iperf3: Tesing network bandwidth

October 28, 2023 - Reading time: 2 minutes

iperf3 is a tool for performing network throughput measurements. It
can test TCP, UDP, or SCTP throughput. To perform an iperf3 test the
user must establish both a server and a client.

By default iperf3 sends data from client to server. You can use -R switch to send data from server to client.

iperf3 installation

On OpenWRT

opkg update
opkg install iperf3

On Void Linux

sudo xbps-install -S iperf3

Testing throughput

Server setup

Run server on one of the devices you want to test throughput to or from:

iperf3 -s

Run tests using client

On client device you can test throughput in both direction with server.

Send traffic to server (outgoing from client)

iperf3 -c <server IP>

Send traffic from server (incoming to client)

iperf3 -c <server IP> -R