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WiscNet hosted Speedtest.net

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Considerations

1. For best results test with a wired (copper/fiber) connection.
2. The performance of the computer running this test may have a significant impact on the test results.
3. Other activity on your network may impact your test results significantly.
   
   1. For better results, bypass your network during and outage window and test directly from the Network Access handoff.
   2. If this is not an option, we recommend connecting your test computer to your network as close as possible to the Network Access handoff.
      
4. graphs.wiscnet.net uses 5 minute polling and averages, so short speed tests that will fall within a 5 minute polling cycle won't be reflected as maximums on graphs.wiscnet.net.
5. iperf3 performance is better than web browser based tests.

Web Browser Speed Tests

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WiscNet iperf Speed Tests

Iperf Info

• iperf is a network testing tool used to help measure network throughput

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• , iperf is developed by ESnet / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. For more information please visit:
  • http://software.es.net/iperf/
  • https://github.com/esnet/iperf

• WiscNet hosts both iperf2 and iperf3
  • Use iperf3 per recommendations below
  • Both are on the server iperf.wiscnet.net

• iperf.wiscnet.net is only available to WiscNet members
  • WiscNet also hosts a perfsonar server, which is available publicly - https://www.perfsonar.net/

iperf3 Installation

There are many publicly available guides online. Here are some common examples:

Windows with Windows Subsystem for Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt install iperf3

macOS with Homebrew:

brew install iperf3

Linux - Redhat:

sudo dnf install iperf3

Linux - Debian:

sudo apt install iperf3

iperf3 Test Examples

We recommend using iperf3 TCP tests with four parallel threads when possible for up to 10Gbps tests. UDP tests (not documented here) may cause a service interruption if not used carefully.

iperf3 Download Test

iperf3 testing download speeds from the member's perspective, 4 threads in parallel, for 900 seconds/15 minutes, using TCP. The [SUM] row results in Mbits/sec or Gbits/sec.

iperf3

Iperf operates where one end is the client, the other is the server. WiscNet runs an IPERF version 2 server in Eau Claire, WI. TCP is port 5001, UDP is port 5002. The server is restricted to WiscNet IP addresses. 

Examples

iperf.wiscnet.net runs a TCP Iperf server on the default port (5001)

    iperf -c iperf.wiscnet.net -i2

iperf.wiscnet.net runs a UDP Iperf server on port 5002. this test uses UDP, sends 20Mb/s, reports every 2 seconds, runs for 30 seconds

    iperf -c iperf.wiscnet.net -u -b20M -p 5002 -i2 -t30

iperf.ipv6.wiscnet.net runs a v6 TCP Iperf server on port 5003

    iperf -V -c iperf.ipv6.wiscnet.net -p 5003 -i2

iperf.ipv6.wiscnet.net runs a v6 UDP Iperf server on port 5004

    iperf -V -c iperf.ipv6.wiscnet.net -p 5004 -i2 -u

TCP vs UDP testing

Iperf uses TCP by default. TCP has built in congestion avoidance. If TCP detects any packet loss, it assumes that the link capacity has been reached, and it slows down. This works very well, unless there is packet loss caused by something other than congestion. If there is packet loss due to errors, TCP will back off even if there is plenty of capacity. iperf allows TCP to send as fast as it can, which generally works to fill a clean, low latency link with packets. If a path is not clean/error free or has high latency, TCP will have a difficult time filling it. For testing higher capacity links and for links with higher latency, you will want to adjust the window size (-w option). See the KB article on TCP performance for more background.

By using the -u option, you have told iperf to use UDP packets, rather than TCP. UDP has no built in congestion avoidance, and iperf doesn't implement it either. When doing a UDP test, iperf requires that the bandwidth of the test be specified. If it isn't, it defaults to 1Mb/s. You can use the -b option to specify bandwidth to test. iperf will then send packets at the request rate for the requested period of time. The other end measures how many packets are received vs how many were sent and reports its results.

Bidirectional tests

When you use the -d or -r options for bidirectional testing, you may need to pick a port other than the default [5001] as the server is listening on port 5001. In the below examples, I random ports above 1024 were chosen.

We found that using the same port (with the -L) option in rapid succession doesn't seem to work.

The simultaneous test results may be difficult to read. It looks like only TCP is working. UDP doesn't appear to be working even after upgrading to iperf-2.0.4 [there were supposed to be some bug fixes]. It appears to be a problem in the official distribution according to recent ubuntu forums.

If you do not pick a port it will fail:

C:\>iperf -c iperf.wiscnet.net -i1P 4 -d
bind failed: Permission denied

Simultaneous, local port (-L) 20000:

t 900 -R

iperf3

C:\>iperf -c iperf.wiscnet.net -i1P 4 -dt -L900 20000
------------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on TCP port 20000
TCP window size: 8.00 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting to iperf.wiscnet.net, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 8.00 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[1848] local 146.151.208.16 port 2242 connected with iperf.wiscnet.net port 5001
[1820] local 146.151.208.16 port 20000 connected with iperf.wiscnet.net port 20000

[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1848]  0.0- 1.0 sec  1.03 MBytes  8.65 Mbits/sec
[1820]  0.0- 1.0 sec  1.05 MBytes  8.83 Mbits/sec
[1848]  1.0- 2.0 sec  1.09 MBytes  9.11 Mbits/sec
[1820]  1.0- 2.0 sec   911 KBytes  7.46 Mbits/sec
[1848]  2.0- 3.0 sec   976 KBytes  8.00 Mbits/sec
[1820]  2.0- 3.0 sec  1.05 MBytes  8.79 Mbits/sec
[1820]  3.0- 4.0 sec  1.33 MBytes  11.1 Mbits/sec
[1848]  3.0- 4.0 sec   672 KBytes  5.51 Mbits/sec
[1848]  4.0- 5.0 sec   712 KBytes  5.83 Mbits/sec
[1820]  4.0- 5.0 sec  1.38 MBytes  11.5 Mbits/sec
[1848]  5.0- 6.0 sec   624 KBytes  5.11 Mbits/sec
[1820]  5.0- 6.0 sec  1.42 MBytes  11.9 Mbits/sec
[1848]  6.0- 7.0 sec   584 KBytes  4.78 Mbits/sec
[1820]  6.0- 7.0 sec  1.53 MBytes  12.9 Mbits/sec
[1848]  7.0- 8.0 sec   832 KBytes  6.82 Mbits/sec
[1820]  7.0- 8.0 sec  1.26 MBytes  10.5 Mbits/sec
[1848]  8.0- 9.0 sec   616 KBytes  5.05 Mbits/sec
[1820]  8.0- 9.0 sec  1.49 MBytes  12.5 Mbits/sec
[1848]  9.0-10.0 sec   584 KBytes  4.78 Mbits/sec
[1820]  9.0-10.0 sec  1.51 MBytes  12.7 Mbits/sec
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1848]  0.0-10.0 sec  7.59 MBytes  6.34 Mbits/sec
[1820]  0.0-10.1 sec  13.1 MBytes  10.9 Mbits/sec

...

-R

<output shortened/omitted>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 7] 8.00-9.00 sec 31.6 MBytes 265 Mbits/sec 
[ 9] 8.00-9.00 sec 20.2 MBytes 170 Mbits/sec 
[ 11] 8.00-9.00 sec 33.4 MBytes 280 Mbits/sec 
[ 13] 8.00-9.00 sec 25.5 MBytes 214 Mbits/sec 
[SUM] 8.00-9.00 sec 111 MBytes 929 Mbits/sec 

<repeats until the test is completed>
<output shortened/omitted>

iperf3 Upload Test

iperf3 testing download speeds from the member's perspective, 4 threads in parallel, for 900 seconds/15 minutes, using TCP. The [SUM] row results in Mbits/sec or Gbits/sec. "-R" for reverse added to this test.

iperf3 

C:\Documents and Settings\m7h>iperf -c iperf.wiscnet.net -i1P -r4 -L 60000
------------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on TCP port 60000
TCP window size: 8.00 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting tot 900

iperf3 -c iperf.wiscnet.net, TCP-P port 5001
TCP window size: 8.00 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[1848] local 146.151.208.16 port 2365 connected with iperf.wiscnet.net port 5001
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1848]  0.0- 1.0 sec  2.02 MBytes  17.0 Mbits/sec
[1848]  1.0- 2.0 sec  1.91 MBytes  16.1 Mbits/sec
[1848]  2.0- 3.0 sec  1.92 MBytes  16.1 Mbits/sec
[1848]  3.0- 4.0 sec  1.92 MBytes  16.1 Mbits/sec
[1848]  4.0- 5.0 sec  1.92 MBytes  16.1 Mbits/sec
[1848]  5.0- 6.0 sec  1.95 MBytes  16.3 Mbits/sec
[1848]  6.0- 7.0 sec  1.98 MBytes  16.6 Mbits/sec
[1848]  7.0- 8.0 sec  1.95 MBytes  16.4 Mbits/sec
[1848]  8.0- 9.0 sec  1.89 MBytes  15.9 Mbits/sec
[1848]  9.0-10.0 sec  2.04 MBytes  17.1 Mbits/sec
[1848]  0.0-10.0 sec  19.5 MBytes  16.4 Mbits/sec
[1824] local 146.151.208.16 port 60000 connected with iperf.wiscnet.net port 60000

[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1824]  0.0- 1.0 sec  2.22 MBytes  18.6 Mbits/sec
[1824]  1.0- 2.0 sec  2.18 MBytes  18.3 Mbits/sec
[1824]  2.0- 3.0 sec  2.17 MBytes  18.2 Mbits/sec
[1824]  3.0- 4.0 sec  2.22 MBytes  18.6 Mbits/sec
[1824]  4.0- 5.0 sec  2.01 MBytes  16.9 Mbits/sec
[1824]  5.0- 6.0 sec  2.16 MBytes  18.1 Mbits/sec
[1824]  6.0- 7.0 sec  2.09 MBytes  17.5 Mbits/sec
[1824]  7.0- 8.0 sec  2.07 MBytes  17.4 Mbits/sec
[1824]  8.0- 9.0 sec  2.16 MBytes  18.1 Mbits/sec
[1824]  9.0-10.0 sec  2.13 MBytes  17.9 Mbits/sec
[1824]  0.0-10.1 sec  21.6 MBytes  17.9 Mbits/sec4 -t 900

<output shortened/omitted>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 7] 8.00-9.01 sec 22.4 MBytes 187 Mbits/sec 
[ 9] 8.00-9.01 sec 24.9 MBytes 208 Mbits/sec 
[ 11] 8.00-9.01 sec 22.4 MBytes 187 Mbits/sec 
[ 13] 8.00-9.01 sec 41.4 MBytes 346 Mbits/sec 
[SUM] 8.00-9.01 sec 111 MBytes 928 Mbits/sec 

<repeats until the test is completed>
<output shortened/omitted>

Specifying IPv4 or IPV6

• iperf.wiscnet.net listens on v4 and v6. If you wish to test only v4 or only v6, please use the hostnames below (same server)
  • iperf-ipv4.wiscnet.net
  • iperf-ipv6.wiscnet.net