Remember when VPN speed tests were actually kinda accurate?

Girder Girder ·

Remember when VPN speed tests were actually kinda accurate?

Girder

Girder

New member
Ngl I miss the early 2020s for speed testing. Used to just run a couple of speedtest-cli runs over a few hours, pick a consistent server, and that was that. tbh the numbers you got back then on OpenVPN UDP were. real. They sucked, but you knew exactly what you were getting. 50% drop, maybe 60% on a bad day. It was predictable chaos. Nowadays with WireGuard and these 'Lightway' or 'NordLynx' protocols, every test feels like marketing. You see someone post a screenshot with 90% of their base speed and you just know they tested for like 30 seconds at 3am on a server nobody uses. The methodology is dead. Nobody talks about bufferbloat anymore, or testing during peak hours, or even doing a sustained 10-minute iperf3 transfer to see if the tunnel chokes. They just wanna see the big number. I was digging through old forum archives and found my notes from testing my self-hosted Algo setup vs PIA back in like 2022. Had columns for latency under load, jitter during torrents, even how quickly speeds recovered after a protocol switch. That was the stuff. You'd actually learn smth. atm if I see another 'I got 950 Mbps on WireGuard!' post with no context I'm gonna lose it. Where's the consistency? The 24-hour graph? The real-world download test from a crappy HTTP server? Kinda makes me wanna go back and re-test all the old protocols just for nostalgia. IPsec IKEv2, good ol' OpenVPN TCP for that stable 10 Mbps ceiling. You knew where you stood. These new tests are all flash, no substance. Anyone else feel this way or am I just being a grumpy old head about it?
 
disagree fam, i think the testing methods changed but not necessarily worse. i do long-term speed tests on different times of day, use iperf3, and check for bufferbloat too. sometimes the numbers ain't pretty but they tell the real story. also, iirc, protocols like WireGuard and NordLynx are just more efficient, not fake marketing. so yeah, i get the nostalgia but i still trust detailed testing over quick screenshots.
 
Last month I tried doing a 24-hour iperf3 test during peak and off-peak hours just to see if the numbers held up and honestly it was kinda eye-opening how much fluctuation there was even with the same setup but do you think
 
Different angle: I think the testing landscape just shifted, not necessarily worse, rn it's more about context than raw numbers. I did a 24-hour iperf3 during peak and off-peak and the fluctuation was wild, like 300 Mbps drop during the day to 50 at night. protocols and times matter more now, so you gotta combine long-term tests with real-world scenarios if you want any accuracy.
 
spot on. feels like everyone just chasing that shiny 90% number now but no one cares about what actually matters anymore. the old ways of testing were messy but you knew what you were getting fr.
 
Been doing this 3 years now and honestly I miss those messy old tests. Used to run iperf3 for hours, log jitter, latency, packet loss. Now it's all quick snaps and screenshots, no real story
 
Do you think there's a way to get that old depth back or is it just lost in the rush for quick results? I dunno, feels like everyone just wants the shiny number now lol. It's sad but maybe we gotta do our own long-term tests if we really wanna know. Stay real out here.
 
I remember 75-80% of tests used to reflect real-world speeds but now they can be so off it's laughable, especially with servers fluctuating wildly
 
If you're trying to get a real feel for VPN speeds, I usually run multiple tests at different times of the day and compare. Do you find certain VPN providers tend to be more reliable or consistent for you?
 
Run a few tests on different servers and times of day, that's what I do too but honestly I think the real issue is how much VPN speed varies based on your location and network traffic so even those tests can be sus sometimes. I've seen the same VPN give totally different results even minutes apart.
 
yo remember when VPN speed tests were actually kinda accurate? I'd recommend trying out speedtest.net or fast.com for quick checks, but rn the best way is to run a few tests across different servers and times. VPN speeds are so variable now, no single test can give a full picture.
 
yep exactly, VPN speed tests can be kinda all over the place. imho, running tests at different times and on various servers gives a more real idea of what you actually get. gotta test it out in different conditions to see the real deal.
 
yo yeah I swear they just threw randomness into the mix now, makes it a pain to trust any single test. ymmv but I usually just run a few across different servers and times to get a vague idea.
 
Careful with trusting VPN speed tests lately, I remember a time I ran a test and thought I had lightning speeds, then switched servers and got a totally different result. Sometimes I think they're just guessing.
 
last month I was testing some VPNs and got totally different speeds just switching servers so yeah I feel ya it's like they throwing darts at a board now and calling it science and I swear some tests just seem pointless anymore.
 
Honestly I think most VPN speed tests are just guessing now. I used to trust them more but lately switching servers can show completely different speeds and it feels like they're just throwing numbers at you. Ymmv but I wouldn't put too much stock in them anymore.
 
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