Proof that speedtest apps congest the network

[Camcroz]

Alright so I read a post by AJ where he stated that the speedtest app heavily congested the network. I believed it would congest the network a little bit what i found was quite surprising.

 

This first image is of the first speedtest i took. For the first speedtest i was using only 1 device. I was on band 25 at the time

 

 

The next two pictures are 2 seperate devices. I tested both of them on speedtest at the exact same time with both devices still on band 25.

 

 

 

The speeds went down considerably after adding another device. After the 2 devices finished i ran another speedtest again on just 1 device and the speed went back to normal. I ran this test multiple times and came up with the same results. I can only imagine how low the speed would get if we added a third device. This just shows how easy it is for a network to get congested especially a 5x5 network. As much as i love unlimited data, this test is proof that it is bad for the network and probably should be faded out soon.

 

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[nick]

Of course they cause congestion if you stream netflixs on two devices and do a speed test on the third you would have similar results, It is shared bandwidth as you add more users it gets slower. That is while large events kill the network every device looks for push notifications and small data requests it adds up fast and kills it for everyone.

 

 

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[Camcroz]

Of course they cause congestion if you stream netflixs on two devices and do a speed test on the third you would have similar results, It is shared bandwidth as you add more users it gets slower. That is while large events kill the network every device looks for push notifications and small data requests it adds up fast and kills it for everyone.

 

 

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Even netflix isnt as bad. Netflix uses only what it needs which depending on the situation isnt always a lot. Speedtest used the maximum amount of data it can pull from the network. Both definitely cause congestion but AJ was right about just how bad speedtest is

 

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[cletus]

Of course they cause congestion if you stream netflixs on two devices and do a speed test on the third you would have similar results, It is shared bandwidth as you add more users it gets slower. That is while large events kill the network every device looks for push notifications and small data requests it adds up fast and kills it for everyone.

 

 

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Plus what does everyone do at events when they notice a data slowdown? Speedtest to see if they have a slow connection!

[nick]

Plus what does everyone do at events when they notice a data slowdown? Speedtest to see if they have a slow connection!

haha true true

 

 

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[bipbapbam]

Plus what does everyone do at events when they notice a data slowdown? Speedtest to see if they have a slow connection!

I don't see anything wrong with running a speedtest to see what's going on when your phone's performance drops dramatically. You never know if it could be unrelated to the actual internet speed or not. Could be anything to do with your phone reducing the performance. I think it's fine if you're just running one single test. So long as you're not running tests constantly, it shouldn't really be affecting the network that much, considering they only last a few seconds.

[tybo31316]

I stopped running speedtests about a year and a half. The network in my city has improved so much. Any and everything I need to do on my phone works. So as long as I'm connected to LTE it works.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

[markjcc]

Plus what does everyone do at events when they notice a data slowdown? Speedtest to see if they have a slow connection!

They use their phones as normally, then they find out it's slow then they'll run the speedtest to see what's up.

[jefbal99]

The only time I run speed tests any longer is if I need a screenshot to notify Sprint of an issue or I'm tower hunting looking for CA.

[shaferz]

Same. The network improvements have largely negated my desire to run speed tests. That's a good thing. If I'm in a new (to me) area, I'll run a speed test, but beyond that, I find it's not needed.

[Josh]

I completely agree that when a market reaches complete saturation & the majority of customers have a reliable connection for everything they do... it's only us 'wireless enthusiasts' that sporadically check the network. And as sprint fully utilizes the 2.5Ghz spectrum, the draw from a speed test will affect other users less than one will now.

I remember when T-Mobile touted their speed tests, ironically now drawing down overall performance.

The big difference is now that all carriers are utilizing data buckets, many people will voluntarily stop using the apps as the speed increases b/c of how much data it can use in just a few seconds. The opportunity cost of checking a speed will use the same data as streaming another episode of their favorite show.

[mirskyc]

See what happens when you run both speed tests at the same tiime but using different servers. I've notice a lot of the servers around me can't handle multiple tests at once when testing my sprint and t-mobile phone at the same time. 

[S4GRU]

See what happens when you run both speed tests at the same tiime but using different servers. I've notice a lot of the servers around me can't handle multiple tests at once when testing my sprint and t-mobile phone at the same time.

This is true. But this is hard for comparison purposes, as different servers typically produce dissimilar results. My closest server in South Dakota will show 18Mbps but a server 400 miles away in Denver can show 30Mbps. And changing servers around Colorado can produce a variety of 15-30Mbps results. And each will be consistent to itself.

 

Using Tapatalk on BlackBerry Z30

[mirskyc]

When I'm bored I run speed tests on my spare Nexus 6 with a t-mobile SIM in it. t-mobile whitelists the app and allows you to run tests without even paying for service.  I like to think that I'm slowing down there network and causing people to switch to Sprint.

[Camcroz]

When I'm bored I run speed tests on my spare Nexus 6 with a t-mobile SIM in it. t-mobile whitelists the app and allows you to run tests without even paying for service. I like to think that I'm slowing down there network and causing people to switch to Sprint.

Yes and i have an unlimited data with sprint. When im bored i run nonstop speedtests so that i can hopefully slow the network down just enough that everyone switches to t-mobile

 

[emoji6]

 

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[nick]

Yes and i have an unlimited data with sprint. When im bored i run nonstop speedtests so that i can hopefully slow the network down just enough that everyone switches to t-mobile

 

[emoji6]

 

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what a great productive use of free time both of you!