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For all the talk of how HTML5 can do anything Flash can, I have yet to see a broadband speed test, created in HTML5.

SpeedTest.net is built in Adobe Flash.

MeasurementLab.net uses Java-based tools.

BroadbandReports.net uses Java and Adobe Flash.

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But I have been unable to find an HTML5-based broadband speed test.

If it doesn't exist, can anyone explain why?

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It seems there is work underway for JavaScript to access type (wifi, etc) and speed of network connection; see w3.org/TR/system-info-api/#network. Has anyone discovered if any browsers have initial support for this API? – user21046 Jun 12 '12 at 22:19

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5 Answers

up vote 0 down vote accepted

I stumbled on this speed testing site a few weeks ago, tested it out and I was surprised that it claims that it uses only your browser: http://testmy.net. I retested it today with a fresh install of Windows w/IE8 and I got results without it begging for plugins. However, there were a few things that I noticed:

  1. Upload speed test is not in real time.
  2. Upload speed may be dependent on the OS and/or browser used.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

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I tried testmy.net with Google Chrome 19 and Mozilla Firefox 13. Both browsers were able to load the website and gave me an accurate report of my download and upload speed. === It appears you have found an accurate HTML5/JS test, so I'm marking your answer as accepted. === However, if someone posts a superior website (such as a website with more transparency in the location of their testing servers) I may change my accepted answer again. === Thanks for your submission. – Ademos Jun 9 '12 at 17:46
CWP you said regarding TestMy.net > - Upload speed test is not in real time. - Upload speed may be dependent on the OS and/or browser used. This is not true. I can say this with certainty because I'm the developer behind TestMy.net. I've worked very hard since 1999 (years before I even got that domain name) to ensure that my speed tests work in all popular browsers with no plugins. It's been my plan since day one and I intend to keep it that way. You have to understand, I built that as much for myself as I did for the world. Originally it helped me at my job as an Internet Tech... it was only – CA3LE Aug 28 '12 at 19:25
useful to me if it worked right. It's grown a lot since but I hold the same values. It doesn't matter if you're on your Android, iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC or Linux... nor does it matter if you're using Firefox, Mozilla IE, Chrome, Safari. TestMy.net is built to meet everyones needs. I test in and develop for all browsers. If you could only see my vitual machine setup, your eyeballs would fall out of your head. I can emulate ANY setup and I use that to aid my development. If your browser is under performing that's because the browser is under performing... simple as that. Because of the way TMN's b – CA3LE Aug 28 '12 at 19:25
Because of the way TMN's built it's an excellent way to test differences between browser performance... it's not really JUST a Internet speed test. It can even help you identify slow hard drives and other issues that the other speed tests simply can't detect. It boils down to the unique path that I've taken to build it. No other speed test that I've found works this way. I can guarantee you that NOBODY has put as much time into this as I have. Even Speedtest.net are n00bs. Read the truth behind Ookla flash tests, you might be surprised to find that they're pretty much guessing when you run a t – CA3LE Aug 28 '12 at 19:25
when you run a test there... it's a novelty because of the protocol they use (and they admitted this in their own wiki) > testmy.net/ipb/topic/… -- TMN on the other hand is a true test of your computer and Internet. And you need nothing more than your browser, I'm pretty sure that's what Ademos was looking for when he asked for an HTML5 speed test. – CA3LE Aug 28 '12 at 19:25
up vote 3 down vote

It certainly exists:

http://speedof.me

It is built on HTML5 and JavaScript; it doesn't need Flash or Java.

-- Update: speedof.me supports upload test now

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Thanks for sharing this. It's definitely an impressive feat of HTML5 and Javascript. --- But I only see a download test, this tool doesn't appear to have an upload test. (at the moment) – Ademos Dec 22 '11 at 4:16
As you indicated, Speedof.me did add an upload test. But on Mozilla Firefox 14 and Google Chrome 20, the upload test returned an error for me. (I re-tried the test multiple times) === So at the moment, this test is still not usable for me. Therefore, I'm leaving TestMy.net as the accepted answer. – Ademos Jul 30 '12 at 20:43
It works just fine for me! I'm using Firefox and Chrome and also tested on Safari and Opera. – vivaHtml5 Aug 4 '12 at 11:57
SpeedTest.net, MeasurementLab.net, BroadbandReports.net and TestMy.net all measure my upload speed with no problems. Only SpeedOf.me has the problem. === I've recently upgraded Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. I reset my modem, router and computer. === But SpeedOf.me still returns an error on the upload test. === I can't consider your answer as my accepted answer, if the test you shared does not work for me, on my Internet connection. === If the situation changes, I'll let you know. – Ademos Aug 24 '12 at 3:44
up vote 1 down vote

No such thing exists. In order to perform a speed test, the application needs to download/upload a large file and measure the speed at which it is downloaded/uploaded. Currently there is no support for this in HTML5, although things seem to be moving in that direction with the File API and some of the newer additions to XMLHttpRequest.

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I'm glad to see that the pieces of this puzzle are starting to appear; it would be great to run a broadband speed test without the requirement of a browser plugin. – Ademos Jan 14 '11 at 4:43
up vote 1 down vote

Actually I just found one here http://bwrnd.com/speed-test/ Turns out it is possible :)

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Only actually works in firefox, apparently. Does nothing in google chrome 16 – Kzqai Dec 5 '11 at 21:42
Jason-Burgett: For my connection, the speed reported on that website was 1.5 mb/s Down (during the download-only test, retried multiple times) while SpeedTest.net and MeasurementLab.net are reporting 15 mb/s Down. I'm not sure if the test you shared is accurate. ======= @Tchalvak Did work for me in Chrome 15, but it required clicking more than once. (might be a browser bug) – Ademos Dec 6 '11 at 15:46
up vote -1 down vote

No. HTML5 does not have the ability to probe your network, you'd need to combine it with some fancy JavaScript, Java or Flash.

The ability is also not in the specs for HTML5 either (so it's not just that browsers aren't supporting it). The reason is mostly that it's scripting, which is something HTML isn't supposed to do, you're supposed to use other languages for that (it has something to do with semantics, I don't recall the exact reason), but HTML is supposed to just display content, where CSS is supposed to make it pretty (define styles) and PHP and JavaScript are for scripting.

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Well a broadband speed test that utilized Javascript would be great too. ------ But I was thinking along the lines of Herohtar's answer above, a test using the future functionality of HTML5. – Ademos Jan 14 '11 at 4:38

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