# speedtest-cli — Test Network Bandwidth from the Command Line

> A Python CLI that measures download, upload, and ping against Ookla Speedtest servers, ideal for scripted network monitoring and CI health checks.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# speedtest-cli — Test Network Bandwidth from the Command Line

## Quick Use
```bash
pip install speedtest-cli
speedtest-cli
# Or run with specific output format
speedtest-cli --json | jq .
```

## Introduction
speedtest-cli is a command-line interface for testing internet bandwidth using Ookla's Speedtest.net infrastructure. It lets developers and ops teams measure network performance from servers, containers, or CI pipelines without opening a browser.

## What speedtest-cli Does
- Measures download and upload throughput against the nearest Speedtest server
- Reports latency (ping) to the selected test server
- Outputs results in plain text, CSV, or JSON for scripted consumption
- Lets you pick a specific server by ID or list available servers by distance
- Supports simple and share-image output modes

## Architecture Overview
speedtest-cli is a single-file Python script that communicates with the Speedtest.net HTTP API. It fetches a server list ranked by geographic distance, selects the best candidate based on latency, then performs multi-threaded download and upload transfers to calculate throughput. Results are computed locally and printed to stdout.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via pip, pipx, or your distro package manager
- No configuration files needed; all options are passed as CLI flags
- Use --server to pin a specific Speedtest server ID for consistent benchmarks
- Integrate into monitoring with --json piped to a time-series database
- Works on Linux, macOS, Windows, and inside Docker containers

## Key Features
- Zero-config instant bandwidth test from any terminal
- JSON and CSV output for integration with dashboards and alerting
- Server selection by ID, country, or automatic nearest-server detection
- Lightweight single-file script with no compiled dependencies
- Widely used as a baseline network diagnostic in DevOps runbooks

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Ookla Speedtest CLI** — official binary from Ookla; speedtest-cli is the community Python alternative
- **fast-cli** — tests against Netflix Fast.com; speedtest-cli uses the Ookla network
- **iperf3** — measures raw TCP/UDP between two endpoints you control; speedtest-cli tests internet bandwidth
- **LibreSpeed** — self-hosted speed test; speedtest-cli relies on public Ookla servers
- **mtr** — focuses on route-level latency and packet loss; speedtest-cli measures throughput

## FAQ
**Q: Is speedtest-cli the same as the official Ookla Speedtest CLI?**
A: No. speedtest-cli is a community open-source Python project. Ookla later released their own closed-source binary with the same name concept.

**Q: Can I run it in a cron job for continuous monitoring?**
A: Yes. Use --json and pipe results into InfluxDB, Prometheus Pushgateway, or a log file for trend analysis.

**Q: How accurate are the results compared to the browser test?**
A: Results are generally comparable. Differences may arise from thread count, server selection, and network conditions during the test window.

**Q: Does it support IPv6?**
A: The tool defaults to the system's preferred IP version. Some Speedtest servers support IPv6 depending on their configuration.

## Sources
- https://github.com/sivel/speedtest-cli
- https://pypi.org/project/speedtest-cli/

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-4e2d478d
Author: AI Open Source