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INTERNET TESTING
here for the Advanced Javascript version which requires Netscape 3+ with JAVA Script enabled (or compatible).
Important: Except for the Route Delay Test, when testing a second time first Clear or Switch off any Browser Cache, otherwise information may be taken from the Cache and give false test results. Do not run these tests unnecessarily, try to preserve the Internet's capacity.
You will need to record the number of seconds each test takes to complete so that you can compare performance from time to time. (If you use MS Windows you could set the Clock provided to "Digital" and "Always on Top").
The process of fetching a Web Site Page is split into three test areas as follows:
There is a section below explaining each test with press button to take you to each test. We recommend you read about each test first.
Use this test to compare Page Request Delays between different Connection Providers and times of day.
This test attempts to show the time taken for the Overall System to locate, organise and start the delivery of WEB Pages. This work normally includes:This aspect is tested by automatically making the Users Browser load 10 very small test pages (around 200 bytes each) one after the other. When you press the test button above you will be presented with a simple green Start Test page, start timing as soon as you press the start button. You should then see plain Red and Blue test pages display automatically 10 times before you are presented with the green Stop Test page. As soon as you see the green colour of the Stop Page, stop timing.
For many Users the 10 page test will take between 30 and 90 seconds, around 50 seconds will be typical for many with modem type connections.
The speed of your local Internet connection is not very significant because the time taken for this test is due mainly to Overall Network Processing and Starting of each Page (using a 33.6K modem 200 bytes of page information can transfer faster than 0.05 seconds).
The speed of your computer and browser software will make a much more significant difference to this test. For example, when in depth testing using a humble 33mhz 486 with 8 meg Ram the...
Netscape V2 processing time overhead was 0.4 seconds per test page.
Microsoft's Explorer V3 processing time overhead was 1.3 seconds per test page.
NB: If you would like to discover your Computer and Browser processing overhead for this test, here to download (pagetest.zip) the test file set and run the test from within your computer, instructions are enclosed in the file readme.htm within the zip file, which you can load and read in your browser.
Use this test to determine and compare effective connection speed.
This test loads a large (80,000 byte) calibrated gif image into the test page. By timing how long all or a portion takes to display you can calculate the effective overall network connection speed in bytes per second. Be ready to start timing as soon as you see the image start to display (top right of test page).
The test and results are explained in more detail on the test page itself with other usefull information.
Images (eg: gif) are typically only compressed 5% by modems, so this test gives a good indication of the effective connection speed between the Web Site and the Browser Display. Older (lower than 100 mhz) computers may add significant delay to results. You can get an indication of the this delay by running the test again allowing the browser to load the test page and image from the browser cache.
Results will also vary greatly between Connections and Time of Day. Some parts of the day the Internet can be very busy with normaly expected performance falling 50% or more.
Also use this test to determine and compare effective connection speed and the effect of any compression.
This test loads a large (80,000 byte) calibrated hidden text test page. By timing how long all or a portion takes to display you can calculate the effective overall network connection speed in bytes per second. Be ready to start timing as soon as you see the word START appear which is followed by a count in 4000 byte increments.
The test and results are explained in more detail on the test page itself with other usefull information.
Text is typically compressed 60% (or more) by modems, so this test gives a good indication of the effective connection speed any compression gives. As in the previous test, older pre pentium computers may add significant delay to results. You can get an indication of this delay by running the test again allowing the browser to load the test page from the browser cache.
Results will also vary greatly between Connections and Time of Day. Some parts of the day the Internet can be very busy with normaly expected performance falling 50% or more.
Use this test to discover changes in Route performance which can have a major influence on Page Speed.
This test traces each Internet Route Server from the Adindex Server to your Connection Service Provider. Each route server is tested three times to discover how much time each takes to process a simple data transfer request (3 x Ping 40 byte packets).
Please note the performance of the first Adindex route server on the list. This can be more than 100 times faster than other servers on the list.
You will be able to see if your Service Providers Connection Server (last on the list) is particularly fast or slow. The test may take a minute, so please wait, if the test hangs it will normally be due to route server performance problems. You may find it better to print the Report Page that follows landscape (sideways) and study it at your leisure.
Each Route Server is identified by its Name and network address followed by three timings in thousandths of seconds (ms) on the same line. These times will vary depending upon how busy the Route Server is at any moment. Sometimes one or more Route Servers will be too overworked to respond and the missing time will be replaced by a * (star) which may sometimes appear at the start of a line.
Sometimes the cause of very slow pages is overworked or broken down Route Servers.
Occasional delay problems will always occur as they do in all well used network systems. Delay problems can sometimes be identified to your connection providers own Route Servers or Choice of Route. Serious and Frequent delays should be fixed, contact your connection provider, explain your information and ask them to find a solution such as an alternative route or upgrading their equipment.
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