merits of these services are difficult to compare directly because each offers a unique implementation and set of features. | |
This article presents the results of evaluation one such service, the Toast.net speed test. MethodologyThe evaluation employed a V.90 standard 56Kbps modem and Internet access via Earthlink, a reliable ISP in the USA. Tests were conducted at off-peak hours (between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM EDT) on a week-day (Wednesday 9 May 2001). These parameters were chosen because they represent a common configuration with minimal Internet service disruptions. Toast.net ConfigurationToast.net presents several configuration options on its main page as shown below. First, a person may enter the name of their ISP in the text field. Toast.net apparently uses this data for tracking purposes only; the field may be left blank or any nonsense value can be entered without affecting the results of the test.
Next, a person selects their connection type from the list below. These choices represent the variety of connections that Toast.net should be able to analyze. As with the ISP setting, Toast.net provides this option for tracking purposes only.
Finally, a person must specify the Web server to be used in the test. As shown below, Toast.net offers several choices optimized for their customers. As a non-customer, the choice of Web server can still affect test results, due to geographic location or server load, as is true with all speed tests of this type. For benchmark purposes, these tests used the Toast.net Basic Hosting option.
Next page > Toast.net: The Results! > Page 1, 2, 3, 4
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