App::SpeedTest − Command−line interface to speedtest.net
$ speedtest [
−−no−geo | −−country=NL ] [
−−list | −−ping ] [ options ]
$ speedtest −−list
$ speedtest −−ping −−country=BE
$ speedtest
$ speedtest −s 4358
$ speedtest −−url=http://ookla.extraip.net
$ speedtest −q −−no−download
$ speedtest −Q −−no−upload
The provided perl script is a command-line interface to the speedtest.net <http://www.speedtest.net/> infrastructure so that flash is not required
It was written to feature the functionality that speedtest.net offers without the overhead of flash or java and the need of a browser.
The tool is there to give you a quick indication of the achievable throughput of your current network. That can drop dramatically if you are behind (several) firewalls or badly configured networks (or network parts like switches, hubs and routers).
It was inspired by speedtest-cli <https://github.com/sivel/speedtest-cli>, a project written in python. But I neither like python, nor did I like the default behavior of that script. I also think it does not take the right decisions in choosing the server based on distance instead of speed. That does matter if one has fiber lines. I prefer speed over distance.
−? | −−help
Show all available options and then exit.
−V | −−version
Show program version and exit.
−−man
Show the builtin manual using "pod2man" and "nroff".
−−info
Show the builtin manual using "pod2text".
−v[#] | −−verbose[=#]
Set verbose level. Default value is 1. A plain −v without value will set the level to 2.
−−simple
An alias for "−v0"
−−all
No (default) filtering on available servers. Useful when finding servers outside of the country of your own location.
−g | −−geo
Use GEO-IP service to find the country your ISP is located. The default is true. If disable ("−−no−geo"), the server to use will be based on distance instead of on latency.
−cXX | −−cc=XX | −−country=XX
Pass the ISO country code to select the servers
$ speedtest
−c NL ...
$ speedtest −−cc=B ...
$ speedtest −−country=D ...
−−list−cc
Fetch the server list and then show the list of countries the servers are located with their country code and server count
$ speedtest
−−list−cc
AD Andorra 1
AE United Arab Emirates 4
:
ZW Zimbabwe 6
You can then use that code to list the servers in the chosen country, as described below.
−l | −−list
This option will show all servers in the selection with the distance in kilometers to the server.
$ speedtest
−−list −−country=IS
1: 10661 − Tengir hf Akureyri 1980.02 km
2: 21605 − Premis ehf Reykjav�k
2039.16 km
3: 3684 − Nova Reykjavik 2039.16 km
4: 6471 − Gagnaveita Reykjavikur Reykjavik 2039.16 km
5: 10650 − Nova VIP Reykjavik 2039.16 km
6: 16148 − Hringidan Reykjavik 2039.16 km
7: 4818 − Siminn Reykjavik 2039.16 km
8: 17455 − Hringdu Reykjav�k
2039.16 km
9: 4141 − Vodafone Reykjav�k
2039.16 km
10: 3644 − Snerpa Isafjordur 2192.27 km
−p | −−ping | −−ping=40
Show a list of servers in the selection with their latency in ms. Be very patient if running this with "−−all".
$ speedtest
−−ping −−cc=BE
1: 4320 − EDPnet Sint−Niklaas 148.06 km 52 ms
2: 12627 − Proximus Brussels 173.04 km 55 ms
3: 10986 − Proximus Schaarbeek 170.54 km 55 ms
4: 15212 − Telenet BVBA/SPRL Mechelen 133.89 km 57 ms
5: 29238 − Arcadiz DIEGEM 166.33 km 58 ms
6: 5151 − Combell Brussels 173.04 km 59 ms
7: 26887 − Arxus NV Brussels 173.04 km 64 ms
8: 4812 − Universite Catholiqâ¦
Louvain−La−Neuv 186.87 km 70 ms
9: 2848 − Cu.be Solutions Diegem 166.33 km 75 ms
10: 12306 − VOO Li�ge 186.26 km
80 ms
11: 24261 − Une Nouvelle Villeâ¦
Charleroi 217.48 km 147 ms
12: 30594 − Orange Belgium Evere 169.29 km 150 ms
If a server does not respond, a very high latency is used as default.
This option only shows the 40 nearest servers. The number can be changed as optional argument.
$ speedtest
−−cc=BE −−ping=4
1: 4320 − EDPnet Sint−Niklaas 148.06 km 53 ms
2: 29238 − Arcadiz DIEGEM 166.33 km 57 ms
3: 15212 − Telenet BVBA/SPRL Mechelen 133.89 km 62 ms
4: 2848 − Cu.be Solutions Diegem 166.33 km 76 ms
−1 | −−one−line
Generate a very short report easy to paste in e.g. IRC channels.
$ speedtest
−1Qv0
DL: 40.721 Mbit/s, UL: 30.307 Mbit/s
−B | −−bytes
Report throughput in Mbyte/s instead of Mbit/s
−C | −−csv
Generate the measurements in CSV format. The data can be collected in a file (by a cron job) to be able to follow internet speed over time.
The reported fields are
− A
timestam (the time the tests are finished)
− The server ID
− The latency in ms
− The number of tests executed in this measurement
− The direction of the test (D = Down, U = Up)
− The measure avarage speed in Mbit/s
− The minimum speed measured in one of the test in
Mbit/s
− The maximum speed measured in one of the test in
Mbit/s
$ speedtest −Cs4358
"2015−01−24
17:15:09",4358,63.97,40,D,93.45,30.39,136.93
"2015−01−24
17:15:14",4358,63.97,40,U,92.67,31.10,143.06
−U | −−skip−undef
Skip reporting measurements that have no speed recordings at all. The default is to report these as 0.00 .. 999999999.999.
−P | −−prtg
Generate the measurements in XML suited for PRTG
$ speedtest
−P
<?xml version="1.0"
encoding="UTF−8" ?>
<prtg>
<text>Testing from My ISP (10.20.30.40)</text>
<result>
<channel>Ping</channel>
<customUnit>ms</customUnit>
<float>1</float>
<value>56.40</value>
</result>
<result>
<channel>Download</channel>
<customUnit>Mbit/s</customUnit>
<float>1</float>
<value>38.34</value>
</result>
<result>
<channel>Upload</channel>
<customUnit>Mbit/s</customUnit>
<float>1</float>
<value>35.89</value>
</result>
</prtg>
−−url[=XXX]
With no value, show server url in list
With value, use specific server url: do not scan available servers
−−ip
Show IP for server
−T[#] | −−try[=#]
Use the top # (based on lowest latency or shortest distance) from the list to do all required tests.
$ speedtest
−T3 −c NL −Q2
Testing for 80.x.y.z : XS4ALL Internet BV (NL)
Using 13218: 26.52 km 25 ms XS4ALL Internet BV
Test download .. Download 31.807 Mbit/s
Test upload .. Upload 86.587 Mbit/s
Using 15850: 26.09 km 25 ms QTS Data Centers
Test download .. Download 80.763 Mbit/s
Test upload .. Upload 77.122 Mbit/s
Using 11365: 26.09 km 27 ms Vancis
Test download .. Download 106.022 Mbit/s
Test upload .. Upload 82.891 Mbit/s
Rank 01: Server: 11365 26.09 km 27 ms, DL: 106.022 UL:
82.891
Rank 02: Server: 15850 26.09 km 25 ms, DL: 80.763 UL: 77.122
Rank 03: Server: 13218 26.52 km 25 ms, DL: 31.807 UL: 86.587
$ speedtest −1v0 −T5
DL: 200.014 Mbit/s, UL: 159.347 Mbit/s, SRV: 13218
DL: 203.599 Mbit/s, UL: 166.247 Mbit/s, SRV: 15850
DL: 207.249 Mbit/s, UL: 134.957 Mbit/s, SRV: 11365
DL: 195.490 Mbit/s, UL: 172.109 Mbit/s, SRV: 5972
DL: 179.413 Mbit/s, UL: 160.309 Mbit/s, SRV: 2042
Rank 01: Server: 15850 26.09 km 30 ms, DL: 203.599 UL:
166.247
Rank 02: Server: 5972 26.09 km 32 ms, DL: 195.490 UL:
172.109
Rank 03: Server: 13218 26.52 km 23 ms, DL: 200.014 UL:
159.347
Rank 04: Server: 11365 26.09 km 31 ms, DL: 207.249 UL:
134.957
Rank 05: Server: 2042 51.41 km 33 ms, DL: 179.413 UL:
160.309
−s# | −−server=# | −−server=filename
Specify the ID of the server to test against. This ID can be taken from the output of "−−list" or "−−ping". Using this option prevents fetching the complete server list and calculation of distances. It also enables you to always test against the same server.
$ speedtest
−1s4358
Testing for 80.x.y.z : XS4ALL Internet BV ()
Using 4358: 52.33 km 64 ms KPN
Test download
........................................Download: 92.633
Mbit/s
Test upload ........................................Upload:
92.552 Mbit/s
DL: 92.633 Mbit/s, UL: 92.552 Mbit/s
This argument may be repeated to test against multile servers, more or less like specifying your own top x (as with "−T").
$ speedtest
−s 22400 −s 1208 −s 13218
Testing for 185.x.y.z : Freedom Internet BV ()
Using 13218: 80.15 km 32 ms XS4ALL Internet BV
Test download
........................................Download 66.833
Mbit/s
Test upload ........................................Upload
173.317 Mbit/s
Using 1208: 51.19 km 37 ms Qweb | Full−Service Hosting
Test download
........................................Download 52.077
Mbit/s
Test upload ........................................Upload
195.833 Mbit/s
Using 22400: 80.15 km 46 ms Usenet.Farm
Test download
........................................Download 96.341
Mbit/s
Test upload ........................................Upload
203.306 Mbit/s
Rank 01: Server: 22400 80.15 km 46 ms, DL: 96.341 UL:
203.306
Rank 02: Server: 1208 51.19 km 37 ms, DL: 52.077 UL: 195.833
Rank 03: Server: 13218 80.15 km 32 ms, DL: 66.833 UL:
173.317
If you pass a filename, it is expected to reflect a server-like structure as received from the speedtest server-list, possibly completed with upload− and download URL’s. You can only pass one filename not consisting of all digits. If you do, all remaining "−s" arguments are ignored.
{ cc =>
"NL",
country => "Netherlands",
host => "unlisted.host.amsterdam:8080",
id => 9999,
lat => "52.37316",
lon => "4.89122",
name => "Amsterdam",
ping => 20.0,
sponsor => "Dam tot Damloop",
url =>
"http://unlisted.host.amsterdam/speedtest/speedtest/upload.php",
url2 =>
"http://unlisted.host.amsterdam/speedtest/speedtest/upload.php",
dl_list => [
"http://unlisted.host.amsterdam/files/128.bin",
"http://unlisted.host.amsterdam/files/256.bin",
# 40 URL's pointing to files in increasing size
"http://unlisted.host.amsterdam/files/2G.bin",
],
ul_list => [
# 40 URL's
],
}
−t# | −−timeout=#
Specify the maximum timeout in seconds.
−d | −−download
Run the download tests. This is default unless "−−upload" is passed.
−u | −−upload
Run the upload tests. This is default unless "−−download" is passed.
−q[#] | −−quick[=#] | −−fast[=#]
Don’t run the full test. The default test runs 40 tests, sorting on increasing test size (and thus test duration). Long(er) tests may take too long on slow connections without adding value. The default value for "−q" is 20 but any value between 1 and 40 is allowed.
−Q[#] | −−realquick[=#]
Don’t run the full test. The default test runs 40 tests, sorting on increasing test size (and thus test duration). Long(er) tests may take too long on slow connections without adding value. The default value for "−Q" is 10 but any value between 1 and 40 is allowed.
−mXX | −−mini=XX
Run the speedtest on a speedtest mini server.
−−source=XX
NYI − mentioned for speedtest-cli compatibility
See "SYNOPSIS" and Command-line arguments
...
Due to language implementation, it may report speeds that are not consistent with the speeds reported by the web interface or other speed-test tools. Likewise for reported latencies, which are not to be compared to those reported by tools like ping.
Improve documentation
What did I miss?
Enable alternative XML parsers
XML::Simple is not the recommended XML parser, but it sufficed on startup. All other API’s are more complex.
As Perl has been ported to a plethora of operating systems, this CLI will work fine on all systems that fulfill the requirement as listed in Makefile.PL (or the various META files).
The script has been tested on Linux, HP-UX, AIX, and Windows 7.
Debian wheezy will run with just two additional packages:
# apt−get install libxml−simple−perl libdata−peek−perl
As an alternative to speedtest.net <http://www.speedtest.net/>, you could consider <http://compari.tech/speed>.
The speedtest-cli <https://github.com/sivel/speedtest-cli> project that inspired me to improve a broken CLI written in python into our beloved language Perl.
I am always open to improvements and suggestions. Use issues at github issues <https://github.com/Tux/speedtest/issues>.
I will never accept pull request that do not strictly conform to my style, however you might hate it. You can read the reasoning behind my preferences here <https://tux.nl/style.html>.
I really don’t care about mixed spaces and tabs in (leading) whitespace
This tool is by no means a guarantee to show the correct speeds. It is only to be used as an indication of the throughput of your internet connection. The values shown cannot be used in a legal debate.
H.Merijn Brand <[email protected]> wrote this for his own personal use, but was asked to make it publicly available as application.
Copyright (C) 2014−2022 H.Merijn Brand
This software is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.