How do I simulate 28.8 browsing on DSL/Cable?

[sun818]

I want to get a better idea of how my pages load for dial-up users. You do get spoiled being on broadband for so long -- everything seems fast. ;)

[keyplyr]

One way would be to run a validation from a tool like NetMechanic [free test] [netmechanic.com] which will report download times for various modem speeds. Note: you do not need to give up your email address if you test just one page at a time.

[nwilson]

I use that one all the time!

I don't think it's that accurate though. Correct me if I'm wrong but I beleive it calculates at say 56k when most users only get 35-40k out of thier 56k dialup right?

Best get a calculator ;)

Nick

[dstanovic]

I use the following which gives times for most connection speeds. Choose "HitBox Doctor" from the list of tools.
[hitboxcentral.com...]

[nwilson]

Nice find dstanovic!

It reckons my site downlaods in under 1sec on 56k

Chokes on the xhtml markup though ;)

Nick

[aaronjf]

Dreamweaver has a feature were you can preview pages simulating whatever speed connection you want. [macromedia.com...]
It will also display who long it takes for a user on what ever connection type you choose to DL and view a page.

[caine]

I know the dreamweaver feature, its a built in thing, i don't think it is realistic to server loads, heavy traffic in different countries.

[richlowe]

Um, what i do is simply try my pages on a dialup line. I don't think there is a better way to check. That way you not only get an idea of download time, but how the page actually looks while it is downloading. It can be quite a shock to see images loading slowly and seeing the missing ALT tags or the strange ALT text or whatever. Slow speeds kind of make all of these types of things stand out like a sore thumb.

Richard LOwe

[Brett_Tabke]

Don't laugh. I start downloading 3 really big files (usually *cough* mp3's), and then use the browser. That divides the bandwidth by 4...

[piskie]

There is a program called "WebSpeed Simulator" that does just what you want. You can set the modem speed and various other parameters. If you slow it right down it also shows the download order as is.