Speedtest.net Produces Different Results Using Different Browers

[Totster]

Ok, Have been using Speedtest.net and have been seeing differing results when using Google Chrome and Firefox, not a small discrepancy.. but in some cases huge.

Google Chrome

Firefox 3.5.7

So, which one is my correct speed ?

Is it something to do with google caching ?

totster

[Supernova]

Check your browser proxy settings.

I have my browsers setup where IE is configured to use a proxy, while Firefox doesn't.

[Totster]

I don't use any proxies

totster

[welo]

I suggest doing a test run of 10 tests alternating between Chrome and Firefox, then calculate the average for each browser and compare again.

Of course each test must be finished before starting the next one.

I would be surprised if the result will still show a clear advantage for one browser, but I might be wrong...

welo

[Totster]

I suggest doing a test run of 10 tests alternating between Chrome and Firefox, then calculate the average for each browser and compare again.

Of course each test must be finished before starting the next one.

I would be surprised if the result will still show a clear advantage for one browser, but I might be wrong...

welo

I have already done more than 10 tests in a row alternating as you suggest.. the results remain constant. The result favors google chrome at around 1 Mb/s faster.

totster

[Totster]

To prove my point.. I changed to the BKK server and ran 5 tests on each browser, alternating.

TEST 1

Chrome

FF

TEST 2

Chrome

FF

TEST 3

Chrome

FF

TEST 4

Chrome

FF

TEST 5

Chrome

FF

Totster

[george]

Very strange indeed. Could it be that Chrome has so much higher throughput? I can't believe that...

[Totster]

Just thought I'd do one from using speedtest.thaivisa.com - Singapore server

CHROME

Download Speed: 3331 kbps (416.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 553 kbps (69.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 391 ms

at Feb 13 2010 14:47:33

FF

Download Speed: 1079 kbps (134.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 423 kbps (52.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 830 ms

13 February 2010 14:48:55

Totster

[Spoonman]

Bizzare, I get the same results with chrome being faster than FF.

Chrome

Firefox

[MikeWill]

Have you tried to use IE?

Here are my results:

FF

Download Speed: 1741 kbps (217.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 377 kbps (47.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 326 ms

13 February, 2010 2:53:58 PM

--

GC

Download Speed: 2310 kbps (288.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 387 kbps (48.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 216 ms

Sat Feb 13 2010 14:56:17 GMT+0700 (SE Asia Standard Time)

--

IE

Download Speed: 1739 kbps (217.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 367 kbps (45.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 212 ms

13 February, 2010 2:58:24 PM

Edited February 13, 2010 by Condo_bk

[george]

Thaivisa speedtest BKK

FF:

Download Speed: 1087 kbps (135.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 323 kbps (40.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 708 ms

Saturday, February 13, 2010 14:53:50

Crome:

Download Speed: 1271 kbps (158.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 316 kbps (39.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 525 ms

Sat Feb 13 2010 14:54:37 GMT+0700 (SE Asia Standard Time)

[Totster]

Have you tried to use IE?

IE

CHROME

FF

Totster

[Totster]

Well.. even curiouser..

I uploaded an image here earlier, so I thought I would run another test

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...t&p=3338299

I first downloaded it using FF and monitored the speed using a network monitor widgit I have on the desktop. With FF the download speed was around 400-600kbps.

I then downloaded the same image using Chrome, and witnesses the speed between 1.5mb/s and 2.1mb/s

Can anyone explain this ?

Totster

[spacemunk]

this is interesting.

i may download chrome and try it

[Supernova]

Speed test using 4 different browsers: IE8, Firefox, Safari, Chrome.

IE8:

FF:

AS:

GC:

[Supernova]

Having run repeated tests with Chrome, the results fall within 1.8Mbps ~ 1.9Mbps range. My highest result almost hit the 2Mbps mark.

My speedtest average (for all other browsers) is 1.75Mbps ~ 1.78Mbps.

[george]

Could it be that the Flash in Chrome is much faster/better than in IE, FF?

[Totster]

My results just now

Chrome

FF

Totster

[Totster]

Could it be that the Flash in Chrome is much faster/better than in IE, FF?

Don't think so, as I did a another test using an uploaded pic to TV. See a few posts back

Totster

[Totster]

Check out the difference to the UK

Chrome

FF

Totster

[Supernova]

Here are my results to the UK -- ran multiple tests with no real discrepancies... Chrome peaks out at 1.80Mbps, with an overall average of 1.77Mbps which is normal.

FF:

Chrome:

[filingaccount]

Disable addons one by one then running a speedtest in between each addon disabled.

Firefox great Achilles heel is the addons, you can install any number of them that are coded poorly and slows you down online.

[Pib]

I use IE8, but decided to download Chrome today and accomplished some speedtest.net tests between the two browsers. It only took a few minutes to download and install Chrome--painless. I'm in Bangkok, my ISP is JI-NET, and I use a 2048Mbps/512Mbps service. I ran tests to Atlanta, San Francisco, Bangkok, London, and Denver, and I ran each test 3 times to each location on each browser. With the exception of the test to Bangkok/in country, Chrome significantly outperformed IE8 in download speed (sometimes up to twice as fast) and upload speed was basically equal. For the Bangkok test the download/uploads speeds were basically equal. Below are my results.

Speedtest IE8 Chrome

Server Download/Upload/Ping Download/Upload/Ping Approx Time

Atlanta 0.86 / 0.34 / 305 1.72 / 0.31 / 302 2:45pm

0.84 / 0.24 / 303 1.75 / 0.33 / 302

0.83 / 0.36 / 304 1.80 / 0.31 / 303

San Fran 0.91 / 0.30 / 240 0.96 / 0.35 / 238 2:50pm

0.91 / 0.37 / 241 1.56 / 0.35 / 260

0.79 / 0.37 / 239 1.49 / 0.39 / 238

Bangkok 1.70 / 0.36 / 25 1.76 / 0.46 / 34 2:55pm

1.70 / 0.42 / 25 1.80 / 0.42 / 35

1.71 / 0.38 / 24 1.74 / 0.42 / 35

London 1.06 / 0.25 / 497 1.80 / 0.28 / 486 3:00pm

1.09 / 0.12 / 497 1.84 / 0.26 / 494

1.02 / 0.12 / 497 2.10 / 0.24 / 486

Denver 0.95 / 0.26 / 533 2.08 / 0.13 / 527 3:10pm

0.98 / 0.12 / 533 2.09 / 0.14 / 528

0.99 / 0.12 / 532 2.16 / 0.14 / 528

Now, I'm still testing IE8 and Chrome via general internet browsing but initial tests seem to be telling my eyes/brain that web pages are appearing faster with Chrome. Even doing some YouTube video testing and Chrome seems to be doing better there also. I'll know more in a few days as I definitely want to see if Chrome is definitely faster than IE8, and initial tests seem to indicate Chrome is faster--at least on my machine.

For those folks out there with only one browser loaded and want to do some testing, there shouldn't be any problem in loading IE8, Chrome "and" Firefox as they run as completely separate programs--you can even run them at the same time. I know that running IE8 and Chrome on my Windows-based machine for the last two hours or so hasn't caused any problem. Heck, I may even download Firefox and give it a try.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Pib

[Spoonman]

Defo something not right with FF

FF

Chrome

[Totster]

Disable addons one by one then running a speedtest in between each addon disabled.

Firefox great Achilles heel is the addons, you can install any number of them that are coded poorly and slows you down online.

I have disabled ALL my Firefox addons, below are the results.

Firefox

Chrome

As you can see, Chrome is still faster

Totster

[Supernova]

I'm still testing IE8 and Chrome via general internet browsing but initial tests seem to be telling my eyes/brain that web pages are appearing faster with Chrome. Even doing some YouTube video testing and Chrome seems to be doing better there also. I'll know more in a few days as I definitely want to see if Chrome is definitely faster than IE8, and initial tests seem to indicate Chrome is faster--at least on my machine.

You're not the only one to experience this... Every machine capable of running Chrome will notice a marked improvement in web page rendering speed due to superior JavaScript performance. This is perhaps the single most important reason why Chrome outperforms other browsers.

[Supernova]

Firefox great Achilles heel is the addons, you can install any number of them that are coded poorly and slows you down online.

While I agree with this statement, I can't say I've ran into many poorly coded addons; and those that do cause trouble usually crash the browser. At present, I'm using over 20 extensions without experiencing any slow downs. One thing you could do to speed things up is to enable pipelining in Firefox. Pipelining won't do anything to improve 'speedtest' results, but you should notice faster web page rendering. Give it a try; you can always revert back to the default settings if you run into problems.

1. Type "about:config" (without quotes) in the Firefox address bar;

2. In the Filter search box, type: network.http

3. Modify the following preferences (double-click to modify) -

network.http.keep-alive = true

(Default = true)

network.http.pipelining = true

(Default = false)

network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = 8

(Default = 4)

network.http.proxy.pipelining = true

(Default = false)

network.http.version = 1.1

(Default = 1.1)

When you're done, close and restart Firefox. Happy browsing!

[spacemunk]

Download Chrome and tested.

No diff in speeds with FF/Chrome. Both got the same speeds.

[lomatopo]

You're not the only one to experience this... Every machine capable of running Chrome will notice a marked improvement in web page rendering speed due to superior JavaScript performance. This is perhaps the single most important reason why Chrome outperforms other browsers.

According to some articles I just searched for and read, Google's V8 Java Script engine seems to be the primary reason for these varying speedtest results.

http://code.google.com/p/v8/

I've always wondered what these speedtest sites purport to actually measure? I guess I always assumed it was some snapshot of available throughput, but that was a poor assumption.

[Totster]

Unbelievable..

Chrome

FF

Totster