Broadband.gov helps you test your net speed (and helps the US Gov verify what the ISP’s are telling them)

Wired – Epicenter - The FCC Wants You to Test Your Broadband Speeds

“The FCC is asking the nation’s broadband and smartphone users to use their broadband testing tools to help the feds and consumers know what speeds are actually available, not just promised by the nations’ telecoms.

Starting Thursday, netizens can go to the FCC’s Broadband.gov site, enter their address and test their broadband speed using one of two testing tools. iPhone and Android users can go to their respective app stores and download the FCC’s first ever mobile app, which will report to the feds exactly how slow your connection actually is. The FCC is requiring the street address “it may use this data to analyze broadband quality and availability on a geographic basis.”

Broadband connection testing isn’t new, and is freely available online, but this might mark the first time that individual tests help to lead to informed policy making.

Crowdsourcing this data is a brilliant move, given that telecoms have long fought against telling federal regulators what areas they cover and at what speed, arguing that information will be used by competitors to poach their customers.  …”

Broadband.gov - Transparency in Broadband Performance - iPhone Apps, Broadband Tests, and other cool new tools...

“As Joel Gurin previewed in his March 5th post, today the FCC launched a set of digital tools -- the Consumer Broadband Test and the Broadband Dead Zone Report -- enabling consumers to test their broadband service and report areas where broadband is not available for purchase at their household.

The FCC Consumer Broadband Test, currently in beta, allows users to measure the quality of their broadband connections in real-time for both fixed and mobile broadband.   The broadband test measures broadband quality indicators such as speed and latency, and reports that information to consumers and the FCC.  Test your broadband quality now at www.broadband.gov, or download the new FCC Broadband Test app in the Apple and Android App stores now for free.

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In addition to reporting broadband performance to users, these tools enable the FCC to gather data to help the agency analyze broadband performance and availability on a geographic basis across the United States. …

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Broadband.gov

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Broadband Initiatives funded in the Act are intended to accelerate broadband deployment across the United States. The Recovery Act authorizes the FCC to create a National Broadband Plan, that “shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal

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Okay, this is how I think government should work. Helping us where industry isn’t, by helping keep industry, in this case out ISP’s, honest. Trust, but verify…

Seems someone there “get’s it” too. There’s a blog and working RSS feed (in normal, light up the RSS button on my browser, configuration).

Is it funny or sad that I get excited that our government can do something like putting up a blog, RSS feed and net speed test tools?  lol