The command line program bing measures bandwidth between two point to point locations. This is an excellent tool for testing throughput or interfaces. Here is how it works!
Install bing:
$ sudo apt-get install bing
The syntax is:
$ sudo bing [host1] [host2]
bing works by sending an ICMP echo request and measuring the delay of the echo reply.
A packet capture of bing in action looks like the following:
20:50:10.671003 IP 172.16.1.202 > 172.16.1.1: ICMP echo request, id 52504, seq 21315, length 52 20:50:10.671521 IP 172.16.1.1 > 172.16.1.202: ICMP echo reply, id 52504, seq 21315, length 52 20:50:10.671608 IP 172.16.1.202 > 172.16.1.1: ICMP echo request, id 52504, seq 21571, length 116 20:50:10.672285 IP 172.16.1.1 > 172.16.1.202: ICMP echo reply, id 52504, seq 21571, length 116 20:50:10.672403 IP 172.16.1.202 > 172.16.1.1: ICMP echo request, id 52504, seq 22339, length 52 20:50:10.672930 IP 172.16.1.1 > 172.16.1.202: ICMP echo reply, id 52504, seq 22339, length 52 20:50:10.672978 IP 172.16.1.202 > 172.16.1.1: ICMP echo request, id 52504, seq 22595, length 116 20:50:10.673621 IP 172.16.1.1 > 172.16.1.202: ICMP echo reply, id 52504, seq 22595, length 116 20:50:10.673739 IP 172.16.1.202 > 172.16.1.1: ICMP echo request, id 52504, seq 23363, length 52 20:50:10.674305 IP 172.16.1.1 > 172.16.1.202: ICMP echo reply, id 52504, seq 23363, length 52 20:50:10.674351 IP 172.16.1.202 > 172.16.1.1: ICMP echo request, id 52504, seq 23619, length 116 20:50:10.674983 IP 172.16.1.1 > 172.16.1.202: ICMP echo reply, id 52504, seq 23619, length 116
Here is an example output of bing in action:
$ sudo bing localhost 74.207.245.5 BING localhost (127.0.0.1) and 74.207.245.5 (74.207.245.5) 44 and 108 data bytes (1024 bits) 74.207.245.5: minimum delay difference is zero, can't estimate link throughput 74.207.245.5: 48.762Mbps 0.021ms 0.020508us/bit 74.207.245.5: minimum delay difference is zero, can't estimate link throughput 74.207.245.5: 170.667Mbps 0.006ms 0.005859us/bit 74.207.245.5: 113.778Mbps 0.009ms 0.008789us/bit 74.207.245.5: 170.667Mbps 0.006ms 0.005859us/bit 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 113.778Mbps 0.009ms 0.008789us/bit 74.207.245.5: 128.000Mbps 0.008ms 0.007812us/bit 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 170.667Mbps 0.006ms 0.005859us/bit 74.207.245.5: 204.800Mbps 0.005ms 0.004883us/bit 74.207.245.5: 256.000Mbps 0.004ms 0.003906us/bit 74.207.245.5: minimum delay difference is zero, can't estimate link throughput 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 113.778Mbps 0.009ms 0.008789us/bit 74.207.245.5: 170.667Mbps 0.006ms 0.005859us/bit 74.207.245.5: 256.000Mbps 0.004ms 0.003906us/bit 74.207.245.5: minimum delay difference is zero, can't estimate link throughput 74.207.245.5: 341.333Mbps 0.003ms 0.002930us/bit 74.207.245.5: 256.000Mbps 0.004ms 0.003906us/bit 74.207.245.5: 341.333Mbps 0.003ms 0.002930us/bit 74.207.245.5: 512.000Mbps 0.002ms 0.001953us/bit 74.207.245.5: 341.333Mbps 0.003ms 0.002930us/bit 74.207.245.5: 204.800Mbps 0.005ms 0.004883us/bit 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 128.000Mbps 0.008ms 0.007813us/bit 74.207.245.5: 102.400Mbps 0.010ms 0.009766us/bit 74.207.245.5: 113.778Mbps 0.009ms 0.008789us/bit 74.207.245.5: 128.000Mbps 0.008ms 0.007813us/bit 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 128.000Mbps 0.008ms 0.007812us/bit 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 204.800Mbps 0.005ms 0.004883us/bit 74.207.245.5: 170.667Mbps 0.006ms 0.005859us/bit 74.207.245.5: 146.286Mbps 0.007ms 0.006836us/bit 74.207.245.5: 170.667Mbps 0.006ms 0.005859us/bit 74.207.245.5: 113.778Mbps 0.009ms 0.008789us/bit ^C --- localhost statistics --- bytes out in dup loss rtt (ms): min avg max std dev 44270970270970 0% 0.015 0.022 0.159 0.006 108270970270970 0% 0.013 0.018 0.229 0.005 --- 74.207.245.5 statistics --- bytes out in dup loss rtt (ms): min avg max std dev 44270970270970 0% 0.135 0.190 2.089 0.027 108270969270969 0% 0.144 0.197 2.225 0.026 --- estimated link characteristics --- host bandwidth ms warning: rtt big localhost 0.013ms < rtt small localhost 0.015ms 74.207.245.5 113.778Mbps 0.120 $
Cool!
