Netflix To Launch “Fast” Speed Test

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netflix-fastBeyond their monthly ISP Speed Index ratings and hot on the heels of the recently introduced mobile app bandwidth configurator, Netflix appears poised to launch “Fast” – an online service and app functionality to provide customers even more insight into their connections and streaming video potential.

From Netflix’s newly filed USPTO trademark application:

  • Downloadable computer software for testing and analyzing the speed of a user’s Internet connection
  • Providing a website featuring non-downloadable software for testing and analyzing the speed of a user’s Internet connection

Seeya, SpeedTest.net?

10 thoughts on “Netflix To Launch “Fast” Speed Test”

  2. By the by, it’s not clear who owns Fast.com. Given the Qwikster debacle, we can’t necessarily assume it’s Netflix…

  3. Hopefully the “downloadable computer software” description means that Netflix will incorporate speed testing as a feature in their apps for various platforms like Vudu does. As far as a standalone app or a webpage to visit in a browser…why? We have enough of those options already.

  4. “…means that Netflix will incorporate speed testing as a feature in their apps for various platforms…”

    But that Netflix movie I linked to already does that. I’ve had it in my Watch List forever.

  5. Those clips aren’t really designed for the masses. Surprised they’re still there and working. A geeky Easter egg of sorts. I assume this will be more substantial and consumer-friendly. But we obviously don’t have much to go on, other than they’ve invested in a logo (and the legal protection behind it).

  6. I checked out that clip on my Mac, Chucky. (I think the dude making odd clicking sounds with his mouth like an African tribesman was maybe the highlight.) It’s not a speedtest, per se, it just shows how your connection handles increasing resolutions and bitrates of video feeds, topping out at 720p at 3 Mbps. Which is useful in its own way (or at least was, before Netflix introduced 1080p at higher bitrates). But still isn’t the same thing as a bandwidth meter.

  7. There are newer test titles that also have 2160P encodes as well as HDR. They show the bitrate of the encode playing like the Example Short did.

  8. “There are newer test titles that also have 2160P encodes as well as HDR. They show the bitrate of the encode playing like the Example Short did.”

    See? Those clips rock, Tim.

    “I think the dude making odd clicking sounds with his mouth like an African tribesman was maybe the highlight.”

    Beyond the speedtest, yes. As previously stated, “highly entertaining!”.

    “Those clips aren’t really designed for the masses.”

    Shows what kind of water cooler you hang around on Monday, Dave. We all discuss the odd clicking sounds every week.

  9. “I checked out that clip on my Mac, Chucky”

    And beyond all the yuk-yuks, that the point. Test those test clips on any endpoint that receives Netflix. Mac, Roku, TiVo, “Smart” TV, your toaster, whatever. They’ll tell you what you’re getting.

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