Article on the Future of Internet Speed Tests in Communications of the ACM

Many consumers use online speed tests to track the download and upload speeds of their home Internet connections. But these tools offer more than just a measurement for how fast one’s network can download files or stream video.

The data they gather are also used by policymakers — from city governments to the federal agencies like Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — to assess the current state of broadband speeds around the United States and the world, and to make decisions about where (and how) to make investments to improve access to high-speed Internet connectivity.

Although these tests have long been useful for identifying gaps and shortcomings in Internet connectivity, the COVID-19 pandemic has made these gaps even more apparent, as citizens around the world have come to depend on high-quality internet access for everything from education to work to telehealth. Mitigating the “digital divide” is critical for reducing inequities, and a big part of that problem involves gathering reliable, accurate data about the speed, reliability, and quality of residential broadband Internet connectivity.

In the December 2020 issue of Communications of the ACM — the flagship publication of the Association for Computing Machinery — UChicago CS Professor Nick Feamster and…