Mailing List Archive: Gentoo: AMD64

Measure network speeds between machines?

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markknecht at gmail

Jun 6, 2013, 12:09 PM

Post #1 of 4 (108 views)
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Measure network speeds between machines?

Hi,
Just taking a shot at the dark on this list before I ask something
in the forums. Is there a simple app (or even something at the command
line) that I can use to measure network throughput between two Gentoo
machines on my internal network?

Background: We sold our house & moved. Comcast talked me into
getting there new 'Blast' level Internet service with "speed up to
50Mb/S" but darned if it isn't slower than regular Comcast ISP service
was a the previous house. In our house I typically got about 27Mb/S
download using something like www.Speakeasy.net/speedtest at a
measurement tool. Here I've never gotten higher than 22Mb/S. I do
however get much better upload speeds - about 12Mb/S instead of the
5Mb/S I got at the house.

Granted, 'up to 50Mb/S' might mean 1Mb/S, but that's not the way
they market it. ;-)

Before I engage Comcast this apartment has wired Ethernet and a
provided 8-port switch in the wiring closet. I want to measure speeds
between machines going through that switch to ensure it's not causing
any problems.

Thanks,
Mark

dklann at linux

Jun 6, 2013, 1:10 PM

Post #2 of 4 (103 views)
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Re: Measure network speeds between machines? [In reply to]

On Thu, 6 Jun 2013 12:09:14 -0700 you coerced some electrons to say:

> Hi,
> Just taking a shot at the dark on this list before I ask something
> in the forums. Is there a simple app (or even something at the command
> line) that I can use to measure network throughput between two Gentoo
> machines on my internal network?
>
> Background: We sold our house & moved. Comcast talked me into
> getting there new 'Blast' level Internet service with "speed up to
> 50Mb/S" but darned if it isn't slower than regular Comcast ISP service
> was a the previous house. In our house I typically got about 27Mb/S
> download using something like www.Speakeasy.net/speedtest at a
> measurement tool. Here I've never gotten higher than 22Mb/S. I do
> however get much better upload speeds - about 12Mb/S instead of the
> 5Mb/S I got at the house.
>
> Granted, 'up to 50Mb/S' might mean 1Mb/S, but that's not the way
> they market it. ;-)
>
> Before I engage Comcast this apartment has wired Ethernet and a
> provided 8-port switch in the wiring closet. I want to measure speeds
> between machines going through that switch to ensure it's not causing
> any problems.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
>

Hey Mark,

emerge net-analyzer/{netperf,nttcp, etc.}

on both machines and run the client and server (one on each end). That'll
tell you what throughput you can get (between any two machines, actually).

I've used ttcp (and nttcp) for a long time, but netperf is one I've not
tried until now. Seems pretty usable. With netperf you run "netserver" on
one machine and "netperf" on the other (the "benchmark"). Man pages are
helpful...

There are plenty of other tools out there for measuring network throughput
have a glance at some of them in net-analyzer.

Hope this helps.

~David

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paul.hartman+gentoo at gmail

Jun 6, 2013, 1:11 PM

Post #3 of 4 (103 views)
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Re: Measure network speeds between machines? [In reply to]

On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 2:09 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> Hi,
> Just taking a shot at the dark on this list before I ask something
> in the forums. Is there a simple app (or even something at the command
> line) that I can use to measure network throughput between two Gentoo
> machines on my internal network?

Check out net-analyzer/ttcp and net-misc/iperf

You could also probably "roll your own" test by using netcat to
transfer /dev/zero from one machine to another or something like that.

> Background: We sold our house & moved. Comcast talked me into
> getting there new 'Blast' level Internet service with "speed up to
> 50Mb/S" but darned if it isn't slower than regular Comcast ISP service
> was a the previous house. In our house I typically got about 27Mb/S
> download using something like www.Speakeasy.net/speedtest at a
> measurement tool. Here I've never gotten higher than 22Mb/S. I do
> however get much better upload speeds - about 12Mb/S instead of the
> 5Mb/S I got at the house.

I don't have Comcast but often ISPs will host a speed test server
inside their network, so you can ensure the speeds you're seeing are
not being limited by normal Internet slowdown issues outside of their
system.

To take a page out of the generic ISP tech support, I would try
plugging your computer directly into the cable modem and seeing what
kind of speeds you get then, to eliminate any outside factors.

If you're using your own router, I would check to ensure it is fast
enough to handle that kind of speed. If it has Gigabit ethernet ports
that is usually a good sign. If it only has 10/100 then you might wind
up replacing it with something more modern.

markknecht at gmail

Jun 6, 2013, 1:28 PM

Post #4 of 4 (98 views)
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Re: Measure network speeds between machines? [In reply to]

On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 1:11 PM, Paul Hartman
<paul.hartman+gentoo [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 2:09 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> Just taking a shot at the dark on this list before I ask something
>> in the forums. Is there a simple app (or even something at the command
>> line) that I can use to measure network throughput between two Gentoo
>> machines on my internal network?
>
> Check out net-analyzer/ttcp and net-misc/iperf
>
> You could also probably "roll your own" test by using netcat to
> transfer /dev/zero from one machine to another or something like that.
>
>> Background: We sold our house & moved. Comcast talked me into
>> getting there new 'Blast' level Internet service with "speed up to
>> 50Mb/S" but darned if it isn't slower than regular Comcast ISP service
>> was a the previous house. In our house I typically got about 27Mb/S
>> download using something like www.Speakeasy.net/speedtest at a
>> measurement tool. Here I've never gotten higher than 22Mb/S. I do
>> however get much better upload speeds - about 12Mb/S instead of the
>> 5Mb/S I got at the house.
>
> I don't have Comcast but often ISPs will host a speed test server
> inside their network, so you can ensure the speeds you're seeing are
> not being limited by normal Internet slowdown issues outside of their
> system.
>
> To take a page out of the generic ISP tech support, I would try
> plugging your computer directly into the cable modem and seeing what
> kind of speeds you get then, to eliminate any outside factors.
>
> If you're using your own router, I would check to ensure it is fast
> enough to handle that kind of speed. If it has Gigabit ethernet ports
> that is usually a good sign. If it only has 10/100 then you might wind
> up replacing it with something more modern.
>

David & Paul,
Thanks for the pointer. On paper ttcp looks like an acceptable
place to start. I'll give it a try in a few hours.

Cheers,
Mark

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