Want to know more about the performance and quality of service provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? Is it your broadband ISP, the application, your computer, or something else that is causing a drop in your internet speed? Mind it, it is not always your computer or a software that causes problems. Sometimes ISPs deliberately blocks some kind of programs. Now Google, the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers are here to help you with a open research platform called the Measurement Lab (M-Lab).
M-Lab
M-Lab will provide tools that Internet users can use to measure the speed of their Internet connection, run diagnostics, and try to find whether their ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications. M-Lab was launched on Wednesday with three Google servers. Right now, users can access 3 tools to measure their broadband connection speed, analyze application performance and run diagnostics. Within six months a total of 36 servers will be deployed across 12 locations around the world. And during that period a wide range of measurement tools are also expected to be added to the platform.
All data collected via M-Lab platform will be made publicly available for other researchers to build on. So, independent researchers can use this platform to study different aspects of broadband connections and network management practices of different broadband service providers. The server-side tools will be openly licensed and operated to allow third-parties to develop their own client-side measurement software.
So, the goal of M-Lab is to advance research and empower the public with useful information about their broadband connections. Thus, by enhancing Internet transparency, M-Lab aim to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet and this is really an appreciable effort. What you say?
More Info: http://www.measurementlab.net