Hey friends. I need a computer guru to maybe help explain my PCs download speed behavior. I am blessed with good internet performance. For the longest time I’ve been trying to figure out why my download speed was kinda choppy and would clock in around 550 to 600 mbps most of the time. Every once and a while it would clock at 750-900 and run very smoothly. I am referring to what I see when I run Okla Speedtest. TaDa. I just figured out what the deal is. Sort of. If I just open my Roon App on the computer I get blazing fast smooth download speed test results around 870-920 mbps. This is repeatable. Could someone shed any light on this. It’s been bugging me for months but at least today I have discovered something. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any wisdom you might shed on this bizarre behavior.
How is everything connected, what do you use as the Roon Core, on which device are your running the Speedtest? The Speedtest does not really measure the internet speed, it measures the speed from the device to the Speedtest server, so it is affected by what else is going on in your network.
I.e., let’s say if my laptop is on poor wifi and I get 50 mbps from laptop to router, and the internet speed is 500 mbps. Then I would see 50 mbps when I run the speedtest on the laptop.
Stand alone Server/Core running Roon Rock on the network. The computer I am referring to runs Windows OS and has the Roon App installed for playback only. I see these results on the Windows computer when I run Okla Speedtest. Download results are so different with the Roon App open or closed. Upload is always fast regardless. Around 940mbps. The perceived improvement in the download results of 200 to 250mbps occurs whether music is playing or not. Roon App open I get 850 to 940 mbps test results. Roon closed 550-600. Seems odd to me. I also have Roon endpoints in the living room and in the music room on my main audio system. Thanks
I should also add that everything is wired. No wifi in play here.
It is weird but my hypothesis would be that it’s some artifact of the Ookla measurement.
What’s the Speedtest result if you run the Speedtest on a different machine while Roon is open on the Windows computer?
And if you download a large file from the internet to the Windows computer with Roon open and closed, and time that with a stopwatch? Any difference?
It is definitely odd. I’ll Play with it some more and do some more testing when I get a chance. Thanks
Quite possibly. I’d suggest trying a different speed test:
I’ve used 3 or 4 different speed test sites and run tests over 50 times. Results are generally the same on all of them. I am now attempting to test this on another computer. Just have to finish bringing the Windows OS up to date. It’s an old laptop. Taking forever.
I think you are conflating .
If you run a speed test randomly then run it again it’s almost always better second time. I always guessed your isp knows what you are doing so ups it’s game but perhaps I am cynical. Perhaps the speed test optimises over a few goes or what ever.
Give it a week try again with Roon running first then quit it and run the speed test again I am willing to bet it will be faster.
I have repeated these same tests off and on at different times of the day and night over two days now. Probably 50 times. Same general results every time. Now working to see if I can duplicate the results on a second computer.
Quick update for anyone with interest. This observed behavior did not repeat with the second computer. If anything results may be somewhat worse with Roon open on the laptop. It is a very old laptop FWIW. The reported behavior with my main computer remains and is 100% repeatable no matter what time of day or night. I have now run the speed test with Okla 87 times with Roon open and Roon closed. So I remain stumped. It must be some combination of things on this computer that is causing these results. Unless someone can offer an explanation I consider this thread concluded.