netpump.org

What It Is

netpump is a lightweight open-source network daemon written in Ruby. Its core mechanism is to forward traffic from a local machine to a remote HTTPS proxy server through a WebSocket tunnel. It is not a commercial proxy or VPN service in the traditional sense, but rather a tool for proxy traffic obfuscation and forwarding.

Core Analysis

• Proxy type: Depends on the usage mode. In browser mode, it uses a mobile browser as the relay, effectively obtaining a mobile network IP. In direct mode, users deploy it themselves on cloud platforms such as Render or Heroku, which results in a data center IP.
• Protocol support: It runs a local HTTPS proxy listener on port 3128, while the client and server communicate via WebSocket. This makes the traffic resemble ordinary web traffic, making it harder for carriers to detect and throttle.
• Anonymity and logging policy: The public instance provided by the official project disables logging by default. For self-hosted instances, the logging policy is entirely controlled by the user, offering a high degree of privacy control.
• Concurrency and bandwidth: The documentation does not specify hard limits, but notes that browser mode may be constrained by the global number of WebSocket connections. Network congestion can also affect speed, and users are advised to close other browser tabs to keep the connection stable.

Pricing

A completely free open-source tool. The server side can be deployed for free on Render, Koyeb, or Heroku — with Heroku offering one free year for students — and there are no commercial subscription fees. Overall, it offers excellent value.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are that it can reliably bypass carrier hotspot throttling, such as from Verizon or T-Mobile, without requiring a jailbreak, while keeping traffic highly obfuscated. It is also fully free and open source. The downsides are its relatively high technical barrier: users need to configure a Ruby environment and work with the command line. Browser mode also requires the phone to stay in the foreground, and there is no commercial-grade technical support.

Who It’s For

Best suited for technical users who need to bypass hotspot throttling, self-hosted proxy enthusiasts, and developers with specific requirements for traffic obfuscation.

Access from China

Unknown. As a self-hosted tool, connectivity depends entirely on the platform where the user deploys the server, such as Render or Heroku, and how accessible that platform is from mainland China. These platforms often require a proxy to access, so users may need an existing proxy for initial deployment or direct connectivity. The tool itself does not provide any nodes. There are no payment-related considerations. Alternatives include traditional TTL modification tools or self-hosted proxy solutions such as V2Ray.