Internet access is becoming increasingly mobile, and the next billion users will experience the Internet in new ways from those already online. The experience of Internet connectivity is far from uniform, and observing the variety of connectivity, and how it is changing over time is important. Smartphone users around the globe can download an app and contribute their measurements to a global picture of Internet diversity and evolution. Results are displayed on the map at http://www.internetsociety.org/netradar
Netradar is a free service that provides neutral and accurate information about the quality and diversity (in terms of bandwidth and latency) of Internet connections and mobile devices, collected by the end users themselves anonymously around the world. Results are presented on maps of network connectivity and performance.
“One of the tremendous benefits of Internet technology is the ability to connect diverse networks together. With Netradar, we hope to expose and share some of that diversity and also to study over time how the Internet is changing. Globally, the number of users in developing countries now exceeds those in developed countries and there are now more mobile broadband subscribers than fixed. The Internet Society is focused on ensuring the sustainability and reliability of the Internet, and Netradar will help us to understand the scope and impact of these changes. It’s very exciting to be launching this collaboration with Aalto University,” said Phil Roberts, Acting Chief Internet Technology Officer at the Internet Society.
“The Netradar service has been extremely popular in Finland and the public performance maps and statistics of networks are becoming very accurate. This collaboration with the Internet Society will help researchers and Internet users study the evolution of mobile Internet and form an even more accurate model of network quality worldwide”, said Professor Jukka Manner from Aalto University, who leads the Netradar team.
The Netradar application is available for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Symbian, Meego, Maemo, Jolla and Blackberry platforms.
When users run the application, they are presented with data about the quality of their connectivity and this data is simultaneously uploaded to the Netradar database. No personal information, such as names or addresses, is gathered by the system. It is not necessary to have an account or login to use the system. The Netradar client has been installed over 120,000 times and the database currently holds over three million measurements.
Netradar is a project of the Department of Communications and Networking at Aalto University in Finland, led by Professor Jukka Manner.
About the Internet Society
The Internet Society is an independent source for Internet information and thought leadership around the world. It is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force. The Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology and future development among users, companies, governments and other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of the Internet for everyone.
About Aalto University
Aalto University, Finland, is a new multidisciplinary science and art community in the fields of science, economics, and art and design. The University is founded on Finnish strengths, and its goal is to develop as a unique entity to become one of the world’s top universities. Aalto University’s cornerstones are its strengths in education and research. At the new University, there are 20,000 basic degree and graduate students as well as a staff of 5,000 of which 380 are professors.
