FCC asks public to help test broadband speeds across the US:
The Federal Communications Commission is asking more Americans to use its speed test app to help improve the accuracy of its broadband speeds throughout the US. The tool is being used as part of a larger effort at the agency to improve its maps to get a clearer picture of broadband in America.
The Android and iOS FCC Speed Test App is similar to other online speed-testing apps from companies like Ookla. The test automatically generates results once you press the button to start the test. The data that's collected will be used to help the FCC improve its broadband maps.
[...] In a separate effort, the FCC is also asking the public to verify ISP-reported data regarding individual addresses. The agency wants people to type in their home addresses to double-check whether the information the agency has about their broadband service matches what providers like AT&T, Comcast or Verizon have reported to the agency. If the information doesn't match, the FCC is asking people to submit a form to dispute the information in the database.
The issue around inaccurate maps has gained the attention of both Republicans and Democrats on the FCC and in Congress. Both sides agree that data for mapping needs to be more granular in order to get an accurate picture of where broadband exists and where it doesn't.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by krishnoid on Tuesday April 13 2021, @03:24PM
Doesn't an app test your wireless connectivity before it tests actual speed? Connectivity would only have to be a little faster than the wireless radio performance at that distance from the tower, including obstacles. Unless you use an On-the-go + USB-to-Ethernet adapter on your phone and test that way (which actually works great under Android at least).
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 13 2021, @03:38PM (7 children)
>> The Android and iOS FCC Speed Test App is similar to other online speed-testing apps from companies like Ookla.
Only this one reports back to the government.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 13 2021, @03:58PM (6 children)
Which is exactly the point, moron.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday April 13 2021, @10:27PM (5 children)
Why? What could a speedtest possibly tell your nasty government about you they don't already know?
I agree that you have the worst possible government, but what makes you think you would fool about with some fake speedtest app to gather data about you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 13 2021, @11:15PM (3 children)
It's not the speedtest, it's the app and its permissions. Government would love 7x24 location, all your contacts, texts, etc... the sort of stuff your typical stupid app user agrees to share with random apps.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 14 2021, @12:16AM (2 children)
They've already got all that stuff through the corporations that supply the services.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @12:26AM (1 child)
Maybe this is backup plan for when they shut down FB, Google, etc
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 14 2021, @01:19AM
You may have misunderstood who is in charge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @03:22AM
It isn't about what it says about you, but what it says about your ISP. More importantly, it would give the new FCC leadership solid proof that the ISPs have been lying through their teeth about their speed caps. Unless of course the ISPs make an exception for the government's test site in their filter rules. But that kind of rigging should be easily visible to the user, and so impossible to hide and a smoking gun in its own right.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 13 2021, @03:44PM (3 children)
The app is available for Apple, and from Google Play. To get the Google app, you must be signed in. I don't have a Google device, or a Chrome-like browser that is signed in. I'm not signing in to give Google whatever data they are seeking, before I can use the app.
I dunno, maybe I create a virtual machine to do this on. I'm really choosy who I share real data with.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 13 2021, @05:13PM
There's a press contact on the page. I called and asked about the software's source, and running it on a FOSS platform (Linux, BSD, or at least Replicant), but I don't expect a response to my voicemail. If I do get a response, it will probably be someone asking what "source code" or "Linux" means
(Score: 5, Informative) by captain normal on Tuesday April 13 2021, @05:49PM (1 child)
As with all apps, best to read the privacy notice and terms of use.
https://www.fcc.gov/general/mobile-broadband-performance-application-privacy-notice-and-terms-use [fcc.gov]
Where in you find (underlined) "our contractor" and "with partners".... And in the next paragraph "...broadband measurement company,SamKnows,.."
https://samknows.com/ [samknows.com]
I just wonder what Sam really knows? Is it really another shadow major ISP company set up to feed false information to the FCC? ...Or what is it?
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @03:31AM
According to icann samknows.com was registered in London, England in 2003. That makes them far too old to have been set up for just this survey, and outside the US as well. A quick search shows that they've been running a similar program for the UK government for at least four years now, so they seem legit.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by deimios on Tuesday April 13 2021, @04:04PM (2 children)
Sounds easy to find out which servers it tests with and give a priority to that traffic resulting in higher speeds than usual.
I'm not saying they are doing it, I'm saying that it's easy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 13 2021, @11:28PM
That's precisely what I was wondering about. ISPs already preferentially treat speed tests in order to make users think they're getting what they paid for rather than something much less. Other than speed tests, it can be really difficult at times to identify when the ISP isn't giving the service that they're sold or it's a 3rd party that's not saturating the link.
One of the bits of regulation that we need is a ban on ISPs messing with speed test traffic to make it seem like the user is getting more than they are.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Wednesday April 14 2021, @04:16AM
Its ok if you do not want to say it.
However I will go the extra step and say that this WILL happen. The existing ISPs (at least the big monopoly types, maybe not the municipal ones) will prioritize all traffic to and from the FCC servers.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 5, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday April 13 2021, @05:17PM
Ask the entire US population to test their broadband - all at the same time tomorrow at 2 pm, preferably by ping -b'ing www.facebook.com.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Immerman on Tuesday April 13 2021, @05:26PM (4 children)
So, the suspicious asshole in me has to ask - why an app?
The article says the test is similar to online speed-test apps that are immediately available to anyone with a browser, and run entirely within the web-browser's sandbox. So why exactly is the FCC asking people to install an app on their phone, with all the abusable permissions that involves, in order to test the speed of wired home connections? Heck, it doesn't even offer any advantage for testing the speeds of wireless service.
The only "advantage" I can think of off-hand, beyond abusing the permissions for surveillance purposes, is that it would dramatically reduce the amount of data from extremely impoverished neighborhoods where people are unlikely to own a smartphone.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 13 2021, @06:48PM
That would be an interesting study, in and of itself. Admittedly, I'm a long way from any of the poorest inner city neighborhoods - but it seems that EVERYONE has a cell phone. Young adults especially, may not have a car, might not even have a home, but they have those cellphones. People who live in rundown houses are known to trade in their iPhones regularly. The poorest of the poor manage to beg, borrow, or steal a feature phone, at the least.
FWIW, my wife is the source of money to keep three younger people supplied with phones. I tell her she's wasting money, but she doesn't see things my way, and keeps paying for the phones and the phone service.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by progo on Tuesday April 13 2021, @07:07PM
Steve Jobs famously said "you won't need native apps." And he's still TECHNICALLY RIGHT goddammit!!! But vendors and end-users don't care for some reason that has to do with lack of understanding and blatant attempts to abuse the users' privacy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @03:34AM
The smartphone generation seem to want an app for everything. Especially things that would be better served by a simple web page.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @12:42PM
Perhaps an app could make it harder for the ISP to recognize the traffic and give priority to the test.
Probably, a well done web site could do this as well.
SamKnows is a company in the UK that helps find the best ISP. They have a b/w test app on the web which runs in a browser.
Aside from testing in the background or gathering stats on your link as your other apps use it, I don't see why an app except to get access to your device.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday April 13 2021, @05:36PM (4 children)
Can't
Comcastbad ISPs detect that you are running a speed test app and then temporarily deliver excellent results?But then I could simply use the speed test as a way to boost my ISP performance up to an acceptable level typically seen in third world countries.
But then, the ISP could recognize this pattern, and get more selective about which packets it boosts the performance of when I run a speed test.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1) by TomTheFighter on Tuesday April 13 2021, @06:58PM (2 children)
>temporarily deliver excellent results
Or better yet - why even run a "test" - just send the numbers you want reported to the app window.
Much more efficient use of resources.
Even a scam like this should be run with professionalism and a wise use of resources.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday April 13 2021, @09:29PM (1 child)
Problem is that the speed test app or web site might not be under the bad ISP's control. Traffic is likely encrypted. They might not know any more than the likelihood that you are running a speed test due to where you are connecting to.
More completely evil behavior.
Any good ISP will be run smartly and with cunning subtlety to maximize malice.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @03:46AM
The speed test app the FCC is using is based out of the UK, so it shouldn't have any ties to any US based ISP. More importantly, SamKnows already runs this kind of programs for the UK government so they already have the infrastructure in place.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 14 2021, @03:37AM
ISPs already boost speed test sites. The problem they run in to is that the more they boost the more obvious it becomes to the user, and users talk.