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On 11/17/23 11:27, Dave Taht via Nnagain wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAA93jw48UC1YvKiK0RP9nZY9n452ND3wu0mSjLVxugtW7NGsKQ@mail.gmail.com">
<pre>one of the things we really wished existed was a standardized way to
test latency and throughput to routers. It would be super helpful if
there was a standard in consumer routers that allowed users to both ping
and fetch 0kB fils from their routers, and also run download/upload
tests.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
Back when I was involved in operating a network, we tried to track
latency and throughput by standard ping and related tests. We
discovered that, in addition to the network conditions, the results
were often dependent on the particular equipment and software
involved at the time. Some companies treated ping traffic (e.g.,
anything directed to the "echo" port) as low priority since it was
obviously (to them) less important than any other traffic. Others
treated such traffic as high priority - it made their results in
review articles look better. <br>
<br>
In another case we discovered one brand of desktop computer was
achieved much higher throughputs over the net than similar products
from other manufacturers. It took some serious technical
investigation but we eventually discovered that the high throughput
was achieved by violating the Ethernet specification. The
offending vendor didn't follow the rules about timing. But their
test results looked much better than the competition.<br>
<br>
IMHO the root of the problem is that you can not assume much about
what any software and hardware are doing. There are lots of specs,
standards, and mandates in RFCs or even governmental rules and
regulations. But lacking any kind of testing or certification, it's
difficult to tell if those "standards" are actually being followed.
If someone, technical organization or government regulator, declares
or legislates some protocol, algorithm, or behavior to be a required
"standard", it should be accompanied by mechanisms and processes for
testing to verify that the standard is implemented correctly and is
actually used, and certification so that purchasers are informed. <br>
<br>
Jack Haverty<br>
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