How do I test the speed of LAN in my condo?

[davidst01]

Can any tech savvy individuals advise how do I test / check the speed of the LAN in my new condo?

thanks

[2008bangkok]

if you mean speed test on internet go to www.speedtest.net if you mean network speed this is normally 100mb for cable and 54mb for wifi

[RichCor]

As 2008bangkok wrote, speedtest.net, or if a TOT customer try.speedtest1.totbb.net.

These sites are set up to run a data throughput tests on Download and Upload speeds between your equipment and a target server.

With these tests you can check if your ISP is providing you with your 'up to' data speeds.

If you are sharing that Internet connection with the rest of the people in your condo...

[GuyL]

speedtest.net is NOT a reliable tool for checking your bandwidth speed. Use http://testmy.net/ instead and you will get results that are muxh more accurate.

[Pib]

Speedtest.net is fine for local connection testing (and that local connection is all ISPs are on the hook to provide), but is not reliable for international speed testing since Speedtest.net is a flash-based speedtester which can easily be fooled by local/in-country cache servers (i.e., give inaccurate, high download speeds and faster than light ping times). Sometimes I think many flash-based speed testers, especially Speedtest.net, are programmed solely for ISPs as they are the only ones that license/pay for them and it makes their international speeds look good. Testmy.net gives a real world test of your international connection for speed testing since it's not fooled by cache servers.

[RichCor]

speedtest.net is NOT a reliable tool for checking your bandwidth speed. Use http://testmy.net/ instead and you will get results that are muxh more accurate.

Unfortunately the OP didn't state WHAT he was actually wanting to test. Physical Layer, Local Intranet, Local Internet, International speeds ???

TestMy.net doesn't have any servers local to Thailand, most are based in the US, one in Amsterdam NL, one in Singapore -- recent test results on my 7/0.5 TOT adsl line show Download:: 1.3 Mbps / Upload:: 202 Kbps -- so while I might recommend this test for Internetional potential, I wouldn't recommend it for a speed test of Local Domestic Internet (or the 'up to' speed of the ISP).

If I'm having issues with my Internet connection I like to do diagnostics to see where the problem might be. First I see what refresh times I get with my local LAN equipment, then move on to the ISP, some local domestic servers, then International servers. You make is sound as if I can just use testmy.net to check all of these. Again, I don't know what the OP wants. I don't think the OP knows what he wants. What I want to do is give the OP some simple tools to start with, and hopefully they'll come back with more specific questions.

[GuyL]

speedtest.net is NOT a reliable tool for checking your bandwidth speed. Use http://testmy.net/ instead and you will get results that are muxh more accurate.

Unfortunately the OP didn't state WHAT he was actually wanting to test. Physical Layer, Local Intranet, Local Internet, International speeds ???

TestMy.net doesn't have any servers local to Thailand, most are based in the US, one in Amsterdam NL, one in Singapore -- recent test results on my 7/0.5 TOT adsl line show Download:: 1.3 Mbps / Upload:: 202 Kbps -- so while I might recommend this test for Internetional potential, I wouldn't recommend it for a speed test of Local Domestic Internet (or the 'up to' speed of the ISP).

If I'm having issues with my Internet connection I like to do diagnostics to see where the problem might be. First I see what refresh times I get with my local LAN equipment, then move on to the ISP, some local domestic servers, then International servers. You make is sound as if I can just use testmy.net to check all of these. Again, I don't know what the OP wants. I don't think the OP knows what he wants. What I want to do is give the OP some simple tools to start with, and hopefully they'll come back with more specific questions.

I was merely reacting after other posters have suggested that speedtest.net could be an adequate tool for checking the speed of the OP's Internet connection.

You are indeed right with your own remarks, but I suspect that what the OP actually wants is to check his international bandwidth. I might be wrong as he has spoken about his LAN (Local Area Network) and in this case, there are several things that may be checked (such as FTP transfer rate between two nodes for instance), but I seriously doubt that it's the case here (again, I might be wrong).

[HooHaa]

install du meter.

but i suppose te real question is wether you want to test the speed of your lan or the speed of your internet or the wireless speeds you are getting.

Edited March 27, 2014 by HooHaa

[BWPattaya]

To answer the OP question it would be helpful to know how he connects. I know he put LAN but he does not guve enough information.

Does the condo allow you to access their internet connection? Did you have the line put in by an ISP? Do you have a modem/router? Do you connect by a cable from your computer to a modem or do you connect using WiFi?

If the internet connection was arranged by you and it is for you individually what type of modem/router do you have?

If it is not your own line then how many others are connected to it?

Forget running a speedtest until you know more information.

[recycler]

if you mean speed test on internet go to www.speedtest.net if you mean network speed this is normally 100mb for cable and 54mb for wifi

You wish, for WiFi you'll never get the speed as specified, cable is a bit better, but also you'll never get to 100 or 1000 mb in real life.

[NevNic]

This is a neat little app which is aimed at checking hotel wifi speed, but which can also be used at home:

http://www.hotelwifitest.com/

Dunno how accurate it is.......................

[HerbalEd]

speedtest.net is NOT a reliable tool for checking your bandwidth speed. Use http://testmy.net/ instead and you will get results that are muxh more accurate.

I just tried testmy.net and found the speed results to be very doubtful. Testing with speedtest.net showed download speed of 12 Mbps. Testing with bandwidthplace.com showed 8 Mbps .... and testmy.net shows only 0.7 Mbps.

Also, testmy.net says I have a problem and then tries to sell me Mackeeper. I once tried Mackeeper and hated it and deleted it immediately. I also hate their very aggressive sales techniques.

However, all this being said: I am not that sophisticated about this kinda stuff and others here obviously know much more than I.

Edited March 28, 2014 by HerbalEd

[Pib]

if you mean speed test on internet go to www.speedtest.net if you mean network speed this is normally 100mb for cable and 54mb for wifi

You wish, for WiFi you'll never get the speed as specified, cable is a bit better, but also you'll never get to 100 or 1000 mb in real life.

Don''t confuse Link speed (i.e., the 100Mb or Wifi 54Mb) with "data throughput speed." For example a 54Mb Wifi speed is mostly likely a 54g connection (a.k.a., 802.11g) and the max Link speed is 54Mb, but a 54g Wifi router will only provide a Wifi data throughput of approx 22-24Mb max since Wifi channel bandwidth of 54g Wifi routers is only 22Mb and if you have a internet plan which is providing at least a 22-24Mb speed into your modem like say a 30Mb plan or a lower speed TrueOnline DOCSIS/cable plan which has "bursting" capability which allows a much higher data throughput for 30 seconds or more...sometimes up to three times the speed of your internet plan. Yes, don't confuse Link speed maximum with actual Data Throughput speed maximum.

Example: I have a True DOCSIS 15Mb/1.5Mb plan which has bursting capability. True just provided me a 54g Wifi modem/router since a 54g Wifi router can indeed more than handle the data throughput of a 15Mb plan. Whenever I would do a speedtest the max "Wifi" speedtester result I could get was around 24Mb but if I hooked my laptop directly to the router I could pull over 30Mb results...and even see bursts up to 45Mb for a few seconds. That 54g router was fine since I only had laptop with 54g Wifi chips...but a few months ago I got a new laptop with N Wifi chip capability (i.e., 802.11n)...and this particular laptop wifi chip was capability of 150Mb Link speeds which would mean it could also handle much more than a 22-24Mb Data Throughput speed. Well, I went out and bought my self an N Wifi router capable of 300Mb Link speeds, and now I get a 150Mb Link speed connection and a much higher Data Throughput conneciton....now when doing speed tests I can see 45Mb Data Throughput burst via Wifi connection and not just by wire/Ethernet connection.

Additionally, about 18 months ago my True provider modem/router developed an upload speed problem which was later determined to be caused by DOCSIS system upgrades True did and the system upgrade was conflicting with the particular Cisco moden/router I had at the time...but during that problem finding process the True tech brought a cable modem to my house which was coded for up to a 100Mb download/10Mb upload connection (at that time the DOCSIS line in my moobaan had a maximum speed of 100Mb...now I think its 200Mb) and when he hooked that modem to the line entering my house he pulled a 104Mb/10.4Mb speed test results via direct connection to the modem. After that they figured out the Cisco modem I had was the problem they replaced it with a Thomson modem and upload problem resolved...no problems since.

Anyway, don't confuse router Link speed with Data Throughput speed.

[slipperylobster]

Online speed tests will be worthless.....for checking your local bandwidth.

The reason is because they are going to several servers, before pinging the actual site. The servers may or may not be processing many requests at the same time....or perhaps a problem, say in Japan, has your ping rerouted to..say Australia.

What you might want to do is just manually ping your ISP (which is probably in Bangkok). Have some friends with a similar service do the same....... Just google it. There are programs for this....I used to use Telenet on XP.

I do not worry about it too much. If your you tube and streaming videos work well, then you are doing great. I would not pay double if I am getting a non stuttering stream. Eagle Downloader is free and a faster way to do your download on most browsers.

I get the minimum service and its quick enough....

[mrfaroukh]

Try http://www.speedtest.net/

[GuyL]

speedtest.net is NOT a reliable tool for checking your bandwidth speed. Use http://testmy.net/ instead and you will get results that are muxh more accurate.

I just tried testmy.net and found the speed results to be very doubtful. Testing with speedtest.net showed download speed of 12 Mbps. Testing with bandwidthplace.com showed 8 Mbps .... and testmy.net shows only 0.7 Mbps.

Also, testmy.net says I have a problem and then tries to sell me Mackeeper. I once tried Mackeeper and hated it and deleted it immediately. I also hate their very aggressive sales techniques.

However, all this being said: I am not that sophisticated about this kinda stuff and others here obviously know much more than I.

I've never used any of their suggested paying tools so far, thus, can't comment on this point. Several free and quite good analysing and optimising tools exist and are available elsewhere if needed (visit techsupportalert.com for instance).

About your speed test results with testmy.net, it was probably accurate at the time of the test for your international bandwidth (international connextions have been very slow recently in Thailand for many users: just check the recent threads in the "Internet, computers, communication, technology" section of Thai Visa forum). You should run again this test and check whether you obtain better results then (very likely IMHO).

You might find the following webpage worth reading: http://testmy.net/ipb/topic/30131-testmynet-shows-different-results-than-other-speed-tests/

[BWPattaya]

if you mean speed test on internet go to www.speedtest.net if you mean network speed this is normally 100mb for cable and 54mb for wifi

You wish, for WiFi you'll never get the speed as specified, cable is a bit better, but also you'll never get to 100 or 1000 mb in real life.

Don''t confuse Link speed (i.e., the 100Mb or Wifi 54Mb) with "data throughput speed." For example a 54Mb Wifi speed is mostly likely a 54g connection (a.k.a., 802.11g) and the max Link speed is 54Mb, but a 54g Wifi router will only provide a Wifi data throughput of approx 22-24Mb max since Wifi channel bandwidth of 54g Wifi routers is only 22Mb and if you have a internet plan which is providing at least a 22-24Mb speed into your modem like say a 30Mb plan or a lower speed TrueOnline DOCSIS/cable plan which has "bursting" capability which allows a much higher data throughput for 30 seconds or more...sometimes up to three times the speed of your internet plan. Yes, don't confuse Link speed maximum with actual Data Throughput speed maximum.

Example: I have a True DOCSIS 15Mb/1.5Mb plan which has bursting capability. True just provided me a 54g Wifi modem/router since a 54g Wifi router can indeed more than handle the data throughput of a 15Mb plan. Whenever I would do a speedtest the max "Wifi" speedtester result I could get was around 24Mb but if I hooked my laptop directly to the router I could pull over 30Mb results...and even see bursts up to 45Mb for a few seconds. That 54g router was fine since I only had laptop with 54g Wifi chips...but a few months ago I got a new laptop with N Wifi chip capability (i.e., 802.11n)...and this particular laptop wifi chip was capability of 150Mb Link speeds which would mean it could also handle much more than a 22-24Mb Data Throughput speed. Well, I went out and bought my self an N Wifi router capable of 300Mb Link speeds, and now I get a 150Mb Link speed connection and a much higher Data Throughput conneciton....now when doing speed tests I can see 45Mb Data Throughput burst via Wifi connection and not just by wire/Ethernet connection.

Additionally, about 18 months ago my True provider modem/router developed an upload speed problem which was later determined to be caused by DOCSIS system upgrades True did and the system upgrade was conflicting with the particular Cisco moden/router I had at the time...but during that problem finding process the True tech brought a cable modem to my house which was coded for up to a 100Mb download/10Mb upload connection (at that time the DOCSIS line in my moobaan had a maximum speed of 100Mb...now I think its 200Mb) and when he hooked that modem to the line entering my house he pulled a 104Mb/10.4Mb speed test results via direct connection to the modem. After that they figured out the Cisco modem I had was the problem they replaced it with a Thomson modem and upload problem resolved...no problems since.

Anyway, don't confuse router Link speed with Data Throughput speed.

Pib, a very well written post.

[Rimmer]

off topic troll post removed

[kaveh]

You probably should know that LAN and Internet speed test are two different issues, so don't use an Internet-based test.

LAN speed test usually engage complex software to calculate transfers over wire from different Medias. Ex. Different hard drives via LAN

But for a manual LAN speed test consider these issues:

- You should always have a benchmark measurement on your Ethernet LAN to compare with

- be aware of any router/switch on the way and consider you LAN physical and logical segments. Segmentation can speed up or down your network

- simply transfer a large bunch of packets over you line; means large file transfers. And measure the time

- for accurate results, dont use any name conversions methods like NetBIOS or Samba protocols and always use pure TCP/IP

You also can use commercial software, for ex. Famous totusoft suite

Edited April 16, 2014 by kaveh