Since launching almost 20 years ago, speedtest.net has been one of the most popular tools used to measure internet speeds. However, Doug Suttles, the founder and former general director of Ookli, a company testing the network for Speedtest, believed that the speed measurement itself was not enough to tell people everything they wanted to know about their internet connections.
That's why Suttles is now introducing a new tool called Ball This measures the delay, loss of packages, vibration and speed to give you how stable your internet connection is.
Suttles, who began a ball with the director of Ookla Jamie Steven in 2023, said that speedtest.net was the right tool for his time, but because the internet speeds became a less problem around the world, he felt that people need new, more holistic ways of assessing internet connections.
“Speed ​​tests are like a swamp in your car that will say that you ran out of oil when your car breaks. We wanted to build a dashboard to say that you have little oil, so you can solve this problem,” said Suttles from Techcrunch over the phone.
A colleague checks network connections for three key variables: reactivity, which is measured by a combination of delay, vibrations, delays and packet loss; reliability that measures reactivity over time and losing packages over time; and speed, which is ordinary download and transmission speeds. All these variables can be measured at different intervals – one minute, five minutes, one hour and 24 hours.
By combining all three variables, the tool gives a result indicating how stable the network connection is. ORB result above 80 means a good connection; 70-80 means you have a good connection; And if you get something below, you may have noticeable problems.
If your result has less than 80, the application suggests steps that you can take to improve network performance. The startup says that he uses LLM to display descriptions of key problems and suggestions related to their solution.
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Orb has applications for various platforms, including iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows and Linux. The company also provides a guide to install the tools on Raspberry Pi, Onewrt, Docker, Steam Deck, Prox Max, Wlan Pi, older smartphones and other platforms for those who would like to monitor their connections more often.
The startup is also working on a function that would allow users to configure a ball and make it available to someone else to monitor your connection. Both users will receive notifications if the quality of the connection drops.
ORB is currently free, and the company wants to keep it this way. Suttles said that he would like to license to enter enterprises and internet service providers so that they could monitor and identify network problems with advanced alerts and analyzes.
Until now, the startup collected $ 3.8 million in financing Sidekick Ventures, as well as individual investors, including the quickly senior director Edward Bender; Netflix engineer Jan Iyengar; Tom Daly, general director of BIG Network; Former head of streaming fastly, Lee Chen; Head of Oculus Studios and Jason Kay strategy and operations; former president of THQ and founder of Naughty Dog, Jason Rubin; and head of strategic initiatives Vetro, Will Cooper.
Steven, who also worked on creating a Down detector, said that ORB also aims to create regulations for various services that help detect whether you can access a specific site, such as Zoom, Netflix, X or Google Drive to check if the services work.
