Speedtest weirdness

[JImDonahue]

My Orbi gives Speedtest reading of around 50Mb down, but when I run Speedtest on my iPad I get download  readings more like 600Mb. The upload readings from the two tests are very close. 

[plemans]

The built in speedtest isn't that accurate because of how it chooses test servers. If it chooses the closest server but that server is running slow, you get inaccurate readings. 

the one you use off the speedtest app works better and is more accurate. 

[JImDonahue]

This seems to have changed recently. I've been using Speedtest on Orbi for several months and never saw this behavior. And why should the Orbi version choose servers any differently than the Speedtest IOS app?

[plemans]

Because the orbi speedtest thats built in uses a different algorithm to determine which to test off than what the actual speedtest app uses. 

It might have been testing off a server and a new one was added that doesn't have the same capability.

Or the one it used to test off is having issues. 

but if the actual speedtest site is giving you the results you expect, thats what I'd go off. 

[JImDonahue]

Not much of an answer... The numbers reported vary by almost two orders of magnitude, and are way off from what the correct answer seems to be. So the Speedtest on the Orbi is worthless.

I have two Orbis -- same model running same software connected to what should be the same Xfinity service (600Mb/sec). One gives consistent Speedtest results, the other one doesn't. Sure smells like a bug...

[plemans]

Its an issue of how the orbi speedtest detects what server to use. Its why we don't usually recommend the built in test. For some devices it works great. That could be because its algorithim is choosing a server that can handle the load. For others, not so great. 

So just don't trust the built in test. Use an actual speedtest app or the browser.