Automatic browsers testing?

[Bat_]

Hi,

 

I have a dedicated server on Debian, so I can do basically everything.

 

I created a script similar to http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ 

 

The script measures page load time with all assets via my HTTP Client (also in PHP).

 

So it basically gets all assets URLs (JS, CSS, images etc.) and downloads the page + assets. I get the result measured with \microtime(true).

 

It's all fine, but the load time is always shorter than in practice. When I compare it with Pingdom, it's obvious something is not right.

 

I'm sure I'm getting all assets, but maybe:

 

1. The server's download speed is faster than average users' ISPs.

2. The load time should be higher because of browsers rendering time. I don't render anything, just download assets.

 

What am I thinking is to install a browser from shell, execute a page in this browser and get the load time from browser to my script back.

 

It'll be more reliable and even faster to do, unless there is a better solution to measure the real page load time?

 

If my idea makes sense, what browser can I use, to access page load time from it?

 

Best Regards

[maxxd]

I would check out Selenium automated testing - I believe it reports on load and render time. Don't quote me on that, but I believe it does.

[Bat_]

I have some troubles installing Selenium on FreeBSD. It's installed, but I can't create a new browser session.

I've tried many different configs and PHP webdriver clients, but no luck so far.

 

Are there any alternatives that will help me measure page load time?