📡 Measurement Lab (M-Lab) NDT Server Scraper

🚀 Export the M-Lab NDT server inventory in seconds. Pull broadband-speed-test servers with hostname, machine, country, city, geo, and signed WebSocket download and upload URLs ready to use. No registration required.

🕒 Last updated: 2026-05-21 · 📊 10 fields per record · 🌐 200+ M-Lab servers · 🛰️ ndt7 + ndt5 formats · 🌍 Global coverage

The M-Lab NDT Scraper exports the live server inventory from Measurement Lab, the open networking research platform that powers the Network Diagnostic Test (NDT) used by Google's public Internet speed test and many ISP performance measurement studies. Each record returns 10 fields, including the M-Lab machine identifier, the public hostname, the requested protocol (ndt7 or ndt5), the host country and city, and four ready-to-call WebSocket URLs (secure and insecure variants for download and upload).

The inventory covers every active M-Lab NDT pod worldwide, with M-Lab access tokens signed for the caller so the download/upload URLs work out of the box for a network diagnostic, speed-test client, or research probe.

🎯 Target Audience	💡 Primary Use Cases
Network researchers, ISP analysts, broadband policy teams, telecom engineers, CDN ops, network journalists	Speed-test infrastructure mapping, ISP performance studies, regional throughput baselines, broadband policy research, NDT probe orchestration

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📋 What the M-Lab NDT Scraper does

Multiple filtering workflows in a single run:

• 🌍 Nearest server. Default mode returns the M-Lab pods closest to the caller geo.
• 🏳️ Country filter. Restrict to one ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (US, GB, DE, JP, BR, and more).
• 🏙️ City filter. Match against the location.city hint exposed by the M-Lab inventory.
• 🛰️ Protocol filter. ndt7 (modern WebSocket, default) or ndt5 (legacy), or both.
• 🔐 Ready-to-call URLs. Every record includes pre-signed WebSocket URLs for both secure (WSS) and insecure (WS) variants of download and upload.

Each record includes the M-Lab machine ID, the public hostname, the format (ndt7 or ndt5), the country and city, and four signed WebSocket URLs you can hand directly to an NDT client library.

💡 Why it matters: M-Lab powers a meaningful slice of the public broadband-quality dataset used in regulatory filings, academic papers, and ISP scorecards. Anyone running NDT measurements at scale needs the live server inventory to balance load, study regional capacity, or audit speed-test routing. This Actor returns that inventory in a clean dataset on every run.

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🎬 Full Demo

🚧 Coming soon: a 3-minute walkthrough showing how to go from sign-up to a downloaded dataset.

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⚙️ Input

Input	Type	Default	Behavior
maxItems	integer	10	Records to return. Free plan caps at 10, paid plan at 1,000,000.
country	string	""	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (245+ enum values). Empty = nearest worldwide.
city	string	""	Optional city name hint matched against location.city. Empty = no city filter.
formats	array	["ndt7"]	Which NDT protocol to query. ndt7 is the modern WebSocket default. ndt5 is the legacy variant.

Example: 25 nearest US M-Lab ndt7 servers.

{
    "maxItems": 25,
    "country": "US",
    "formats": ["ndt7"]
}

Example: full global inventory across both protocols.

{
    "maxItems": 500,
    "formats": ["ndt7", "ndt5"]
}

⚠️ Good to Know: the signed access tokens embedded in downloadUrl and uploadUrl are issued by the M-Lab service at run time and remain valid for a limited window. For long-running campaigns, re-run the Actor to refresh the URLs before each measurement.

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📊 Output

Each NDT server record contains 10 fields. Download the dataset as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.

🧾 Schema

Field	Type	Example
🖥️ machine	string	"ndt-iad396982-220b2628.googleoim.autojoin.measurement-lab.org"
🌐 hostname	string	"ndt-iad396982-220b2628.googleoim.autojoin.measurement-lab.org"
🛰️ format	string	"ndt7"
🏳️ country	string	"US"
🏙️ city	string	"Washington"
🔽 downloadUrl	string	"wss://.../ndt/v7/download?access_token=..."
🔼 uploadUrl	string	"wss://.../ndt/v7/upload?access_token=..."
🔽 downloadUrlInsecure	string	"ws://.../ndt/v7/download?access_token=..."
🔼 uploadUrlInsecure	string	"ws://.../ndt/v7/upload?access_token=..."
🕒 scrapedAt	ISO 8601	"2026-05-20T21:56:17.976Z"

📦 Sample records

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✨ Why choose this Actor

	Capability
🌐	Live M-Lab inventory. Active NDT pods worldwide, refreshed every run from the M-Lab service.
🛰️	ndt7 + ndt5. Both modern WebSocket and legacy protocols, switchable per run.
🔐	Signed access tokens. Download and upload URLs come back ready to call, no extra auth handshake required.
🏳️	245+ country filter. Restrict to a specific country or leave empty for the nearest-to-caller worldwide list.
⚡	Fast. 10 servers in under 10 seconds.
🔁	Always fresh. Server inventory and access tokens are minted live, so the dataset reflects the current M-Lab fleet.
🚫	No account. Works against public M-Lab infrastructure. No login or API key needed.

📊 The Measurement Lab dataset powers the public Internet speed test integrated into Google search and many ISP performance studies. Accurate server-inventory snapshots underpin every NDT-based measurement workflow.

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📈 How it compares to alternatives

Approach	Cost	Coverage	Refresh	Filters	Setup
⭐ M-Lab NDT Scraper (this Actor)	$5 free credit, then pay-per-use	Worldwide pods	Live per run	country, city, format	⚡ 2 min
Direct M-Lab integration	Free	Worldwide	Per-call	Many	🐢 Dev work
Commercial speed-test SDKs	$$$/year	Vendor pods	Vendor-controlled	Vendor-controlled	⏳ Onboarding
Hand-maintained server lists	Free	Stale, partial	Rarely	None	🕒 Variable

Pick this Actor when you want the M-Lab fleet in a clean dataset, with signed URLs, without writing a custom client.

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🚀 How to use

1. 📝 Sign up. Create a free account with $5 credit (takes 2 minutes).
2. 🌐 Open the Actor. Go to the M-Lab NDT Scraper page on the Apify Store.
3. 🎯 Set input. Optionally pick a country or city, choose ndt7, ndt5, or both, and set maxItems.
4. 🚀 Run it. Click Start and let the Actor collect your data.
5. 📥 Download. Grab your results in the Dataset tab as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.

⏱️ Total time from signup to downloaded dataset: 3-5 minutes. No coding required.

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💼 Business use cases

📡 Network Research ISP performance benchmarking at scale Regional throughput baselines for studies Long-running NDT measurement campaigns Server-selection experiments	📊 Broadband Policy Coverage and performance data for regulators Universal-service-obligation reporting Underserved-area capacity studies Public-interest broadband audits
🏗️ Telecom Engineering Peering and interconnect performance baselines CDN and ISP route validation Backbone latency mapping Edge-server placement studies	📰 Network Journalism Comparative ISP scorecards by city Story research on rural broadband Visualisations of speed-test footprints Data-driven policy reporting

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🔌 Automating M-Lab NDT Scraper

Control the scraper programmatically for scheduled runs and pipeline integrations:

• 🟢 Node.js. Install the apify-client NPM package.
• 🐍 Python. Use the apify-client PyPI package.
• 📚 See the Apify API documentation for full details.

The Apify Schedules feature lets you trigger this Actor on any cron interval. Refresh the inventory hourly or daily, then pipe the URLs into your NDT measurement orchestrator.

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🌟 Beyond business use cases

Network measurement data powers more than commercial workflows. The same structured records support research, education, civic projects, and personal initiatives.

🎓 Research and academia Internet-measurement coursework with live pods Reproducible NDT-based research papers Networking-class lab assignments Comparative-broadband theses	🎨 Personal and creative Hobbyist speed-test dashboards Self-hosted NDT clients with smart server picking Travel-blogger broadband maps Indie network-tools side projects
🤝 Non-profit and civic Community-network performance reports Public-interest broadband audits Indigenous and rural connectivity studies Digital-divide investigations	🧪 Experimentation Test multi-pod parallel NDT measurements Prototype global probe orchestrators Train geo-routing models on real pod data Validate ISP performance models

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🤖 Ask an AI assistant about this scraper

Open a ready-to-send prompt about this ParseForge actor in the AI of your choice:

• 💬 ChatGPT
• 🧠 Claude
• 🔍 Perplexity
• 🅒 Copilot

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🧩 How does it work?

The Actor queries the M-Lab service for the requested protocol, country, and city, then emits one structured record per returned server with signed WebSocket URLs you can use directly with an NDT client.

📏 How accurate is the data?

Every record is read live from the M-Lab service. Country and city come from M-Lab's location metadata, and the signed URLs are minted at run time.

🔁 How often is the dataset refreshed?

The M-Lab inventory changes constantly as pods come online, drain, or are retargeted. Every run fetches a fresh inventory with fresh tokens.

🛰️ What is the difference between ndt7 and ndt5?

ndt7 is the modern WebSocket-based NDT protocol, recommended for new integrations. ndt5 is the legacy version, still supported for backward compatibility with older clients.

🌍 Which countries are covered?

M-Lab operates pods worldwide. The country input enumerates 245+ ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes; leaving it empty returns the nearest-to-caller results from M-Lab's global fleet.

⏰ Can I schedule regular runs?

Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run this Actor hourly, daily, or on any cron expression. Refresh the URL list before each NDT measurement campaign.

⚖️ Is this data legal to use?

M-Lab publishes its server inventory openly, intended for public use. Review M-Lab's terms for redistribution or large-scale measurement, but standard speed-test and research use is supported.

💼 Can I use this data commercially?

Yes. The M-Lab service is open and used by commercial integrators, ISPs, and SaaS speed-test vendors. Follow M-Lab's acceptable-use guidelines for production traffic.

💳 Do I need a paid Apify plan to use this Actor?

No. The free Apify plan is enough for testing and small runs (10 records per run). A paid plan lifts the limit and unlocks scheduling and larger datasets.

🔐 Do the URLs expire?

Yes. M-Lab-issued tokens have a short lifetime by design. Re-run the Actor before each measurement campaign to refresh the signed URLs.

🆘 What if I need help?

Our support team is here to help. Contact us through the Apify platform or use the Tally form linked below.

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🔌 Integrate with any app

M-Lab NDT Scraper connects to any cloud service via Apify integrations:

• Make - Automate multi-step workflows
• Zapier - Connect with 5,000+ apps
• Slack - Get run notifications in your channels
• Airbyte - Pipe server inventory into your warehouse
• GitHub - Trigger runs from commits and releases
• Google Drive - Export datasets straight to Sheets

You can also use webhooks to trigger downstream actions when a run finishes. Push fresh M-Lab inventory into your NDT orchestrator, or alert your team in Slack when pod availability changes.

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🔗 Recommended Actors

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💡 Pro Tip: browse the complete ParseForge collection for more network and infrastructure scrapers.

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🆘 Need Help? Open our contact form to request a new scraper, propose a custom data project, or report an issue.

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⚠️ Disclaimer: this Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Measurement Lab (M-Lab) or its operators. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Only publicly available M-Lab inventory data is collected.