Numerous Web sites are available that will test your Internet data communications speed.

You can find a good one at www.speakeasy.net/

speedtest/. (If that site is no longer active, Google or Bing “What is my Internet speed?” to find another speed-testing site. Use it.)

a. While connected to your university’s network, go to Speakeasy and test your speed against servers in Seattle, New York City, and Atlanta.

Compute your average upload and download speeds.

b. Run the Speakeasy test again from your home or a public wireless site. Compute your average upload and download speeds. Compare your speed to those listed in Figure 6-4. If you are performing this test at home, are you getting the performance you are paying for?

c. Contact a friend or relative in another state.

Ask him or her to run the Speakeasy test against those same three cities.

d. Compare the results in parts a, b, and c. What conclusion, if any, can you make from these tests?