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Spotlight: Vision of a low-latency future

In this edition, we’ll reveal how Comcast is implementing a new technology from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to curb latency, and how SamKnows is independently measuring the latency improvements being delivered. We’ll also examine how the industry is rallying around new latency measures such as Apple’s RPM, to provide a much more realistic picture of the performance on consumers’ broadband connections. 

Spotlight: The AI answer to your broadband problems

In this month's issue of Spotlight Magazine, we explore the huge benefits that AI can bring to broadband customer support, for both providers and consumers alike, with SamKnows' CEO Alex Salter delivering his vision of how AI could transform the experience.

Spotlight: SamKnows, our diversity dividend

Many companies regard diversity as a box to tick or an overhead. For SamKnows, embracing diversity has helped the company become better organised, more content and more profitable, too.

Spotlight: The journey of a test

Ever wondered how SamKnows makes a test? Jamie Mason, SamKnows’ head of measurement operations explains the meticulous way in which SamKnows tests are designed, engineered and executed to give you an insight into the detailed work that goes into creating each test, how these tests capture real-world performance, how they’re executed with zero impact on a consumer’s connection, and what happens to that test data once it’s collected.

Spotlight: Wi-Fi, the moving target

SamKnows help broadband providers better educate their customers on the speeds they can expect over Wi-Fi. But are consumers chasing the impossible dream, expecting that every device in their home will receive the full speed of their internet connection? And is there hope that the new generation of Wi-Fi 7 equipment that’s emerging on to the market in 2023 can provide improved bandwidth and greater reliability?

Spotlight: From startup to global leader, SamKnows' data journey

How did SamKnows build a global platform to measure real-world performance? Here, Sam Crawford explains how the SamKnows Agent, a piece of software, was created in response to the lack of independent verification of broadband performance in 2008. And how the Agent has evolved to become scalable and transform the way broadband performance is measured worldwide.

Spotlight: Starlink, the truth is out there

Stories emerged during the summer of Starlink customers seeing a sharp decline in (previously impressive) average download speeds and increased unreliability. Has SamKnows spotted any serious drop-off in the performance of Starlink? Has reliability suffered? We’ve reviewed the latest data and spoken to SamKnows founder Sam Crawford to find out what’s really going on with the Starlink service.

Spotlight: Speed Part 3, Who killed speed?

What has speed been replaced by in the minds of broadband consumers? How will the industry adapt to meet the needs of future customers, if speed isn’t the be-all and end-all? We find out in the final part of our speed trilogy.

Spotlight: Speed Part 2, Something Changed

In recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband consumers have changed their priorities when it comes to what they expect from their providers. Now, it looks like speed is no longer the selling point. So what do consumers value now in their broadband?

Spotlight: Gaming Kingdom

Of the 3 billion gamers worldwide, some of the best can be found in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With almost 70% of the population under 29, this is a country where gaming is both an important pastime and rapidly growing business. But whilst internet speeds were good, gaming performance was not up to par. This is the story of how the CITC, Mobily, Salam, STC and Zain are working with SamKnows to improve gaming performance in the Kingdom.

Spotlight: Days of Speed

What was the internet industry like in its early days? How did download speed become single metric to dominate broadband marketing? Are the days of speed finally coming to an end? Find out in the latest edition of Spotlight magazine.

Spotlight: The gigabit difference

Gigabit broadband is becoming increasingly commonplace. But what difference does Gigabit broadband make to people’s consumption? Does behaviour change when people reach the fastest speeds? We use the exclusive SamKnows data to reveal the Gigabit difference and what it says about the future of broadband.

Spotlight: Broadband nutrition labels

The US FCC is mandating ‘nutrition labels’ on broadband providers, in a bid to give consumers more accurate information about the level of service they will receive and any hidden costs. Will this lead to more honest broadband marketing and better deals for consumers? Or is the information on the labels too vague to make a meaningful difference? We examine the FCC’s proposals and how it compares to other regulators around the world.

Spotlight: Cloud Gaming

2022 looks set to be the year cloud gaming hits the mainstream. Microsoft is making a huge streaming push, with Xbox console and PC owners now able to stream a huge library of games, and a games streaming app for smart TVs on the way. Meanwhile, Samsung is building games streaming services into its latest range of TVs, while Sony, Google and Nvidia continue to develop their streaming services. Now the big question is: can the broadband providers deliver the performance gamers demand?

Spotlight: FaultFinder

FaultFinder is the product ISPs love, created by SamKnows. It pinpoints network faults in real-time, and is self-learning and exceptionally precise. But how was FaultFinder first developed? And what does the future have in store for this cutting-edge software creation? Find out in this edition of Spotlight.

Just How Fragile is the Internet?

When Facebook falls off the internet it's big news. But various outages have brought down many other major website this year. What are the knock on effects of big sites going down and should we be worried about it? In this month's edition of Spotlight, we find out.

Making a Metaverse

Is the internet going to evolve into a massive virtual world inhabited by millions of avatars? Many big tech companies think so, and have already started building the foundations for the metaverse. But can our current network infrastructure and technology support a real-time virtual world with no cap on the number of concurrent users?

Spotlight: Measuring Broadband America Retrospective

This is the story of Measuring Broadband America. How it started, how it has helped improve the nation’s broadband, and how it’s continuing to drive progress in nationwide connectivity.

Spotlight: The Super Agent That Sam Built

There is SamKnows software inside tens of millions of routers – find out how it’s helping to keep you connected.

Bufferbloat

In the latest edition of Spotlight, we take on ‘Bufferbloat’, a relatively unknown but common cause of high latency that can badly affect video streaming, online gaming, and teleconferencing. To find out about how bufferbloat happens, what it means for your broadband connection, and how to beat it.

Reality Gap

If you thought buying a fast broadband package would guarantee you get fast Netflix video streaming, you might be surprised by what we've discovered in the latest issue of SamKnows Spotlight Magazine. Where peak-time Netflix download speeds can struggle to stream UHD movies even on super-fast connections, and super-efficient video encoding is cleverly masking the reality gap.

Space Broadband: The New Connectivity Frontier

Will you be buying your next broadband connection from Elon Musk or Amazon? We explore why satellite broadband is set for lift-off