Speedtest CLI. Run speedtest on pfSense box

[provels]

FWIW, when I ran it the second time, I also got an empty box, but every subsequent run it went fine. I just hit the chasing arrows again.

[aln]

I get some positive feedbacks and that's nice.
This was really quick and dirty widget. Maybe I'll take it a step further.
I'll keep you posted.

[adamoutler]

@aln maybe a reboot is required to reload the PHP system? It just stopped spinning and went blank.

[aln]

@aln new and improved version is now available
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[aln]

@adamoutler reboot should not be needed

[adamoutler]

@aln not sure how to activate it.
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[J24]

@aln Maginficent!!! Thank you!

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[aln]

@adamoutler I committed a fix. try the latest version.

[johnpoz]

@aln said in Speedtest CLI. Run speedtest on pfSense box:

only reason to run speedtest on pfSense is to test your ISP without speed drops of other elements in your network.

And what might those be? While I hear you, the problem is running speedtest on your router doesn't always show you full speed of your connection.. Router meant to route, not but be a client... There are many thread here with people asking why when run speed test on pfsense do I not see my full isp speed..

Such any tool that makes it easy to do the test, it for sure going to bring more and more of those questions.
See @jimp post from above https://forum.netgate.com/post/675198

example just ran, to same server
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Not saying not good work.. Problem is there is rarely a time you need to run such a test from the edge.. If you think something in your network is slowing down your connection, then connect direct to the router with your client.

2nd test.. same thing connection from router is showing slower than thru router
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This is to be expected.. Nothing wrong with the router.. Its just not really a place to test if your getting full speed from your isp. Since the router is not meant to be a client in such tests, its meant to route packets..

Same thing comes up all the time over on the unifi forums about their routers doing speed tests.

[MoonKnight]

@johnpoz
Hi, I don't see so much different in the speedtest from pfsense or form my computer. Only different is the ping, but not much 2-5 ms different. :)

[johnpoz]

And what is your internet speed?

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU

That is a pretty hefty "router" cpu ;)

[MoonKnight]

@johnpoz
I have 500/500 Mbps

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Yeah, i do have an overkill pfsense. But right now i'm running my backup pfsense, so only Intel (R) Core(TM) i5-6400 CPU, hehe :)

[luckman212]

@johnpoz makes a good point, many pfSense installs on low power CPUs such as ARM or Atom will fail to measure the speed accurately. I've experienced this many times.

BUT, it's still very useful to have this as a "grain of salt" measurement, esp. when access to the LAN is limited or degraded. This has helped me confirm for example, that a remote site's ISP connection (300Mbps) was running fine, and that the slowness they were experiencing was due to a poor WiFi connection. Up to around 300Mbps the speeds can usually be measured reasonably well - even on devices like the SG2440 or SG3100.

[aln]

@CiscoX I guess my pfSense also falls in the overkill category i5, 8GB, 60GB :)

[johnpoz]

@CiscoX nice connection! Love to have that, while get 500 down, my upload is only 50... Would just love for it to be symmetrical..

@luckman212 is right on target for the point trying to make.. I agree it can be a useful tool to have available.. My only concern is make it so available to your not so experienced users could cause of flood on "why" pfsense isn't showing my full speed..

I think this is the point jimp was trying to make way back in 2017 ;)

[aln]

For those who downloaded my dashboard widget. Please get the latest update, I did some bug fixing.

[netblues]

Its cool, and if you ran pf on virtual then probably you do have the muscles.....
How about a disclaimer explaining that on a mouseover on the widget (so we can keep everybody happy?)

And for the installer, please make a pf version check. If it runs on previous versions it will create problems.

[johnpoz]

@netblues said in Speedtest CLI. Run speedtest on pfSense box:

How about a disclaimer explaining that on a mouseover on the widget

Good idea, but the users I am talking about don't pay attention to stuff like that, or read the docs, or even know how to search a forum, or read even stickies.. etc ;)

You could make it screen they have to acknowledge, force them to do a captcha to acknowledge, etc.. Before the widget would even work. And they still won't get it and be asking - why does my pfsense box not get full speed with speed test.. Then will come the "is it a bug" posts ;)

[netblues]

@johnpoz But you DO give them root access after all :P

When this happens, you only have to post the disclaimer..
(not that you aren't right...)

[aln]

@johnpoz you made a point regarding speedtest on the router. I still say the the most accurate ISP speedtest is on the router itself, eliminating the rest of the network hops.
I found the best explanation on this post so I did a little test myself. My i5 CPU usually sits on 1% usage (yes, overkill pfSense box). While running speedtest it peaks to 6%.
So I guess that the "problem" is indeed CPU utilisation on inferior hardware and not that speedtest shouldn't be run on the router as a rule of thumb.
It is perfectly ok to run a router on a lesser CPU, routing is not CPU intensive task, but for those who have it then it is great to be able to use your machine to do some more for you.

And if anyone will be looking for this information in the future then it is here. There is no need for disclaimers, popups or anything else to explain it.