install docker on linux or macOS (I tested on macOS)
docker-compose up
Container should exit as soon as the test is completed and the resluts are shown in stdout.
The betterspeedtest.sh
script emulates the web-based test performed by speedtest.net, but does it one better. While script performs a download and an upload to a server on the Internet, it simultaneously measures latency of pings to see whether the file transfers affect the responsiveness of your network.
Here's why that's important: If the data transfers do increase the latency/lag much, then other network activity, such as voice or video chat, gaming, and general network activity will also work poorly. Gamers will see this as lagging out when someone else uses the network. Skype and FaceTime will see dropouts or freezes. Latency is bad, and good routers will not allow it to happen.
The betterspeedtest.sh script measures latency during file transfers. To invoke it:
sh betterspeedtest.sh [ -4 | -6 ] [ -H netperf-server ] [ -t duration ] [ -p host-to-ping ] [-n simultaneous-streams ]
Options, if present, are:
- -H | --host: DNS or Address of a netperf server (default - netperf.bufferbloat.net)
Alternate servers are netperf-east (east coast US), netperf-west (California), and netperf-eu (Denmark) - -4 | -6: Enable ipv4 or ipv6 testing (default - ipv4)
- -t | --time: Duration for how long each direction's test should run - (default - 60 seconds)
- -p | --ping: Host to ping to measure latency (default - gstatic.com)
- -n | --number: Number of simultaneous sessions (default - 5 sessions)
The output shows separate (one-way) download and upload speed, along with a summary of latencies, including min, max, average, median, and 10th and 90th percentiles so you can get a sense of the distribution. The tool also displays the percent packet loss. The example below shows two measurements, bad and good.
On the left is a test run without SQM. Note that the latency gets huge (greater than 5 seconds), meaning that network performance would be terrible for anyone else using the network.
On the right is a test using SQM: the latency goes up a little (less than 23 msec under load), and network performance remains good.
Example with NO SQM - BAD Example using SQM - GOOD
root@openwrt:/usr/lib/OpenWrtScripts# sh betterspeedtest.sh root@openwrt:/usr/lib/OpenWrtScripts# sh betterspeedtest.sh
[date/time] Testing against netperf.bufferbloat.net (ipv4) [date/time] Testing against netperf.bufferbloat.net (ipv4)
with 5 simultaneous sessions while pinging gstatic.com with 5 simultaneous sessions while pinging gstatic.com
(60 seconds in each direction) (60 seconds in each direction)
Download: 6.65 Mbps Download: 6.62 Mbps
Latency: (in msec, 58 pings, 0.00% packet loss) Latency: (in msec, 61 pings, 0.00% packet loss)
Min: 43.399 Min: 43.092
10pct: 156.092 10pct: 43.916
Median: 230.921 Median: 46.400
Avg: 248.849 Avg: 46.575
90pct: 354.738 90pct: 48.514
Max: 385.507 Max: 56.150
Upload: 0.72 Mbps Upload: 0.70 Mbps
Latency: (in msec, 59 pings, 0.00% packet loss) Latency: (in msec, 53 pings, 0.00% packet loss)
Min: 43.699 Min: 43.394
10pct: 352.521 10pct: 44.202
Median: 4208.574 Median: 50.061
Avg: 3587.534 Avg: 50.486
90pct: 5163.901 90pct: 56.061
Max: 5334.262 Max: 69.333