Re: and I though it couldnt get any worse
 

Speedtest.net has always been pretty accurate in the past for me. It certainly gives the most accurate results for mobile phones and always seemed fine when I was on 20Mb.
It is still where I'd point people as a first point of call.
But a second opinion doesn't do any harm and nothing beats actual results.
If speedtest.net reports the results you are expecting then great - if it doesn't then actual tests by downloading files can only help.
Gamers should also check out pingtest.net
Any site can be affected by external influences and any site will only show a maximum but if you can download at your maximum speed and another site is showing lower then it's the other site that's at fault.
I've been happy with speedtest.net for a couple of years - but I've just proved (at least to my satisfaction) that it's not accurate for me now, which is a shame as it has been accurate and easy in the past.

Re: and I though it couldnt get any worse
 

There are two reasons for speedtest.net being less than useful.

The first is that the results at any time will usually differ as between servers that you choose. Some servers are notorious.

The second is that internet behaviour changes from second to second. The speedtest.net snapshot period is too short to overcome these effects - never mind contention on the server you've chosen.

Downloading a very large file from a location known to have high bandwidth takes minutes and that makes for nice averaging over the period of concern to you.

You can do 10 speedtest.nets on the trot to your favourite server and you will have large variances (usually). That tells you only that the internet is a variably busy place.

So if you point people there as first port of call, they'll be straight onto this forum complaining about problems many of them don't have!

Re: and I though it couldnt get any worse
 

I have been using them for a long time (since before they changed their name) and have consistently found them most reliable.
I participate on many forums and constantly update my views as I receive new information but speedtest.net has given very consistent results for many people and for speeds of less than 24Mb I have yet to be convinced that I should not continue to recommend them.
YMMV

Re: and I though it couldnt get any worse
 

There is also other issues that can cause the results to vary - server load, transit, routing, switching etc etc