[thelist] uncached page load time

[Ken Snyder]

Bob Meetin wrote:
> ...
>
> Websiteoptimization.com says for a 1.44mbps network connection the page 
> should load in about 5 seconds. 
>
> So a few questions.
>
> 1) I'm consistently seeing a 9 second average.  Any suggestions why the 
> variance?  I have tested 2 different actiontec modems and the results 
> are similar.
>
> 2) In the world of broadband, what is reasonable, acceptable these days 
> in terms of load time? 
>
> 3) Do others target download time or page size?
>
>   
Most pages have multiple HTTP calls, so I suspect you are downloading 
css, images, and javascript in addition to the 169k.  You can check it 
using a Firefox plugin--Web Developer 1.0 or Firebug 1.0.  Also consider 
gzipping. A 5-second download time may assume that the 169k is gzipped 
down to a much smaller size.  And finally consider that the web site 
might not be able to send the data as fast as you can receive it.

I would trust the speed tests--those are specifically designed to 
measure network throughput.

The problem with calling the connection "1.44mbps" is that it is pretty 
much impossible get 1.44mbps throughput.  I'm no network guru, but 
slowdown points include the ISP's connection to a backbone, the ISP's 
routing and filtering, and signal degradation through the DSL line.

- Ken Snyder