If you want iOS capability, consider TamoSoft Throughput Test, which works on modern versions of Apple's mobile OS alongside Android and Windows. NetStress only works with Windows, whereas iperf, a free command-line tool that also monitors throughput, works on various systems, including desktop Linux, OSX, Android, and even BSD variants. LAN throughput testing tools on a LAN include NetStress, a free GUI-based tool that runs on both endpoints in a connection, enabling you to test the bandwidth between them. All it takes is an overloaded switch uplink port to lower your real network throughput. In reality, though, your mileage may vary depending on factors, including how many other devices are on the network, how much bandwidth those other devices are consuming, and what network equipment, such as hubs or Wi-Fi connections, are supporting them. As a rule, you want ping speeds of 20ms or less for VoIP calls, although you can get tolerable results at up to 150ms. The best testing tools will break these out for you.Īnother common metric is the ping speed, which measures the round trip for packet delivery.

Some wide-area broadband connections will often offer asymmetric bandwidth, meaning you get more capacity for data downloads than for uploads. Most throughput tests use a similar method, sending a series of packets to a destination and measuring the response time over a set period to get an average.īroadband throughput measurement tools often give you different metrics. When people talk about measuring bandwidth, they're often really talking about throughput. You might find this on Wi-Fi or cellular connections, but electrical activity from storms and even high-powered electrical motors can affect copper cabling. Jitter stems from factors like network interference or poor network signals.

If latency varies too much across a session, you might experience jitter, which is a problem for sensitive applications such as VoIP or video conferencing.

Network bandwidth tools