Connection Analysis

 

SQTR01: The data flow for this test is too erratic.

Consider two competing Internet Service Providers (ISPs A and B) offering, what on the surface seems to be, the identical broadband services of 3 Mbit per second. However, ISP A delivers a consistent throughput of 3 Mbps for each and every second, whereas ISP B offers an inconsistent throughput of 5 Mbps in the first second, 1 Mbps in the second, 3 Mbps in the third, 4 Mbps in the fourth and 2 Mbps in the fifth, as depicted in the graphs below.



Over a full five second period both ISPs have delivered 15 Mbps of data (average of 3 Mbps), but which ISP is offering the better Internet service overall? If your Internet usage is simply browsing websites and downloading files then you are unlikely to notice much difference in the services offered by these two competing ISPs. It could be argued that ISP B would provide a better browsing service as more data can transfer in the first second making web page retrieval a little quicker. However if, as many businesses do, you run applications that are geared to a real-time environment such as multimedia applications, video, online conferencing and VoIP telephony, then the consistent service offered by ISP A will deliver a dramatically better quality of service than the fluctuating service offered by ISP B.

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