Test (pure) LAN network speed between macOS devices

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Level 2

303 points

Test (pure) LAN network speed between macOS devices

I'm looking for a way to test the network speed between macOS devices on my network. I'm not looking for a tool that tests file reading/writing over the network, I'm purely interested in seeing how much real max network speed I get on my 1Gbps ethernet network (with various switches and different Macs) and my WiFi network.

As I have 4 different Macs (all 1GBps) I've ruled out LanTest Server from TotuSoft for now, as I would have to buy 4 server licenses to be able to measure all combinations.

Is there another tool that lets me do that?

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.4), Core i7, 27"

Posted on Nov 4, 2017 12:36 PM

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Answer 1

Gerben Wierda Author

Level 2

303 points

Nov 4, 2017 3:03 PM in response to Gerben Wierda

Answering my own question: yes there is. You can download iperf3 free which is a command line tool. I personally downloaded the source code and compiled it.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Nov 4, 2017 12:41 PM in response to Gerben Wierda

If all connected devices are rated for the same maximum speed, such as Gigabit Ethernet, then the between-devices speed will approximate that less the overhead - probably around 5%.

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Answer 3

Gerben Wierda Author

Level 2

303 points

Nov 4, 2017 2:15 PM in response to Kappy

I know this is theoretically true. But I'd like to measure.

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