WebRTC based network performance measurements

Abstract

As internet connections achieve gigabit speeds, local area networks (LANs) become the main bottleneck for users connection. Currently, network performance tests focus on end-to-end performance over wide-area networks and provide no platform-independent way to tests LANs in isolation. To fill this gap, I developed a suite of network performance tests that run in a web application. The network tests support LAN performance measurement using WebRTC peer-to-peer technology and statistically evaluate performance according to the Model-Based Metrics framework. Our network testing application is browser based for easy adoption across platforms and can empower users to understand their in-home networks. Our tests hope to give a more accurate view of LAN performance that can influence regulatory policy of internet providers and consumer decisions.