Shaw Speedtest

[atleerj]

OK, dumb question here.  The numbers on the "speedometer" dial and the summary graph --- what the heck are they?  They look like they run from zero to 100 on a logarithmic scale.  Zero to 100 percent?  Of what?

[shaw-tony]

@atleerj if you are talking about https://speedtest.shaw.ca/ the dial shows up to 100 Mbps transfer rates. Faster internet speeds may exceed that dial. 

[atleerj · Accepted solution]

OK thanks for that.   The beef really was (and remains) there is no unit shown on the "speedometer" on the page.  Actually I was able to infer what it meant when I achieved higher "real" transfer rates with some hardware upgrades, and the maximum number on the scale changed from 100 to 500.

But why doesn't Shaw do like other "speed test" sites I tried and simply put the inscription "Mbps" at the bottom of the speedometer --- like for example https://www.speedtest.net/result/9138082339. 

[shaw-tony]

@atleerj ah, I appreciate your feedback and will certainly pass that along! Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂 

[mdk]

> Faster internet speeds may exceed that dial. 

That would bend the "needle" on the speedometer.

Here's a screen-capture, in the middle of a Shaw SpeedTest:

that shows that the labels adjust as required.

[cjjohnst738]

Because they know their speeds are in fact UNTRUE.

[mdk]

@cjjohnst738 -- their speeds are in fact UNTRUE.

1. Start the Windows "Task Manager".
2. Switch to its "Performance" tab.
3. Click on the icon for your network adapter, to start showing the true data-transfer rate.
4. Minimize its window.
5. Start the Shaw SpeedTest.
6. Quickly, "restore" the Task Manager window.
7. Observe the network speed, as reported by Windows. It will be an "instantaneous" value, not the "time-averaged" value on the graph created by the SpeedTest.

So, does the speed that Windows reports match the speed from the SpeedTest?