Measuring total bandwidth on a communication link

In this recipe, we will see how to measure the total bandwidth over a communication line. The first thing of course is to verify the communication line with the service provider. Check whether it is a symmetric or an asymmetric line, and if it is asymmetric, check what the bandwidth is in both directions.

Getting ready

There are two cases that you might need to test:

• When you measure a communication line between two offices: in this case connect your laptop (or any PC on the network) to the LAN, and verify whether you have a server or another PC on the other side of the line
• When you measure a communication line to the Internet, make sure you have a testing server on the Service Provider (SP) side or on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) side

How to do it...

To check the bandwidth on a communication line, follow these steps:

1. Ask for the following details:
   1. Ask the SP what the line bandwidth is.
   2. If it is a line to the Internet, in addition to the...