[Sephiroth]

Qasi - you'll get New to cable going again with that!

Speed tests evolve with broadband evolution. So, technically, they do the job at the time when you invoke them (a point you acknowledge).

Speedtest.net seems to be definitive for most people - but it's not trusted at the moment. My own experience confirms this (to me at least). I can't trust the London hosts; I think they're under serious pressure. So I use PARIS.

I check the various speed tests against the nice and simple CableForum speed test. Making due allowance for the minute to minute variability, I've concluded that speedtest.net in the UK hosts is unreliable.

As to the relevance of speed tests - I can't agree with your view that this is in decline. People need a quick measure of whether their line is performing according to what the adverts claim. It isn't easy to find a download site that works at full speed and which doesn't trigger the P2P filter. I hope the VM speed test site that enables the users to test inside the VM network emerges from trial soon.