diff --git a/artiq/test/test_worker.py b/artiq/test/test_worker.py
index 88e3ead829..583f5ea43b 100644
--- a/artiq/test/test_worker.py
+++ b/artiq/test/test_worker.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def build(self):
 
     def run(self):
         for i in range(10):
-            with watchdog(0.5*s):
+            with watchdog(0.5 * s):
                 sleep(0.1)
 
 
@@ -40,19 +40,38 @@ def build(self):
         pass
 
     def run(self):
-        with watchdog(0.1*s):
+        with watchdog(0.1 * s):
             sleep(100.0)
 
 
 class WatchdogTimeoutInBuild(EnvExperiment):
     def build(self):
-        with watchdog(0.1*s):
+        with watchdog(0.1 * s):
             sleep(100.0)
 
     def run(self):
         pass
 
 
+class DatasetAccess(EnvExperiment):
+    def build(self):
+        self.setattr_argument(
+            "array_length",
+            NumberValue(default=10000, scale=1, ndecimals=0, step=1, type="int"),
+        )
+
+    def run(self):
+        from random import random
+        from timeit import timeit
+
+        data = [random() for _ in range(self.array_length)]
+
+        duration = timeit(
+            lambda: self.set_dataset("test", data, broadcast=True), number=1
+        )
+        self.set_dataset("duration", duration, broadcast=True)
+
+
 async def _call_worker(worker, expid):
     try:
         await worker.build(0, "main", None, expid, 0)
@@ -63,15 +82,15 @@ async def _call_worker(worker, expid):
         await worker.close()
 
 
-def _run_experiment(class_name):
+def _run_experiment(class_name, handlers={}, args={}):
     expid = {
         "log_level": logging.WARNING,
         "file": sys.modules[__name__].__file__,
         "class_name": class_name,
-        "arguments": dict()
+        "arguments": args,
     }
     loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
-    worker = Worker({})
+    worker = Worker(handlers)
     loop.run_until_complete(_call_worker(worker, expid))
 
 
@@ -91,8 +110,7 @@ def test_exception(self):
             with self.assertRaises(WorkerInternalException):
                 _run_experiment("ExceptionTermination")
             self.assertGreater(len(logs.records), 0)
-            self.assertIn("Terminating with exception (TypeError)",
-                          logs.output[-1])
+            self.assertIn("Terminating with exception (TypeError)", logs.output[-1])
 
     def test_watchdog_no_timeout(self):
         _run_experiment("WatchdogNoTimeout")
@@ -105,5 +123,25 @@ def test_watchdog_timeout_in_build(self):
         with self.assertRaises(WorkerWatchdogTimeout):
             _run_experiment("WatchdogTimeoutInBuild")
 
+    def test_data_transfer_speed(self):
+        sizes = [1e3, 1e4, 1e5, 2e5, 5e5, 8e5, 1e6]
+        durations = []
+
+        def mock_update_dataset(*args, **kwargs):
+            dataset_name = args[0]["key"]
+            new_value = args[0]["value"][1]
+            if dataset_name == "duration":
+                durations.append(new_value)
+
+        for size in sizes:
+            _run_experiment(
+                "DatasetAccess",
+                {"update_dataset": mock_update_dataset},
+                {"array_length": size},
+            )
+
+        for size, duration in zip(sizes, durations):
+            print("Writing %s elements took %.2f ms" % (size, 1e3 * duration))
+
     def tearDown(self):
         self.loop.close()