Speed Lying?

[RebelGood]

Today I upgraded our DSL speed. We live out in the sticks and our provider, CenturyLink, says I now have 6 Mbps instead of 3 Mbps.
In the past when I had run DSL speed tests, using sites such as Speakeasy, I had been getting speeds in the 2.6-2.8 range.
After the "upgrade" CenturyLink directed me to its proprietary speedtest site. Sure enough I now was showing download speed of better than 5Mbps.
But I didn't really notice any difference in operation. So I went back to several other del speed test sites — speediest.net and tesmy.net, and those both reported the same speeds as before, or slower, 2.4-2.7 Mbps.
What gives? Does CenturyLink have its hand on the meter?

[trevor]

Broadband Reports' FAQ is a good place for information about internet speed tests. For example:

Quote: Originally Posted by Broadband Reports Why are there speed tests that claim to be more reliable? Speed tests are simply how fast it is to get from Point A to Point Z. However, slow downs can occur between your computer and the host. These real world speed tests provide results that are not reproducible from inside your ISP's network. If your ISP is prepared to locate a speed test server inside its network, then it will give you the most accurate measure for last mile speed. Having a very fast connection within your ISP's network is nice (and is what you're paying for as a customer) but that doesn't mean much in real world usage. Either way, we have a large selection of Java and Flash based speed tests located both in ISPs and elsewhere on our speed test list. If your ISP is one of those, then you will probably be able to test last mile speed the best by using their local test server. If you are interested in real world test results, then pick another well-connected server. It is your choice.

and

Quote: Originally Posted by Broadband Reports Does the test ever overestimate speed? No. It is impossible for this Java-based speed test to overestimate speed. It can, however, underestimate due to prevailing "Internet weather" between you and the test site (which is why, if you are most interested in your last mile speed, finding a nearby test site is important), but it can never overestimate. If you try a few different test servers, including some of the third-party ones that also use our Java test applet, then the highest speed reported is closest to your last mile speed. Don't forget that protocol overhead will mean that you never reach the actual speed advertised by your ISP. In some cases, especially PPPoE connections, you can lose almost 15% of advertised speed in protocol overhead. In response to this problem, certain ISPs have set the actual sync rate of consumer broadband connections higher to provide a buffer against the overhead. The idea is a 15% up in advertised speed is worth less people calling into support and complain about lack of advertised throughput.

Trevor