Slow internet explained?

CARRY ON: Why is internet so slow here?

Victoria University hopes it will be able to give internet users a better insight into why websites might be taking an age to load after getting three computer servers from Google-backed non-profit organisation Measurement Lab that will run a series of tests.

There are already a large number of online services that let internet users check the speed of their connections, but M-Lab's servers are designed to better identify bottlenecks on consumers' networks and computers and carry out a wider range of diagnostic tests. These, available at measurementlab.net, include checking if a consumer's internet provider is throttling access to certain applications, such as peer-to-peer file sharing services.

That anonymous data is then made available to academic researchers. The university is the 15th organisation to join the US-based initiative.

Engineering professor John Hine said the research followed earlier work the university carried out setting up "honeypot" computers that tested how unsecured PCs connected to the internet were probed and attacked by malicious software.

Interest in the "real world" limitations of internet connections was growing ahead of the construction of the ultrafast broadband network, he said.

Josh Bailey, a Google engineer based at the university, said that it could be impossible for computer users to tell why, for example, it might be taking forever to get to their bank's website.

CityLink has provided a connection to the servers that circumvents the university's firewall. However, companies' security set-ups mean that it may not always be possible for people to run M-Labs' diagnostic tests from their work PC.