#Bandwidth speed test schedule how to

However, these tools have their own set of limitations: Some more advanced speed test tools incorporate additional features like Traceroute and DNS queries to provide a more comprehensive view of the network's performance. Moreover, the protocol choice can influence the route the data packets take, potentially affecting the test results. This inconsistency can lead to varying results, as different protocols might have other performance characteristics. Inconsistent Use of Protocolsĭifferent speed test tools employ various protocols, including IPv4 and IPv6, or they might use the protocol chosen by the underlying web browser and IP stack. Moreover, these methods are influenced by various factors, such as network congestion and server load, which can further skew the results. They might not accurately represent its overall bandwidth capacity. However, these methods only provide a snapshot of the network's performance at a specific moment. The HTTP GET (for downloading) and PUT (for uploading) methods are commonly used to measure TCP bandwidth. This lack of clarity can result in misleading data, as the latency experienced during regular internet use might differ. However, these tests often do not accurately indicate whether they are reporting the actual round-trip time or halving it to estimate one-way latency. Most internet speed tests rely on limited parameters, such as ICMP Echo/Reply ('ping'), to measure the round-trip time. Here, we delve deeper into the components of these tests and why they might only sometimes be the best indicators of your actual internet speed. However, these tests can often provide unreliable and inconsistent results due to various factors. Why is this so? Breaking Down the Unreliability of Speed Tests Internet speed testsĪre a traditional tool used by individuals and organizations alike to gauge the performance of their internet connections. It is quite possible that a network that is rated as 'fast' could actually deliver poor results to many applications. The popular speed testing tools provide a very narrow and limited measure of network 'speed'. To run 15-second long bandwidth-test to the 10.0.0.The media is filled with hyperbolic claims that 'Our network is the fastest!'Īnd there are many so-called 'Speed Test' tools available on the Internet. Receive test maximum speed (bits per second)Ĭonnection-count ( integer 1.255 Default:)

If random-data is set to yes, the payload of the bandwidth test packets will have incompressible random data stream so that links that use data compression will not distort the results (this is CPU intensive and random-data should be set to no for low speed CPUs) Transfer test maximum speed (bits per second) There is no acknowledgment required by UDP this implementation means that the closest approximation of the throughput can be seen.ĭirection ( both | receive | transmit Default: receive) To see the maximum throughput of a link, the packet size should be set for the maximum MTU allowed by the links which is usually 1500 bytes. The UDP tester sends 110% or more packets than currently reported as received on the other side of the link. Therefore this statistic is not as reliable as the UDP statistic when estimating throughput. As acknowledgments are an internal working of TCP, their size and usage of the link are not included in the throughput statistics. Statistics for throughput are calculated using the entire size of the TCP data stream.

#Bandwidth speed test schedule how to

Please review the TCP protocol for details on its internal speed settings and how to analyze its behavior. The TCP test uses the standard TCP protocol with acknowledgments and follows the TCP algorithm on how many packets to send according to latency, dropped packets, and other features in the TCP algorithm. The Bandwidth Tester can be used to measure the throughput to another MikroTik router (either wired or wireless) and thereby help to discover network 'bottlenecks'.