You can get a quick approximation by timing how long it takes to

FTP or RCP a large file over the link, but bear in mind that that

measurement will be skewed by the time spent in dealing with the

local and remote filesystems, not simply with the network itself.

And remember to measure the time it takes to receive a file, not

the time it takes to send it; the sender can report completion

even though large amounts of data are still buffered locally by

TCP and have not yet been delivered to the destination.