Trying to find something on line that I can use to check our network speed here at work. No, I'm an end user not an IT guy.

Our department has just purchased a bunch of new equipment for our new office, but I am not happy with the the speed of information moving across the network. The fiber should be better than a speeding bullet. I would be happy with a speeding rabbit, but I think I have a turtle.

Todd

There are many factors involved, but you could try ethereal.

Even if you have a T1, it can be "capped" at a certain speed, depending on your company's plan with the provider etc..

I would like to be able to test the system at different times of the day, different number of users, etc.... see what the system is actually doing.

I have two strands of fiber running from our office to our IT facility. If we paid for new network stuff at both ends, I do not want a big restriction placed on the flow. Or else, I will need to develop operational strategies to allow better access to information.

I know that there are IT control freaks who think all files should be between 25 - 150 kb, but I have data files that are in MB to GB sizes for GIS applications and modelling purposes. Maybe they are testing our needs and only "loosening the rope" as we demand it.

Well, depends on how it's setup. You may have a "fractional" T1 with allocation for bursts of throughput above what you normally pay for etc.. Just because you have fiber, doesn't mean that the full capability of that fiber is being utilized.

Your IT staff may also be running QOS or some other packet management utility/device to limit the bandwidth of various types of port traffic (port 80 - html traffic) etc....

I've used PC PitStop in the past, it works quite well. I think it's a signed ActiveX component, so if that scares you off you might want to look elsewhere:

http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/default.asp

Try this one.

http://speakeasy.net/speedtest/

I just ran it on my phone over GPRS and got 128K! Pretty impressive.

There are a number of "bandwith meters" available on various Internet sites. Check out www.dslreports.com and go to the "tools" section. You'll find a link for speed tests on the left side of the page.

Also, the fiber in the ground has very little to do with the actual, real throughput you are seeing at your office. That is more of a function of the electronics on both ends of the fiber and/or the service you are purchasing from your provider.

I would go with iPerf, if you are testing your internal network...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf