Top 18 Linux Command-Line Tools to Monitor Network Bandwidth

This article introduces several Linux command-line tools for monitoring network usage. These tools can monitor data transferred through network interfaces, measure current transfer speeds, and display inbound and outbound traffic separately.

Overall bandwidth monitoring – nload, bmon, slurm, bwm-ng, cbm, speedometer, netload

Batch output bandwidth monitoring – vnstat, ifstat, dstat, collectl

Per‑socket bandwidth monitoring – iftop, iptraf, tcptrack, pktstat, netwatch, trafshow

Per‑process bandwidth monitoring – nethogs

1. nload

nload is a simple command-line tool that shows inbound and outbound traffic separately and can draw a live chart. It is useful for a quick overview of total bandwidth usage. $ nload Installation: Fedora and Ubuntu provide nload in their default repositories; CentOS users need the EPEL repository.

# fedora or centos

$ yum install nload -y

# ubuntu/debian

$ sudo apt-get install nload

2. iftop

iftop measures data transferred per socket connection using the pcap library. It cannot show process IDs but can filter traffic and report bandwidth for selected hosts. $ sudo iftop -n Installation: Available in default repositories of Ubuntu/Debian/Fedora; CentOS users obtain it from EPEL.

# fedora or centos

$ yum install iftop -y

# ubuntu or debian

$ sudo apt-get install iftop

3. iptraf

iptraf is an interactive, colorful IP LAN monitoring tool that displays data volume per connection. $ sudo iptraf Installation: CentOS (basic repo) – $ yum install iptraf; Fedora/CentOS with EPEL – $ yum install iptraf-ng -y; Ubuntu/Debian –

$ sudo apt-get install iptraf iptraf-ng

4. nethogs

nethogs is a lightweight "net top" utility that lists bandwidth usage per process, sorting the most bandwidth‑hungry processes at the top. $ sudo nethogs Installation: Ubuntu/Debian/Fedora provide it in default repos; CentOS requires EPEL.

# ubuntu or debian

$ sudo apt-get install nethogs

# fedora or centos (from epel)

$ sudo yum install nethogs -y

5. bmon

bmon (Bandwidth Monitor) displays traffic load for all network interfaces with charts and packet‑level details.

# ubuntu or debian

$ sudo apt-get install bmon

# fedora or centos (from repoforge)

$ sudo yum install bmon

6. slurm

slurm is a simple network load monitor that shows device statistics and ASCII graphs, activated with the c, s, or l keys. $ slurm -s -i eth0 Installation: Debian/Ubuntu – $ sudo apt-get install slurm; Fedora/CentOS –

$ sudo yum install slurm -y

7. tcptrack

tcptrack, like iftop, uses pcap to capture packets and calculate per‑connection bandwidth, supporting standard pcap filters. $ sudo apt-get install tcptrack (Ubuntu/Debian/Fedora) or $ sudo yum install tcptrack (CentOS via RepoForge).

8. vnstat

vnstat runs a daemon that continuously records transferred data, allowing historical bandwidth reports. Use -l for real‑time monitoring. $ vnstat Installation: Ubuntu/Debian – $ sudo apt-get install vnstat; Fedora/CentOS (from EPEL) –

$ sudo yum install vnstat

9. bwm-ng

bwm-ng (Bandwidth Monitor NG) provides a simple real‑time console view of traffic on all interfaces, with optional curses2 bar graphs. $ bwm-ng Installation: Ubuntu/Debian – $ sudo apt-get install bwm-ng; Fedora/CentOS (from EPEL) –

$ sudo yum install bwm-ng

10. cbm (Color Bandwidth Meter)

cbm is a tiny tool that shows real‑time traffic statistics per interface without additional options.

$ sudo apt-get install cbm

11. speedometer

speedometer draws attractive graphs of inbound and outbound traffic for a chosen interface. $ speedometer -r eth0 -t eth0 Installation: Ubuntu/Debian –

$ sudo apt-get install speedometer

12. pktstat

pktstat shows active connections, transfer speeds, connection types, and HTTP request details. $ sudo pktstat -i eth0 -nt Installation:

$ sudo apt-get install pktstat

13. netwatch

netwatch (part of netdiag) displays connections between the local host and remote hosts with per‑connection bandwidth. $ sudo netwatch -e eth0 -nt Installation:

$ sudo apt-get install netdiag

14. trafshow

trafshow reports active connections, protocols, and transfer speeds, supporting pcap filters (e.g., TCP only). $ sudo trafshow -i eth0 tcp Installation:

$ sudo apt-get install netdiag

15. netload

netload provides a brief report of current traffic load and total bytes transferred since start. $ netload eth0 Installation:

$ sudo apt-get install netdiag

16. ifstat

ifstat displays network bandwidth in batch mode, suitable for logging and analysis. $ ifstat -t -i eth0 0.5 Installation: Ubuntu/Debian/Fedora – default repos; CentOS – Repoforge.

17. dstat

dstat, written in Python, reports various system statistics in batch mode, including network bandwidth. $ dstat -nt Installation: $ sudo apt-get install dstat (Ubuntu/Debian) or $ sudo yum install dstat (Fedora/CentOS).

18. collectl

collectl reports system statistics similar to dstat, covering CPU, memory, and network usage. $ collectl -sn -oT -i0.5 Installation: Ubuntu/Debian – $ sudo apt-get install collectl; Fedora – $ sudo yum install collectl Conclusion: These convenient command-line tools allow rapid inspection of network bandwidth on Linux servers via SSH. Web‑based monitoring solutions such as ntop, darkstat, or enterprise tools like Nagios can also be used for broader infrastructure monitoring.