Internet Connection Speed Monitor

[Accessless]

I'm looking for a way to log my upload/download rates over the course of a day. So far I haven't found many programs that will do that. I'm currently trying to run "Speed Test Pro" by absolute futurity as a free trial and "ISP Monitor", but neither seem to working. Other than a torrent (which is hardly reliable), I can't think of another way to monitor my connection.

In case you're wondering why I need to know what my connection speed is in real time, it's because in the evenings I can struggle to maintain a decent quality Skype call and when I go on speedtest.net I get some... interesting results. I've seen my connection speed fluctuate from 17mbps to 1mbps and no that's not an exaggeration. If my internet connection quality is as bad as I suspect I will be having words with my ISP (provided that it's not Wi-Fi interference, but I can easily investigate and provision for that later).

[patio]

That may also be from the Speedtest servers as well...
For example if i do The NYC location i normally gett 22 - 28 Mbps whereas if i do say Frisco it is between 8 - 14 Mbps...

Once a week i do all 8 servers...total them up and devide that # by 8 which gives me a mean average.
That mean average hardly fluctuates at all...

[Accessless]

Could be but does that explain the skype calls and generally poor connections?

[patio]

Skype servers are particularly susceptible to line speed  fluctuations at certain times due to demand...
What type of connection are we talking about here ? ?

[Accessless]

Ahh well. It is supposed to be a 30mbps connection but my computer is connected by wireless (G) so under the best of circumstances I can only expect to see a maximum of 22mbps. I can test the computer physicaly connected to the modem but I don't use that one. I have software that monitors wifi activity so if it gets too noisy I can change the channel.

[patio]

With that strong a connection i would highly suspect the other end...
Does SpeedTest.net say that is your speeds ? ?

[Accessless]

Tested out using the pc with a physical connection. I still get poor skpe call quality but it was an improved performance. I also noticed alot of noise from other wifi networks (even though I changed to a quiter channel). speedtest.net showed that pc conection holding steady, so I may be upgrading to 5Ghz when I can.

I think that you may be right, UK upload speeds are pretty poor ranked 53rd in the world: http://www.netindex.com/upload/allcountries/
Personally my upload rate has a max speed of 2mbps... on a good day. If a high quality skype call uses 512kbps and I play an online game at the same time it's quite likley that this limit is being hit. Especially if someone else uses the internet a the same time.

[Accessless]

Nope, a clear skype call and a multiplayer game requires little more than a dial up connection to run smoothly.

The latest theory then is that it is latency related in some way but I think that I'm moving out of the relms of this topic now. I will see if I can confirm this theory and start a new topic if I get stuck.

[jason2074]

I also noticed alot of noise from other wifi networks

I've seen this happen with Skype and eventually on all PC phone calls using wireless connection. Eventually, suggested them to switch to a modem/router since they were using a USB broadband and everything worked out fine after.

(provided that it's not Wi-Fi interference, but I can easily investigate and provision for that later)
This could be a factor. A USB or PCI wifi adapter running with signal interferences or the modem/router needs to be replaced or upgraded.

[soybean]

I'm looking for a way to log my upload/download rates over the course of a day.

You might like to know that if you create an account with SpeedTest.net and are signed on when you run tests, your history is stored and you can access it anytime by signing on. 

[Accessless]

Ahh well. It is supposed to be a 30mbps connection but my computer is connected by wireless (G) so under the best of circumstances I can only expect to see a maximum of 22mbps. I can test the computer physicaly connected to the modem but I don't use that one. I have software that monitors wifi activity so if it gets too noisy I can change the channel.

Turns out that it is line speed fluctuations. At non peak times I get a nice smooth line, during peak times I get a rendition of... an angry squiggle.

You might like to know that if you create an account with SpeedTest.net and are signed on when you run tests, your history is stored and you can access it anytime by signing on.

If thoughs logs show fluctuations over the test that will be very helpful.

[soybean]

If thoughs logs show fluctuations over the test that will be very helpful.

It does.  It will show saved results in a columnar format and on a graph.

[Accessless]

Follow up topic started: http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,135813.0.html

Now lets see if I can give this thread a nice happy tick.