Bandwidth Place

Internet speed test apps have been around for a long time. Most of us have visited SpeedTest.net, SpeakEasy.net/SpeedTest, or our ISP's speed test site at one time or another to check our bandwidth. However, most of those apps use Flash or Java applets to conduct the speed testing. In the modern world of various platforms, only one solution will work on them all: HTML5. HTML5 is supported on all modern browsers — Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari, as well as many others - which means your system doesn't need another piece of software to test your internet connection. But despite this advantage, some HTML5 apps are not yet as effective as their Flash or Java counterparts. Here are five HTML5-based Internet speed test apps, some that perform, and some that do not.

1: Bandwidth Place
Bandwidth Place (Figure A) has been around since 2002, but it's been doing HTML5 bandwidth testing only since 2013. The interface is simple: a gauge, a start button, and a few results displays. It also offers server selection; however, the default is to use the fastest ping time. The standout feature is just that: It offers various servers around the world, therefore providing the best results for a global user base. Bandwidth Place fares well as far as results. It's comparable to the Flash and Java testing sites I've used for years.



2: HTML5 Speed Test
The HTML5 Speed Test interface (Figure B) is even simpler: It doesn't offer server selection — just a start button, gauges, and results. The standout feature for this app is that it does both separate and then simultaneous download/upload testing, which helps identify how your connection behaves while performing both actions. However, the results from this site were noticeably different from the others on this list, and from the traditional Flash- and Java-based apps. During all my attempts, I couldn't get this product to display results over 25-30% of the other products' results. According to the site, this was because my "browser likely isn't fast enough" — but that doesn't correlate to the other HTML5 results. Another answer may be deeper on the site: This test uses TCP, so retransmits may cause a problem. The reason could also be that there is still some JavaScript used (it's not pure HTML5) or it could simply be server load/congestion.
Bottom Line
As you can see, there are variations in the results of these five HTML5 apps. I tried them all at various times of the day. The issues with some of them could very well be server lag or load — but that can be a problem when you want users to rely on your app for accurate results.