How do i test the net speed from the command-line on a linux server(no gui)?

I am looking for ways to test the net speed on a linux box with no GUI from the command line. I am not interested in tools like bmon/iftop/wget/curl especially from the upload side of things, for download it is pretty easy with wget on different targets and servers(places). But i am more interested in the upload side of things, which is the most important part of a server's bandwidth. I want to test the upload speed on different servers and places around the world just like you could do it by visiting speedtest.net using a browser with flash. If that tool can handle download speeds too that way then all the better then.