Cable service speed-testing - informative?

Are on-line cable speed tests reasonably informative? I read an opinion written in 2000 or 2001 that cable speed tests, especially under Internet Explorer, in no way represent even the "general" level of service being delivered by a cable-service provider.

Generally speaking, the only time I use one of the cable speed-test sites is when I notice a very slow response when I am on-line.

SnapperOne

yes and no. If its a local site with not much traffic then it can be deemed reliable. That is as long as you have no download tweaks or anything enabled. If its a highly trafficed site like C|Net or something then it can be scewed because of the amount of people accessing the site at the time.

not to mention how many people in your area have cable as that will kill u as well,


the speed the comapny say are a MAX of what you cna get, but will vary - it does not mean u WILL hit those speeds.

those benchmarks are more for comparison.
i use 2
different parts of the country
mainly to see if there is a problem more than actually "how fast" it is