Edit: Brennen's Reddit ID is /u/ookla-brennentsmith.

This r/IAmA is now CLOSED.

The 4pm EST hour has struck and I need to shut this bad boy down and get back to wrangling servers. It's been a ton of fun and I will try and answer as many lingering questions as possible! Thanks for hanging out, Reddit!


Hello Interwebs!

I’m the Lead Systems Engineer at Speedtest by Ookla and my team is responsible for the infrastructure that runs Speedtest.net. Our testing network has over 6000 servers in over 200 countries and regions, which means I spend a lot of my time thinking about how to make internet more efficient everywhere around the globe. I recently wrote this article about how I set up my own home network to make my internet upload and download speeds as fast as possible - a lot of people followed up with questions/comments, so I figured why not take this to the big leagues and do an AMA.

Our website FAQs cover a lot of the common questions we tend to see, such as “Is this a good speed?” and “Why is my internet so slow?” I may refer you to that page during the AMA just to save time so we can really get into the weeds of the internet.

Here are some of my favorite topics to nerd out about:

  • Maximizing internet speeds
  • Running a website at scale
  • Server hardware design
  • Systems orchestration and automation
  • Information security
  • Ookla the cat

But please feel free to ask me anything about internet performance testing, Speedtest, etc.

Here’s my proof. Fire away!

Comments: 2711 • Responses: 1  • Date: 

princesscatling263 karma

Do you have photos of Ookla?

(I'm pretty sure my internet sucks because the router sucks but I have no way to confirm. Also I'm in Australia which might explain online gaming lag. I'm just here for cats.)

l_skel161 karma

Oh heeey there! I'm an admin, also here for cats. :)

Here's a personal fave: http://ookla.d.pr/jzkAFG/4Kmg9HxG

Such glamour. Such integrity. Such meow.