In the next article we are going to take a look at Fast. This is a tool for run speed tests, which Netflix uses and that it is totally free. All users at some point have needed to know the download speed of our contracted internet service. When there is a case like the one described, the most common is to go to a service such as the one offered testdevolcity.es or some other related. This is the easiest way to test the speed that we get from our Internet service provider. Possibly this option through the web browser has always been the most used.
Today, on the Internet we will be able to find a large number of alternatives in terms of internet tests. No more than search on google to get a good list of available services. All these options that we are going to find are websites that we will only have to access to perform the test. The fact is that to save us having to visit web pages the Fast tool, as well as speedtest, it will allow us test our speed without having to visit any website Well, we can perform the speed test directly from the terminal.
Fast.com is Netflix's own speed test service. It is a free, fast and simple tool which allows users to check their current download speed on the internet with its excellent clean and ad-free interface. Since it uses Netflix's own servers for testing purposes, it can easily track whether your ISP is speeding up.
To use this service from the browser, you just have to go to the website of Fast.com. Once there, we can perform a current download speed test. Like all other speed test services, this one will allow us to do the test from the browser.
Use fast from terminal
In case we are interested check current internet speed from command line, we will also be able to use the fast.com service. Is about a script, written in the Go language, to test our internet download speed. This script is developed by Fast.com - Netflix and runs on Gnu / Linux, Windows and Mac very easily.
Using this tool is very simple since has no option available. To start we have to download the binary file from your releases page for our architecture (fast_linux_amd64 for 64-bit systems) and we will save it on our computer. Once saved, we will only have to configure the execution permission and execute it directly from the terminal to test the Internet speed. Another option to use it will be to open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and type the following commands:
wget https://github.com/ddo/fast/releases/download/v0.0.4/fast_linux_amd64 -O fast
chmod +x fast ./fast
To have this service available from anywhere in our team, you can install in directory / usr / local / bin. We will be able to do this in any Gnu / Linux distribution using the following commands in the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T):
wget https://github.com/ddo/fast/releases/download/v0.0.4/fast_linux_amd64 sudo install fast_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/fast fast
Install using the snap package
Another option to be able to enjoy this tool on our computer will be to install it through its snap package. This installation can be done on any Gnu / Linux distribution, but keep in mind that requires that snapD is installed in the system.
sudo snap install fast
uninstall
If you have chosen to install fast using the snap package, uninstalling it is as simple as typing the following command in the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T):
sudo snap remove fast
If you have downloaded the script using wget, to remove this tool from your computer, you just have to delete the downloaded file or the folder in which it has been installed.
As I hope you can see from this article, this is another easy option to use to find out the available download speed. The script for the terminal will allow us to achieve the same result that we can obtain by visiting the Fast.com website.