Samknows is calling for more broadband customers, especially those with Orange, Tiscali or O2 (Be Unlimited), to take part in its Performance Monitoring project. The system installs a special (highly modified Linksys WRT54GL router) unit into your network that monitors the real world performance of the connection and reports back.

The outcome of the projects first report (here) revealed some interesting results, although that was only based on a tiny sample of data tracked by approximately 200 units. Since then Samknows has grown the number to 1000 units and hopes to add even more.

Naturally the reason for seeking more users from specific providers is to try and create a balanced sample of results by making sure that each ISP has a similar number of testers. Those seeking to get involved should go here:

» Performance Monitoring Signup
» Performance Monitoring FAQ

Those that have attempted to sign-up before should not try again and there are a number of important requirements that people should be mindful of before agreeing to help. These include having a stable broadband connection, using a router to connect and not being a heavy downloader (+30GB).

In addition the units will download approximately 2GB per month and upload around 500MB during their tests, which puts lite users out of the equation.