SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 1999--Keynote Systems,
the recognized authority on Internet performance, today announced that DSL
outperformed a cable modem during peak-usage evening hours in a month-long
benchmark test of over 150,000 web-page downloads from 40 popular web sites.
The test results also show that World Wide Web pages downloaded much
slower over cable modem than over T-1 connections and that cable-modem
performance deteriorated during evening hours when peak residential use of the
Internet occurs. Keynote conducted the tests in the San Francisco Bay area
throughout April over an asymmetric DSL connection (128/384 kbps) to SBC's Pacific
Bell (NYSE:SBC) network, over a cable modem connected to the At Home network
(NASDAQ:ATHM) through a cable system operated by AT&T's TCI unit (NYSE:T),
and over T-1 connections supplied by AboveNet Communications
(NASDAQ:ABOV), Exodus Communications (NASDAQ:EXDS), Intermedia
Communications' DIGEX unit (NASDAQ:ICIX) and Savvis Communications.
The median download time over DSL for the 40 web pages was 3.55 seconds
in April during the hours of 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific time which are peak personal-use
hours according to Nielsen/NetRatings. This result was nearly 11 percent faster than
the median of 3.97 seconds over cable modem during the same period. Although
cable modem outperformed DSL during business hours with a 3.68 second
performance versus DSL's 4.30 seconds, cable-modem performance degraded by 8
percent during the evening hours while DSL performance improved 17 percent.
Keynote also conducted the same performance measurements over four different T-1
connections which performed 36 to 48 percent faster than DSL or cable modem.
Keynote's performance results for DSL, cable modem and T-1 connections
during the April 1 to 30 test period are summarized in the table below (smaller
numbers are better and indicate faster performance). *T
Seconds per Web Page Performance
-----------------
During Peak During Change at Peak
Personal Hours Business Hours Usage Time
(5 pm - 11 pm) (8 am - 5 pm) Internet Connection
DSL (128/384) 3.55 4.30 17 % Faster
Cable Modem 3.97 3.68 8 % Slower
T-1 (Typical Connection 1.83 2.36 22 % Faster
At Work) *T
Each performance figure is the median of the individual measurements in its
category with a 90-percent statistical confidence interval that does not overlap the
confidence intervals of adjacent categories.
Keynote has posted several graphs on its web site at
keynote.com comparing DSL and cable-modem
performance over several days during the test period.
About Cable Modems, DSL, and T-1
Cable Modems and DSL provide Internet access at competitive prices to
residential users. PCs connected to the Internet via cable modem over a TV cable
share a common network at the neighborhood level. This means that as more people
in a neighborhood acquire and use cable modems, overall web-page download
performance in the neighborhood can deteriorate, especially during evening hours
when residential use of the Internet peaks. Cable modems can support peak
bandwidth of 2.8 million bits per second.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) utilizes an existing telephone network and
provides each user with a dedicated line to a central-office POP (point of presence)
where the actual connection to the Internet occurs. The asymmetric version of DSL,
which is typical in residential environments, supports different bandwidth depending
on the direction of data flow with typical bandwidth guarantees of 128,000 bits per
second for uploads and 384,000 bits per second for downloads.
A T-1 connection operates over a dedicated leased line to an Internet access
provider with guaranteed available bandwidth of 1.54 million bits per second. T-1
connections are typically employed in business environments to connect many users
to the Internet simultaneously over the same line.
About the Test Results and Methodology
Keynote Systems used its automated Keynote Perspective(TM) service to
measure how long it took to access and download web pages and their components
via industry-standard HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), the same protocol used
by the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Netscape (NYSE:AOL) web browsers. The
tested web pages belong to the 40 web sites comprising the Keynote Business 40
Internet Performance Index which is an industry-standard metric and benchmark of
the overall health and performance of the Internet that is published weekly in The
Industry Standard and other leading business and trade publications.
About Keynote Systems
Keynote Systems is the world's leading supplier of Internet performance
measurement, diagnostic and consulting services to companies that operate
e-commerce web sites. The company markets Keynote Perspective, a global real-time
service that measures, assures and improves the Quality of Service of e-commerce
web sites around the world. The foundation of the service is an extensive network of
strategically located customizable software measurement agents connected to the
major Internet backbones in 90 locations worldwide plus a sophisticated operations
center for collecting and disseminating Internet performance and availability data.
Keynote customers include over 800 of the world's busiest and most successful
e-commerce web sites and hosting companies -- including Amazon.com
(NASDAQ:AMZN), CDNow (NASDAQ:CDNW), Compaq Computer (NYSE:CPQ),
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), Dell Computer (NASDAQ:DELL), DoubleClick
(NASDAQ:DCLK), Exodus Communications (NASDAQ:EXDS), GeoCities
(NASDAQ:GCTY), Intermedia Communications (NASDAQ:ICIX), National
Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM), and The SABRE Group (NYSE:TSG) -- which use the
service to ensure competitiveness and improve customer satisfaction.
For further information about Keynote Perspective, or to schedule a free
one-week comparative performance appraisal of a web site, visit Keynote's web site
at keynote.com or contact the company at Keynote
Systems, Inc., 2855 Campus Drive, San Mateo, California 94403, telephone
650/522-1000, fax 650/522-1099, email info@keynote.com.
Keynote, Perspective, and The Internet Performance Authority are trademarks
of Keynote Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
CONTACT: Keynote Systems
Gene Shklar, 650/522-1011
gshklar@keynote.com
or
Lindsay PR
Mary Lindsay, 408/984-7242
mlindsay@sjm.infi.net
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET Today's News On The Net - Business
Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.
URL: businesswire.com
Copyright 1999, Business Wire
Companies or Securities discussed in this article:
Symbol
Name
NYSE:SBC
SBC Communications
NASDAQ:ATHM
NYSE:T
At&T Corp
NASDAQ:ABOV
NASDAQ:EXDS
NASDAQ:ICIX
Intermedia
Communications
NASDAQ:MSFT
Microsoft Corp
NYSE:AOL
America Online
NYSE:CPQ
Compaq Computer
NASDAQ:AMZN
NASDAQ:CDNW
NASDAQ:CSCO
Cisco Systems
NASDAQ:DELL
Dell Computer Corp
NASDAQ:DCLK
NASDAQ:GCTY
NYSE:NSM
Natl Semiconductor
NYSE:TSG
Fundamental information provided by Market Guide.
NYSE and AMEX quotes are delayed by at least 20 minutes.
All other quotes are delayed by at least 15 minutes.
© 1995-1999 Quote.com, Inc. |
