bwping(8)                                                            bwping(8)



NAME
       bwping  and  bwping6  are tools to measure bandwidth and response times
       between two hosts using Internet Control Message Protocol  (ICMP)  echo
       request/echo  reply  mechanism.  bwping deals with IPv4 networks, while
       bwping6 - with IPv6 networks.

SYNOPSIS
       bwping [ -u bufsize ] [ -r reporting_period ] [ -T tos ] [ -B bind_addr
       ] -b kbps -s pktsize -v volume target

       bwping6  [  -u  bufsize  ]  [  -r reporting_period ] [ -T tclass ] [ -B
       bind_addr ] -b kbps -s pktsize -v volume target

OPTIONS
       -u bufsize
            Sets the send/receive buffer size in bytes. Default value will  be
            automatically  calculated based on transfer speed, packet size and
            host timer accuracy.

       -r reporting_period
            Sets the interval time in seconds between periodic bandwidth, RTT,
            and  loss  reports.  If  zero,  there  will be no periodic reports
            (default).

       -T tos (bwping only)
            Sets the TOS value of outgoing ip packets. Default value is zero.

       -T tclass (bwping6 only)
            Sets the IPv6 Traffic Class value of outgoing ip packets.  Default
            value is zero.

       -B bind_addr
            Sets  the  source  address  of outgoing ip packets. By default the
            address of the outgoing interface will be used.

       -b kbps
            Sets the transfer speed in kilobits per second.

       -s pktsize
            Sets the packet size in bytes.

       -v volume
            Sets the volume to transfer in bytes.

AUTHORS
       Oleg Derevenetz <oleg.derevenetz@gmail.com>

BUGS
       None known.

RESTRICTIONS
       This utility uses raw sockets to deal with ICMP messages, so root priv‐
       ileges are required to run it.

       Although  bwping  and  bwping6 does not require any special software on
       the remote host (only the ability to respond on ICMP echo request  mes‐
       sages),  there are some special requirements to network infrastructure,
       local and remote host performance:

       1. There should be no ICMP echo request/reply filtering on the network.
       This includes QoS mechanisms (which often affects ICMP) at any point in
       the testing path;

       2. Local host should have  enough  CPU  resources  to  send  ICMP  echo
       request  messages  with  given  rate,  and  remote  host should quickly
       respond on these messages and should have no  ICMP  bandwidth  limiting
       turned on.

       If  some  of  these  requirements  are  not satisfied, then measurement
       results will be inadequate or fail completely. In general, for  testing
       bandwidth  where  QoS  is  implemented,  always  test with traffic that
       matches the QoS class to be tested.

SEE ALSO
       netstat(1), ping(8)



                                                                     bwping(8)
