What's your preferred tool for WiFi speedtests? (Not Internet connection speed, but actual throughput from a WiFi device to the attached access point?) Thanks.

If the numbers are to be believed, right clicking on the network in Network Neighborhood and checking Status shows the connection speed. Wired, I usually see 1.0Gbps, but I have seen lower and WiFi also shows speeds that are based on the network card's ability. The laptop I use came with 802.11b/g, but I also use a USB network adapter for testing 802.11n and the speed shows its own limit when the other piece is capable of higher, or lower when it's the crap equipment from the ISP. I generally see around 50Mbps from Spectrum's WiFi if I'm close to it, but did a test on Friday with a Luxul XWR-1750 and saw 89Mbps from four feet away. It's usually about 50Mbps in most areas of that house. I installed an EERO Pro and it's definitely better. The homeowners have been experiencing problems and now, I can monitor the network from somewhere else, so that's great.

I really haven't had issues between equipment, but mainly
it's internet speed tests that show where the bottlenecks lie. The problem is that one test site can't be used for everything because the connections may be bad for one and not another. Speedtest.net shows significantly higher speeds than speedof.me, so I check with both- after the EERO was live, speedof.me showed 90+Mbps, but speedtest.net showed almost 200Mbps, using WiFi. Wired, it shows around 235Mbps.

iPerf

That's what I've come upon, too, now that I see that have an iOS client.

I wonder how hard it would be to make a RasberryPi iPerf server.

Crosen, there is one. Lookup WLAN Pi or NanoPi. It is ready made or you can build your self for around. $30.

Perfect, thanks!

https://www.wlanpi.com/

It does so much more than iPerf BTW.

I take it this is another one of those expressions that doesn't make any sense if you happen to clear your mental memory of preconceptions, READ the words, and then think about what they mean for more than two seconds. Which nobody does. It's a misnomer.

The closest thing you could get to knowing internet connection speed is the ping time. That measures how long it takes for you to connect (and get acknowledgment that a connection has been made). Am I wrong?

What you're talking about is data transfer speed, the speed at which data can be transferred, once a connection has been made, from one place to another. It definitely depends on there being a connection, but it IS NOT the speed involved in making a connection.

On my iPhone, I use an app called Network Multi Meter. Gives you real time, and has a ping tester as well.

What would be the server address?

Server port?

CloudCheck is an app that has a tool packaged in called WiFi sweetspots for a good speed test. WiFi sweetspots is also available as it’s own app.

I think that most people think of "speed" as how long it takes for a block of data to be ready for use.

PING time is certainly a component of this, but so is the raw bit rate, dropped packets, server response time, and rendering computer response time. If the distant router replies to the PING, the packet will never see the server. The indicated raw WiFi bit rate will depend on the signal to noise ratio, distance, and interference -- and the capability of the WiFi access point and client. Some WiFi clients and access points will report the raw bit rate that they are using.

I have an Xfinity connection and their Gateway at home. Using their speed test, I can get about 800Mbps to a wired client and in the 200-500Mbps range to a WiFi client. However, I have an older Raspberry PI that will require 30 seconds or so to render a web page that will render in a "blink" on my wired PC. In some cases I suspect that the Gateway is embellishing the results. (Speculating that the web page "cooperates" with the Gateway) Speedof.me always reports significantly lower speeds on the same connection. The Pi has a B/G USB type of WiFi client that has a theoretical top speed of 54Mbps.

PING's on the PC can occasionally be in the single digit ms range.

Are you referring to using command prompt to ping, or an iPhone app? I use Mocha Ping Lite with my phone and it shows latency, dropped packets and ttl. It also has a device list, which obviously makes it easy to find all of the IP addresses.

It depends on which device I have nearby. Command line PING on a PC just returns the time. On Android and iPad I use FING. FING will return a histogram of a series of PING's along with dropped packets. On the network scan FING will return IP address and network name for everything that is awake. On Android it will return MAC addresses and use these to look up the manufacturer. Unfortunately, Apple has blocked discovery of MAC addresses on iDevices. FING also retains a history for the site and will show items that were previously discovered, but are currently not online. FING will also highlight potential duplicate IP addresses.

I forgot to mention Fing.

Unfortunately, Apple has blocked discovery of MAC addresses on iDevices.


I just checked an EERO network and saw the MAC address of the iPad that's active.