Monitor Net Traffic

[Mark Haney]

Derek Broughton wrote:
> Mark Haney wrote:
> 
>> John Hubbard wrote:
>>> Here is my problem;  I want to know what kind of bandwidth my isp is
>>> really giving me.  I have looked at a few different speed tests and I
>>> get different results from them, and they often seem far faster than
>>> what I actually get.  Now I realize that the bottle neck might be coming
>>> from whoever is serving the content, but I am not sure.
>>> So the question is; is there any way to generate any kind of report of
>>> my bandwidth?  I only care about how fast I am able to get data when I
>>> am trying to download it.  Often the connection is not being used at all
>>> and I don't want to factor that in.
>>> Any thoughts?
>>>
>> I deal with this a lot, working for a regional ISP.  The problem with
>> most speed test sites is that they preload (some not all) the file they
>> use to test (be it an image or whatever) to exaggerate the results. 
> 
> Exaggerate?  It's just common sense.  If the file isn't preloaded, you're
> testing server speed as well as network speed.  You want to reduce as much
> as possible any effect the server has on the connection.

Not exactly, it's preloaded in the sense that the browser will being 
loading the test file before performing the test.  It's a fairly common 
trick.  (That's not the most accurate way to explaining it, but it's 
better than nothing.)  I am certainly not talking caching the test file 
in the RAM of the testing server.
> 
>> This 
>> has been a common problem I've seen over the last few years.
>>
>> It's been our choice to have a ftp server sitting on our end of the
>> network and have the customer ftp down various size empty files to test
>> the bandwidth used.
> 
> Which is certainly a fine test of the combination of your network and your
> FTP server - all ISPs should offer such service.
> 
> <smart-ass comment>of course, empty files can't really have different
> sizes</smart-ass comment>


Yeah, it was kinda smart assed, but accurate.  The files are just 'dd' 
created files with nothing but zeroes in them.  Empty from a content 
standpoint, not a size standpoint.

I only point this out so Karl doesn't come screaming back pointing out 
that I should be more exact in my terminology.


-- 
Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt -- Caius Julius Caesar


Mark Haney
Sr. Systems Administrator
ERC Broadband
(828) 350-2415

Call (866) ERC-7110 for after hours support