Network Performance Monitoring Lab

Measure bandwidth, latency, and packet loss on Windows using built-in diagnostics and Performance Monitor counters.

Establish a baseline of current network utilisation and adapter throughput.
Capture latency and packet loss metrics with Windows native tools.
Build a custom Performance Monitor data collector set for network counters.
Capture historical insights using Resource Monitor and saved Performance Monitor reports.

Windows 10/11 device with administrative rights.
Active network connection (wired or wireless) and an external host to ping (e.g., 1.1.1.1).
Optional: A companion workstation or server to generate traffic for testing.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. Switch to the Performance tab and select your primary network adapter.
Record current Send/Receive rates. Trigger activity by streaming a video or downloading a large file and observe throughput changes.
Screenshot or note peak Mbps values and utilisation percentage to use as a baseline.

Open Command Prompt (Start > type cmd > Run as administrator) and run ping 1.1.1.1 -n 20. Record minimum, maximum, and average round-trip times along with packet loss.
Use tracert 1.1.1.1 to view hop latency and identify any high-latency segments.
Optional: Run pathping 1.1.1.1 to combine ping over time with per-hop loss details, or use Settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Data usage to view per-app traffic trends.

Launch Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc). Expand Data Collector Sets > User Defined, right-click and choose New > Data Collector Set.
Name it Network Baseline, select Create manually, and add the following counters (select the active adapter instance):
- Network Interface > Bytes Total/sec
- Network Interface > Output Queue Length
- TCPv4 > Segments Retransmitted/sec
- IPv4 > Datagrams Received Errors
Configure the sample interval to 5 seconds and store logs under C:\PerfLogs\Network. Set a stop condition after 10 minutes.
Start the collector set. While it runs, generate normal user activity. After completion, view logs in Performance Monitor (Reports > User Defined > Network Baseline).

From Task Manager’s Performance tab, select Open Resource Monitor. Use the Network tab to observe processes with active send/receive traffic.
In Resource Monitor, expand Processes with Network Activity and Network Activity, then right-click a process to view associated TCP connections. Capture a screenshot showing bandwidth usage.
Return to Performance Monitor, open Reports > User Defined > Network Baseline, and export the generated report (Action > Save As) for your records.

Compare the Performance Monitor log against Task Manager peaks. Note any sustained high utilisation (>80%) or retransmission spikes.
Summarise latency results, identifying average RTT and any packet loss. Include traceroute hops with elevated latency.
Produce a short report (bullets or table) listing baseline metrics, potential bottlenecks, and recommended follow-up actions (e.g., QoS review, driver updates, switch checks).

Performance Monitor: perfmon.msc
Resource Monitor: resmon.exe > Network tab
Reliability Monitor: Search for Reliability History to review recent network-related events

Schedule recurring Performance Monitor data collector sets to archive logs automatically for trend analysis.

Baseline utilisation captured in Task Manager.
Ping and traceroute metrics recorded with packet loss analysis.
Custom Performance Monitor data collector set created, executed, and report saved.
Resource Monitor observations captured for key processes.
Findings documented with key insights and recommended next steps.