howismywifi.com

What It Is

WiFi Monitor is a network characterization tool, not a conventional “30-second speed test” product. It collects data layer by layer across WiFi RF, IP paths, the transport layer, applications/DNS, CDNs, and real video players, then writes the results into unified timestamped CSV files for cross-layer correlation and post-incident troubleshooting. Its design is aimed primarily at complex connectivity environments such as in-flight WiFi and GEO/LEO satellite links, though it can also be used for hotel, public, campus, and office networks.

Core Capabilities

Functionally, it continuously samples WiFi metrics such as RSSI, noise, channel, MCS, spatial streams, PHY, and TX rate. It monitors gateway and internet latency/loss via ICMP at 5 times per second, and runs traceroute every 30 seconds to capture routing changes. At the transport layer, it runs TCP, UDP, HTTP, and QUIC probes, helping identify phenomena such as TCP PEP, ICMP proxies, and UDP filtering. At the application layer, its YouTube test uses a headless Chromium real player to measure cold start, actual resolution, stalls, and ABR switching. For Netflix, it discovers Open Connect endpoints via fast.com and measures bitrate, revealing CDN throttling that ordinary speed tests may not show.

Platforms, Ecosystem, and Documentation

Public information indicates support for macOS, Windows, and iOS, along with a Python CLI. Its ecosystem uses multiple sources for cross-validation, including Cloudflare Worker, Cloudflare public speed testing, Akamai, Netflix Open Connect, and YouTube. The How It Works documentation is fairly solid, explaining the measurement goals at each layer and why multi-source probing is needed, with a relatively transparent methodology. However, the About page notes that a VPN is required, and it is unclear whether the source code repository, issue tracker, and support information are publicly available.

Pricing and Open-Source Status

The main content does not disclose pricing, licensing, payment methods, or commercial support SLAs. The pages mention Source Repository, source code, issues, and documentation, but that alone is not enough to determine whether it is open source or available to external users. For self-hosting, it only mentions a self-hosted Cloudflare Worker as a probe source, without stating whether the full system can be privately deployed.

Pros, Cons, and Who It’s For

Its strengths are deep measurement coverage across layers and a transparent methodology, making it especially suitable for connectivity quality teams, network engineers, satellite/in-flight WiFi operations, and video experience analysis. Its weaknesses are incomplete disclosure and the possibility that it is more of an internal or professional tool; the learning curve may be high for ordinary users.

Access from China

No information is provided about access, downloads, payments, or node availability in mainland China, so real-world usability is unknown. If access is restricted, alternatives such as Speedtest, Cloudflare Speed Test, iPerf, MTR/traceroute, or SamKnows-style solutions may be considered depending on the use case.