mybroadbandspeed - when is it going to be fixed?

[#1]

Without changing gateway in the past few days MBS has reported download speeds of 1836kbps and around 8600kbps - it's pretty obvious when it's struggling as it lags and jerks its way through the test before delivering its fantasy figure!
The BT performance tester also seems prone to the odd peculiar result (or being unable to display the results even though it has carried out the tests.)
Speedtest.net always seems to deliver similar results (they might not be accurate but at least they're consistent and it doesn't seem prone to "bad hair days"!)  

[#2]

I'm on 20CN with a rock solid 8128 sync (interleaving off). The current connection has been up for nearly 38 days to gateway pcl-ag04. I have the Pro add-on and in addition I'm on Max Premium which also gives higher priority on the BT network. If anyone should get consistent good speeds it should be me.
Now look at the graph of MyBroadbandSpeed results!

[#3]

I have moved to using JDAutoSpeedTester for testing my connection. Its definitely worth a try
Regards Mike
http://www.gmwsoftware.co.uk/
With this free program you can do regular internet speed tests in the background. It logs all your data and enables you to see at a glance what your speeds are doing over the course of the hour/day/week/month etc. It will test your download & upload speeds your ping times, packet loss and jitter.
It will generate a CSV log file for all this data and also present you with a graphical representation. you can also create screen shots of the graph & the manual results window.
    Test download speed from a list of supplied default servers
    Test Upload speed to a donated testing server
    Test Ping, Pkloss & Jitter to/from any applicable URL
    Add any user chosen test file URL’s
    Test download speed from multiple servers with each test
    Test download & upload speeds from/to personal servers
    Test all, some or just one attribute (DL, UL, Ping, Pkloss, Jitter)
    Load results log into any program that supports .CSV
    Send automated emails when thresholds are reached

[#4]

That's a neat little app....thanks Mike

[#5]

Just to add my two cents:
I am finding that mybroadbandspeed sometimes works quite well (right now for instance), but at other times it records my speed as low as 1-2Mb/s whereas other speed testers record speeds of 4-5Mbps (as I would expect). I only noticed this in the last couple of weeks, however mybroadbandspeed is often quite slow and sometimes it doesn't load (a few refreshes usually sorts it). This is coming from a non-Plusnet connection, but I had the same issues on a Plusnet connection so it isn't something that is only affecting Plusnet users.
I like to use mybroadbandspeed instead of sites like speedtest.net because mybroadbandspeed is much quicker.
Right now I am using http://speedtest.bbmax.co.uk which always gives an accurate result. I would recommend this speed test until the mybroadbandspeed issues are fixed.

[#6]

Quote from: Router

Right now I am using http://speedtest.bbmax.co.uk which always gives an accurate result. I would recommend this speed test until the mybroadbandspeed issues are fixed.

I agree, that one does seem to return consistent results, even at FTTC 80Mb speeds, and is very fast.

[#7]

Suddenly, it starts giving accurate results:

It won't last though.

[#8]

You're right, just got 61 meg out of it as opposed to the 4 meg it was giving earlier.

[#9]

yep!! same here very erratic but OK today so far.Ted

[#10]

Quote from: ITWorks

I have moved to using JDAutoSpeedTester for testing my connection. Its definitely worth a try Regards Mike http://www.gmwsoftware.co.uk/

Looks very interesting, thanks.

[#11]

mybroadbandspeed still far slower than other tests here.

[#12]

Quote from: jelv

Even on a 20CN line the results are half what they should be. The results it gives are seriously misleading. Until it is fixed it should be closed down and the link from the members centre redirected to some other tester that actually works!

There was a service status posted back in February during a period of time when the BT Speedtester was having problems. This was driving traffic to mybroadbandspeed.co.uk and putting the boxes under a lot of load.
Since then the boxes are no longer under load but there is definitely congestion upstream and we recognise that the speedtester is returning unreliable and misleading results.
As far as I've been able to tell, the problem stems from the fact that the platform needs scaling. In its current form it's not capable of handling the traffic. We probably need more boxes and the service needs switching to a higher capacity area of our network.
I suspect the bulk of the problem is due to ta bottle neck further upstream rather than an issue with the boxes themselves.
I have been discussing this with a few people in the office as we need to make a call on what to do. Either invest time/money into fixing the service, take it offline, or restrict it to Plusnet IP addresses or similar. We also need to consider what we do with all the linking that's done to the site from places like the Member Centre, Faults Checker and Help & Support pages.
I have serious concerns about taking offline completely because the site generates a hell of a lot of third party traffic and has a very desirable search ranking. Taking the site offline will damage this and harm any future plans to capitalise on the SEO traffic by branding/linking back from the site.
As soon as I know what's happening I'll be sure to let people know. I'll have a look at getting a Service Status out ...

[#13]

Thanks for the explanation, Bob. This morning it's back to reporting 4Mbps download for me vs 61Mbps on speedtest.net. I'm surprised mybroadbandspeed.co.uk has no apparent Plusnet branding on it, but under the circumstances it's probably just as well!

[#14]

Quote from: Bob

As soon as I know what's happening I'll be sure to let people know. I'll have a look at getting a Service Status out ...

OK, I can't say when it's going to be fixed, but what do people think to us chucking a caveat on the site as per the attached screengrab?

[#15]

Not ideal, but a heck of a lot better than nothing!
Could you make it a pop-up so that you can be sure it is read?