Ping test should keep running during transfer phase to measure bufferbloat

[tohojo]

Hi

I noticed that the speedtest client only does a single ping measurement before the download and upload tests, but fails to measure latency under load while the transfers are running. This is a mistake: measuring latency under load is a really simple way to get an indication of whether the user suffers from bufferbloat, one of the most common problems affecting perceived user networking performance.

To see examples of how other speedtests incorporate bufferbloat measurements, see:

• DSL reports: https://www.dslreports.com/speedtest
• Fast.com: https://fast.com (visible when clicking "show more info")

For more information about bufferbloat see:

• Introduction to bufferbloat: https://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/bloat/wiki/Introduction/
• Tests for bufferbloat: https://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/bloat/wiki/Tests_for_Bufferbloat/

This really ought to be part of the test specification, but I couldn't find a way to open a bug against that, so opening this instead.

If you need more information about how best to incorporate bufferbloat tests into your speedtest, we are multiple people willing to help on the bufferbloat mailing list: https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/bloat

[cproof]

Hello @tohojo ,

thank you for your input!
On a first glance, this looks doable without server modifications. So the best place to start for a proof of concept is probably the web client rtr-nettest/rmbtws. I'll move the issue there.

[tohojo]

Thanks! And yeah, as long as the server lets the client decide when to start a ping, this should be doable on the client side :)