MLab

MLab, short for Measurement Lab, is a collaborative, open Internet measurement project that operates a distributed network of measurement servers around the world. It provides tools and datasets intended to support researchers, policymakers, and the public in understanding Internet performance, deployment, and access.

The project offers measurement tests, including the Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) and other instrumentation, enabling assessments of download and upload speeds, latency, jitter, and packet loss, as well as network path characteristics. Measurements are sent to central servers where they are timestamped and stored. The data are made publicly available through a data catalog and API, with privacy protections such as data hashing and aggregation.

MLab is a collaborative effort among universities, research institutions, and technology partners, with funding from government and philanthropic sources. It supports a research ecosystem by providing historical measurement data, documentation, and open-source tooling. The data have been used to study broadband performance, the impact of network management practices, and issues related to accessibility and neutrality.

Limitations and caveats: results reflect the performance from measurement points and end-user devices at the time of testing and may be influenced by local conditions. The project emphasizes transparency and reproducibility, and it continues to evolve with community input. Overall, MLab serves as a public resource to enable empirical analysis of Internet performance and to support informed discussions about broadband access and network policy.