NetPulse Home — Your home network, for any router

Network at a glance

Example Home — sample data

Gateway in Living Room · 3 mesh units · 24 devices connected · Last speed test today at 11:42 AM MT.

OnlineFirmware 7.2.6.31Network ID •••8419

Everything is running well

No interference alerts and no hidden faults — just one Ethernet link in the Office worth a cable check when you get a moment. NetPulse watches for rogue DHCP servers, looping packets, and bad Ethernet connections, not just slow Wi-Fi.

Internet942 ↓ / 38 ↑Mbps at gateway · Sparklight
Cable · WAN 73.••.••.42

Gateway uptime14d 6hLast reboot Oct 24 · Power / firmware
No drops in last 24h

Connected devices24 online18 on 5 GHz · 3 on 2.4 GHz
2 on 6 GHz · 1 wired

Health & GuardiansGoodNo interference alerts · Channel util. 18% avg
Guardians: 1 Ethernet link to check →

DNS

Responding · 12 ms

Pass

Channel utilization — 5 GHz

Living Room · Ch 44 · 18%

18%

Interference

No neighboring congestion flagged

Clear

Guest & IoT networks

Guest Wi-Fi on · Separate IoT network available on this Orbi (Wi-Fi 6E)

On

Rogue DHCP guardian

One authorised DHCP server only — no second server seen

Clear

Loop guardian

Broadcast 0.4% · No duplicate packets or MAC flapping

Clear

Ethernet guardian

Office dock link at 100 Mbps with CRC errors — cable check needed

Attention

Your router

NetPulse detected this router — everything in NetPulse adapts to what it actually supports.

Orbi app

📶

Orbi RBK863S Connected

NETGEAR Orbi · Mesh system · Wi-Fi 6E · Firmware 7.2.6.31 · 3 units

What your router's app offers:

Pick a different router and watch the topology, units, and feature states re-render to match it. States and prices follow each maker's own app, researched Nov 7, 2026 — if a router doesn't offer a feature, or locks it behind a subscription, NetPulse says so instead of pretending. Feature availability can vary by exact model and firmware.

Internet & speed test

Measured at the gateway, not the phone.

Download
942 Mbps

Upload
38 Mbps

Latency
14 ms

Last result: Today 11:42 AM — run a test to measure this device now.

This test measures the connection of this device — the phone or computer running this page — over its current Wi-Fi or cellular link, against Cloudflare's public test servers.

Data use: a full test on a fast connection can use up to ~250 MB of data. Slower connections use much less — the test runs for a fixed time, not a fixed amount of data.

Sign in to save your results

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Tip for today: When Wi-Fi feels off, run four quick checks — 1) confirm the network shows Online above, 2) make sure every router / access point is on the same firmware, 3) find the slow device and check its signal (RSSI) and band, 4) run a speed test before blaming the Wi-Fi — that tells you if it's your router or your internet service.

Connected devices

Every device on this example home — search it, filter by room or access point, and check its signal.

Connected devices

Showing all access points · Search or filter to find any device on your network.

24 devices

NetPulse also shows each device's hostname, MAC, manufacturer, last seen, data usage (24h / 7d), and signal history.

Network Map

How your network fits together — topology first, then every router and access point with its firmware.

Network topology

Tap a node to jump to the devices connected to it.

Mesh • Auto channel

Routers & access points (3)

Model, placement, firmware, and connection for every unit on your network.

SSID

ExampleWiFi

Security

WPA2 / WPA3

Guest network

Off

IPv6

Enabled

WAN IP

73.••.••.42

Timezone

America / Boise (MT)

Network guardians

The faults your router won't tell you about — rogue DHCP servers, looping packets, and bad Ethernet.

Network guardians — the faults your router won't tell you about Checks free · Alerts Premium

Speed can look fine while one hidden fault quietly breaks devices one by one. As your home network manager, NetPulse actively hunts these three — continuously in the background, and on demand with a deep scan. Everyone sees the checks and today's findings free. Premium adds instant alerts, history & trends, and priority fixes.

2 clear 1 needs attention Last deep scan: Today · 1:12 PM MT

Findings for your network — run a deep scan to check this setup.

What's free vs. Premium here: the three Guardian checks and their current findings — like the Ethernet flag on this home — are part of basic health and stay free to view. Premium is the always-on layer on top: alerts in your activity feed the moment a check finds a fault, 30-day history & trends, and step-by-step priority fixes.

See Premium ↓

Rogue DHCP server

Clear

What it is: a second device starts handing out IP addresses — usually an old router plugged back in as an “extra Wi-Fi box” with its DHCP still on, a router cabled LAN-to-LAN, or an ISP gateway that never went into bridge mode. Devices that take its offer get the wrong gateway and DNS, then lose internet seemingly at random.

How NetPulse catches it:

Listens for DHCP offers on the network and keeps exactly one authorised server — your gateway
Flags any second offer, and compares its server MAC, gateway, DNS, and subnet against the real ones
Names the offending device by MAC / manufacturer and where it was seen, so you can go unplug the right box

FindingClear. One DHCP server only — no second offer in the last 24 hours.

If it fires, the alert reads“Rogue DHCP found — a second device at 192.168.4.87 is handing out gateway 192.168.0.1 and wrong DNS. Unplug it, or turn DHCP off on that device and keep it as an access point only.”

Looping packets & broadcast storms

Clear

What it is: a cable loop — both ends of one cable in the same switch, a mesh node wired and wireless at once, or two switches linked twice — sends the same packets round in circles forever. Broadcast traffic explodes, latency spikes, and the whole network crawls even though the internet line is fine.

How NetPulse catches it:

Watches the broadcast / multicast share of traffic — a loop sends it from under 1% to a flood
Spots the same frame arriving repeatedly, and one device's MAC “flapping” between ports or nodes
Correlates the storm's start with the last device or cable added, and points at that segment first

FindingClear. Broadcast traffic is 0.4% of the network total, no duplicate frames, no MAC flapping in the last 24 hours.

If it fires, the alert reads“Loop suspected near Living Room — broadcast jumped to 38% and the same packets are circulating. Power down the last switch or wired device you added, then reconnect one link at a time.”

Bad Ethernet connection

Attention

What it is: a damaged cable, bent pin, loose wall jack, or failing port. The link still “works” — so nothing reports it down — but it negotiates at a fraction of its speed and silently corrupts packets, which shows up as stutter, retransmits, and mysteriously slow wired devices.

How NetPulse catches it:

Checks negotiated link speed on every wired port — 100 Mbps where 1 Gbps is expected is a red flag
Reads CRC / FCS error counters and link-drop (flap) counts where the router or switch exposes them
Cross-checks with a live throughput test, so a slow-but-clean link isn't misreported as a bad cable

FindingOffice wired dock: negotiated 100 Mbps instead of 1 Gbps. Most likely a damaged patch cable or loose connector — not the dock. Other wired links (PlayStation 5) are clean at 1 Gbps.

Fix, in order1) Reseat both ends until they click · 2) Swap in a known-good Cat 6 patch cable · 3) Try a different port · 4) If it follows the wall run, check the jack. NetPulse re-tests the link after each step.

A guided test that runs from this device — measure, check the cable, measure again.

How deep this can see depends on your hardware — and NetPulse says which. DHCP offers are broadcast, so the rogue-DHCP guardian works on any network. Loop and Ethernet detection are deepest where the router or switch exposes port and error counters (ASUS, UniFi, Synology, managed switches); where it doesn't, NetPulse falls back to active tests — negotiation speed, link flaps, throughput — and labels the result Full or Limited confidence instead of guessing. A guardian never blocks or unplugs anything on its own: it names the device, the port, and the fix, and you act on it.

Recent activity

What happened on your network, and when.

Recent activity

What happened on your network, and when.

No actions recorded yet — run a speed test, restart the network, or change your router and it will be recorded here.

History

Your record belongs to your home, not your router or your provider: it stays intact when you switch either, and you can take all of it with you, any time.

Outage journal

Your household's own record of when the internet went down — logged from this device, labelled as exactly that.

Honest limits: this journal shows when the connection failed from your home. When NetPulse's always-on agent arrives, journals like this one — anonymised, and only ever shown in aggregate — become corroboration: "it wasn't just you." Until then, this record is exactly what a provider's ticket, and a credit request, needs.

Router features

What your router's own app offers, what NetPulse can only show you, and what each maker charges for it.

Features for your router

Tailored to your router — managed in its own app.

Available = works on this router · View only = NetPulse can show it, changes happen in the router's app · Not on this router = this hardware / app doesn't offer it. The small tag under each state is the paywall, straight from the research: Included = free with the hardware · Paid add-on = subscription required · Free basic · Paid tier = split · Price set by ISP = your ISP decides. Prices are U.S. list prices documented Oct–Nov 2026 and change by region/promotion — the brand app shows the live price.

Pricing

A generous free core, one fair Premium, and a founder lifetime option at launch.

Pricing — a generous free core, one fair Premium

NetPulse is free for the everyday essentials, forever. Premium pays for the always-on Guardians — the monitoring, alerts, and history that run even when you're not looking. No router-brand lock-in: it works with whatever router you already own.

Free forever — no card

Free

Everything you need to see your network clearly, every day. Generous on purpose — this is how most people will meet NetPulse.

$0forever

No card, no trial clock, no catch.

Network status — online / offline at a glance
Topology — gateway, mesh units & how they connect
Device list — every connected device, where it sits & its signal
The real speed test — measured from your device, for real. Our hook, fully free
Basic health — DNS, channels, interference & Guardian checks with today's findings
One home · any router brand

Premium

The Guardians, always on — so a hidden fault gets caught the moment it starts, not when the whole house notices.

$4.99/ month

or $39.99 / year — two months free, cancel anytime.

Everything in Free, plus:
All three Guardians, always on — rogue DHCP server, looping packets & broadcast storms, bad Ethernet connections
Alerts in your activity feed — every finding the moment a check runs; push notifications arrive with the mobile app
History & trends — 30 days of Guardian findings, speed history & health trends
Multi-home — your house, a second home, a parent's house, in one place
Priority fixes — step-by-step guided fix for each fault, with re-test after every step

Launch offer · Founder

Founder Lifetime

For early adopters who'd rather pay once and be done. Available at launch — it helps fund development, and it never bills you again.

$79.99one-time

Pays for itself in about 2 years vs. Premium yearly.

Everything in Premium, forever — no subscription, ever
Guardians with alerts, history & trends
Multi-home & priority fixes included
Founder badge & early access to new Guardians as they ship
Locked to the launch window — when it's gone, Premium is subscription-only

The honest comparison: Less than half of eero Plus ($99.99/yr) — and it works with every router brand, not just one. It's also less than Plume HomePass at $5.99/mo. Brand subscriptions only cover their own hardware; when you change routers, NetPulse Premium just follows you.

Prices are U.S. launch prices. Free stays free: the speed test, status, topology, device list, and basic health (including Guardian checks and today's findings) will never move behind the paywall.

Router research

The catalog and comparisons behind NetPulse's router profiles — researched Nov 7, 2026 from manufacturer pages and support docs.

The router universe — who actually runs America's home Wi-Fi

The U.S. installed base is not mostly retail mesh. Retail brands eero / TP-Link / NETGEAR are the top 3 identifiable vendors in Ookla Speedtest data — but the next ranks are ISP equipment makers (Arcadyan, Askey, Sagemcom, Calix, Arris). A very large share of homes are on an ISP gateway whose “brand” the customer knows as Xfinity, Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or their local fiber co-op — not the name on the label. That's why NetPulse builds profiles for the platform / app the customer actually opens, not just the name on the box.

Share of U.S. Speedtest samples by router vendor — top 10 ≈ 64%

Ookla Speedtest Intelligence, Jan 2025 – Mar 2026. This is an installed-base proxy (share of Speedtest samples), not retail sales.

Read these numbers carefully: other figures you'll see use different denominators. TP-Link has cited ~20% of the U.S. consumer retail router market in FCC filings, and some blogs claim 37% retail unit share (2024 peak) or even 60–65% — those measure retail units sold in a period, not the installed base. For deciding which homes NetPulse must support, the Ookla installed-base proxy is the right denominator; for new-sales priority, TP-Link / Deco would rank higher. Source: Ookla.

The 10 platform profiles that cover the overwhelming majority of U.S. homes

Ranked by the Ookla installed-base proxy plus ISP subscriber scale. Several profiles absorb multiple box brands — every one of them is selectable in the router picker above.

1 · Xfinity xFiLargest U.S. ISP; absorbs Arris + Technicolor gateways and xFi Pods. Cox Panoramic is a near-clone platform (same gateway lineage).

2 · eero#1 vendor (10.0%); also supplied by 200+ ISPs, so one profile covers those fleets too.

3 · TP-Link (Deco + Archer)#2 vendor (9.9%) and the largest retail-sales brand; two app surfaces, one HomeShield security/parental model.

4 · NETGEAR (Orbi + Nighthawk)#3 vendor (9.6%).

5 · Verizon HomeAbsorbs Arcadyan (#4 vendor, 8.9%) + Wistron Fios and 5G Home fleets.

6 · Spectrum Advanced WiFiAbsorbs Askey (#5, 5.1%) + Sagemcom (#6, 4.9%) + Sercomm fleets; second-largest cable ISP.

7 · AT&T Smart Home ManagerAbsorbs Humax / Nokia / Arris-Pace BGW fleets; largest fiber ISP.

8 · ASUS (AiMesh / RT / ROG)#7 vendor (4.8%) and the enthusiast/gaming default — the “everything included free” reference profile.

9 · Calix CommandIQ + Plume HomePassCalix alone is #8 (4.4%, ahead of Google). Together, Calix + Plume cover most regional fiber / co-op ISP homes — their apps are white-labelled versions of these two platforms.

10 · Google Nest Wifi#10 vendor (2.8%), managed in Google Home.

Next tier, also in the picker: T-Mobile T-Life (large, growing 5G-home fleet; the thinnest feature set), Linksys Velop, UniFi, Starlink, Synology, SURFboard mAX, AmpliFi. Deliberately deprioritised for a U.S. launch: Huawei (no U.S. market), FRITZ!Box and Xiaomi (build for EU / APAC launches — FRITZ! first in Europe, where it's a top-2 platform in Germany/Austria/Switzerland), D-Link / Motorola beyond basic profiles.

What security & parental controls actually cost — by brand

The single biggest per-brand difference NetPulse found. Same features, wildly different paywalls. U.S. list prices documented Oct–Nov 2026; they change by region and promotion, so NetPulse points you to the brand app for the live price rather than hard-coding it.

ASUS — AiProtection + parental

Powered by Trend Micro. ASUS states it is free for the life of the router, with no subscription fees.

$0 forever

Synology — Safe Access

Security + parental in one, incl. per-profile activity reports. No subscription for any of it. Optional Threat Prevention (Suricata IDS/IPS) is also free on supported models.

$0 forever

Xfinity — xFi Advanced Security

Threat blocking / alerts, free with the gateway. Parental (People profiles, pause, downtime) is free too.

Free

Ubiquiti UniFi — core security free

IDS/IPS, ad blocking, content filtering included. CyberSecure expands the threat feed (Proofpoint signatures + 100+ filter categories).

Free · CyberSecure $99/yr per gateway

eero — eero Plus

Advanced Security, ad blocking, content filters, activity history, DDNS, Internet Backup, bundled VPN — all in one subscription. Free tier keeps profiles, pause, and basic scheduling; the network still gets security updates without Plus, but no threat blocking.

$9.99/mo · $99.99/yr

TP-Link — HomeShield, unbundled

Basic scan / IoT ID free. The useful tiers are now separate add-ons: Security+ and Advanced Parental Controls are priced apart (legacy HomeShield Pro combined them) — so NetPulse shows them as separate line items, not one blob.

Security+ $4.99/mo · Adv. Parental $2.99/mo / $17.99/yr · Pro $5.99/mo / $54.99/yr

NETGEAR — two subscriptions

The most expensive path: Armor (Bitdefender) and Smart Parental Controls Premium are separate subscriptions. Armor Plus adds unlimited VPN + ad/tracker blocking. Note: Smart Parental Controls is not offered on every current model (e.g. not listed for Orbi 370/770).

Armor $99.99/yr + Parental Premium $69.99/yr = $169.98/yr

Plume — HomePass membership

Guard (online protection, ad blocking, IoT protection), Control (parental), and Sense (Wi-Fi motion detection) ride on the membership; SuperPods require an active one. ISP-bundled pricing varies.

$5.99/mo direct

Calix — ProtectIQ / ExperienceIQ

Whether these cost anything is decided by your local ISP, not Calix: some ISPs list “additional fee applies,” others include them free.

Set by your ISP

Linksys — Shield / Aware (legacy)

Shield added category blocking on tri-band Velop only; Aware is Wi-Fi motion sensing. Pricing comes from app-store subscription terms — Linksys no longer presents them prominently, so treat availability as legacy / model-gated.

Shield $4.99/mo / $49.99/yr · Aware $2.99/mo / $24.99/yr

Also worth knowing: app-only is now the norm for mesh and ISP gear — eero, Deco, Google, and Spectrum Advanced WiFi have no usable local web UI, while ASUS, Synology, FRITZ!, UniFi, GL.iNet, and standalone Archer / Nighthawk keep a full one. NetPulse never tells an app-only household to “open 192.168.1.1.” And on retail cable gateways (SURFboard, NETGEAR CAX, Motorola MG), modem firmware is pushed by the cable ISP only — the owner cannot update it, on any brand.

Full catalog — every significant router line, by segment

The complete census behind the picker: mesh systems, standalone routers, gaming routers, ISP gateways (the hidden majority), prosumer lines, and travel routers. Researched Nov 7, 2026.

Mesh Wi-Fi systems

eero (Amazon)eero 7, Pro 7, Max 7; 6+, Pro 6E, 6; Outdoor 7; PoE 6 / PoE Gateway; eero Built-in (Echo) · App: eero · TrueMesh; also white-labelled to 200+ ISPs

TP-Link DecoDeco BE (Wi-Fi 7: BE25/BE65/BE85/BE95), Deco XE (6E), Deco X (Wi-Fi 6), Deco M/S (budget), Deco Outdoor · App: Deco · Largest retail mesh range by SKU count; also ISP-supplied

NETGEAR OrbiOrbi 970 (Wi-Fi 7), 870, 770, 370; Orbi 960/860/850 (6E/6, legacy) · App: Orbi · Premium price tier

GoogleNest Wifi Pro (6E), Nest Wifi (Wi-Fi 5, legacy), Google Wifi (legacy) · App: Google Home · Pro cannot mesh with older Nest / Google Wifi

Linksys VelopVelop Pro 7, Velop Pro 6E / Atlas Max 6E, Velop MX (Wi-Fi 6), Hydra (mesh-capable routers) · App: Linksys · Intelligent Mesh

ASUS ZenWiFi / AiMeshZenWiFi BQ/BT (Wi-Fi 7), ZenWiFi AX/XT/ET (6/6E); AiMesh turns most ASUS routers into mesh nodes · App: ASUS Router · The only vendor where standalone + mesh are one continuum

D-LinkAQUILA PRO AI M30/M60/E30; EAGLE PRO AI (legacy); COVR (legacy) · Apps fragment by generation · Small U.S. presence now

Ubiquiti AmpliFiAmpliFi Alien, AmpliFi HD / Instant (legacy) · App: AmpliFi · Consumer sibling of UniFi — a separate, much simpler profile

SynologyWRX560 (+ MR2200ac as points), RT6600ax (primary only) · Apps: DS router / SRM · Narrow, ageing line; no Wi-Fi 7 model found

Motorola (MTRLC)MH7600 series, MH7020 series mesh; Q14/Q15 · Apps: motosync / Motorola Network · App story has changed hands repeatedly — verify per SKU

ARRIS SURFboard (Vantiva)SURFboard mAX W11/W121/W21/W30/W31/W61, mAX Pro/Plus · App: SURFboard Central (publisher: Vantiva USA LLC)

HuaweiWiFi Mesh X3 Pro, Mesh 7, Mesh 3; AX3/BE3 as mesh · App: HUAWEI AI Life · HarmonyOS Mesh+; no meaningful U.S. retail

Xiaomi (+ Redmi)Mesh System AX3000 / BE3600 / BE7000, AX3000T etc. as nodes · Apps: Xiaomi Home / Mi WiFi · Up to 10 nodes; huge in APAC/EU, minimal U.S.

Budget & regional meshTenda Nova MX/MW (Tenda WiFi) · Mercusys Halo H — TP-Link sub-brand with its own MERCUSYS app, not Deco · Cudy M-series (Cudy Mesh / EasyMesh) · Zyxel Multy (legacy)

Niche but distinctGryphon (parental-control mesh, subscription) · Firewalla + AP7 (security-first, not a full mesh line) · Plume SuperPods and Calix GigaMesh (ISP platforms — see below) · Starlink Mesh Nodes

Standalone routers

TP-Link ArcherArcher AX/BE (AX73, AXE75, BE550/BE800…) · App: Tether + full web UI

NETGEAR NighthawkNighthawk RAX (Wi-Fi 6), RS (Wi-Fi 7: RS300/RS600/RS700S) · App: Nighthawk + web UI

ASUS RT / TUFRT-AX / RT-BE series, TUF Gaming routers · App: ASUS Router + ASUSWRT web — the most complete consumer web UI shipping

LinksysHydra Pro, EA series (Smart Wi-Fi, legacy), Max-Stream · App: Linksys + web

D-Link / SynologyD-Link R-series / DIR (legacy), AQUILA routers · Synology RT6600ax, WRX560 (SRM is prosumer-grade)

AVM FRITZ!Box7690/7590 AX (DSL), 5590/5530 (fiber), 6690/6660 (cable), 4060/4040 (WAN) · Apps: MyFRITZ!App + FRITZ!OS web · Dominant in Germany/EU, negligible U.S. retail

Huawei / XiaomiWiFi AX3/BE/Q series; Xiaomi AX/BE + Redmi AX · Apps: AI Life / Xiaomi Home + web

Motorola / ARRISMotorola MR/Q routers; SURFboard G gateway-combos · Apps: motosync / SURFboard Central

Budget / regionalTenda AC/AX, Mercusys MR, Cudy WR, Netis, Totolink, Keenetic KN-series (strong in RU/EMEA), MikroTik hAP ax (prosumer crossover)

Gaming routers

ASUS ROG RaptureGT-BE98 Pro / GT-AXE16000 / GT6 (gaming mesh) · Triple-level Game Acceleration, dedicated gaming port, Adaptive QoS game profile, Mobile Game Mode, WTFast GPN (separate account)

NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro GamingXR1000 / XR500 · Runs DumaOS 3.0 (Netduma) — Geo-Filter, Ping Heatmap, DumaOS QoS / Traffic Prioritizer — via its own web dashboard, not the standard Nighthawk feature set

TP-Link Archer GX / GEGX90, GE800 (Wi-Fi 7) · Tether + web: dedicated gaming band, Game Accelerator / QoS, game statistics panel

Also gamingMSI RadiX AXE6600/GRAXE66 (small share), Linksys Hydra gaming SKUs, AmpliFi Alien (gaming-adjacent QoS priorities) · Census only — low U.S. installed share

ISP-provided gateways — read as: ISP → gateway in homes → who builds it → the app

ISP / channelGateway familyBuilt byCustomer app

Comcast XfinityxFi Gateway XB7, XB8, XB10 (Wi-Fi 7); xFi PodsTechnicolor + Arris/CommScopeXfinity app (xFi)

CoxPanoramic Wifi Gateway PW7/PW8 (same lineage as XB), Panoramic PodsTechnicolor, ArrisCox Panoramic Wifi app — 2026 listings rebrand it “Cox WiFi by Spectrum” after the Charter/Cox transaction; verify branding at ship time

Charter SpectrumAdvanced WiFi routers: Wi-Fi 5 SAC2V…, 6 SAX1V…, 6E SAX2V…, 7 SBE1V… (suffix = maker)Sagemcom, Askey, SercommMy Spectrum app — app-only, no local web UI

AT&T Internet / FiberBGW210-700, BGW320-500/505, BGW620; All-Fi Hub + ExtendersArris/Pace, Humax, NokiaAT&T Smart Home Manager

Verizon FiosFios Router G3100 + Extender E3200; Verizon Router CR1000A/B; G1100 / Actiontec MI424WR (legacy)Arcadyan / Wistron NeWeb familyVerizon Home app

Verizon 5G / LTE HomeASK-NCQ1338, CR200A, LV65Askey / ArcadyanVerizon Home app

T-Mobile Home Internet (5G)Nokia 5G21, Arcadyan KVD21, Sagemcom FAST 5688W, Arcadyan G4AR, Sercomm G4SENokia, Arcadyan, Sagemcom, SercommT-Life app

Regional fiber / co-op ISPsCalix GigaSpire BLAST (u6/u10…) + GigaMesh pointsCalix — 4.4% of all U.S. Speedtest samples, larger than GoogleCommandIQ — often white-labelled with the local ISP's name/logo

Regional ISPs (Plume)Plume SuperPods as gateway/extenders behind ISP modem/ONTPlumeHomePass by Plume — often ISP-bundled

Regional ISPs (other)Adtran SDG 800-series, Zyxel, Hitron CODA, Ubee, Casa, Technicolor/Vantiva, Sagemcom F@st, Actiontec (CenturyLink/Lumen, Frontier, Windstream)Adtran, Hitron, Ubee, Actiontec, ZyxelISP-branded apps or gateway web UI only — the long tail

eero for ISPseero 6/7 families supplied by 200+ ISPs (e.g. Frontier, MetroNet, Bluepeak)eero (Amazon)eero app (+ ISP co-branding); eero Plus may be bundled as ISP “Advanced Wi-Fi / Secure”

Google FiberGFiber Wi-Fi 6/6E routers + mesh extendersGoogle Fiber OEMsGoogle Home / GFiber account

StarlinkStarlink Router Gen 2, Gen 3 (Wi-Fi 6 tri-band), Router Mini; same hardware doubles as mesh nodesSpaceX (in-house)Starlink app — no web UI

Retail cable gateways (bought, not rented)ARRIS SURFboard G34/G36/G54, SBG series; NETGEAR Nighthawk CAX; Motorola MG8702/MG8725/MT8733Vantiva, NETGEAR, MTRLCSURFboard Central / Nighthawk / motosync. Modem firmware is ISP-pushed only — the owner cannot update it, on any brand

Name tangle worth knowing: CommScope's Home Networks business (the ARRIS gateway business) and Technicolor's Connected Home business both ended up under Vantiva — so Arris / Technicolor / CommScope / Vantiva fingerprints intermingle on the same ISP platforms.

Prosumer / small-business lines sold to consumers

Ubiquiti UniFiCloud Gateways (UDR7, UDM-Pro/SE/Pro Max, Cloud Gateway Max/Fiber, UniFi Express 7) + separate U6/U7 access points + switches · UniFi Network (local controller + optional Site Manager cloud) + WiFiman companion app

Ubiquiti AmpliFiAll-in-one mesh routers (Alien, HD) · AmpliFi app — separate, much simpler profile than UniFi; never merge them

TP-Link OmadaER gateways + EAP access points, hardware/software controller · Omada app / controller web

SynologyRT6600ax / WRX560 — SRM is prosumer-grade: VLANs, dual-WAN Smart WAN, VPN Plus · DS router / SRM

MikroTikhAP ax²/ax³, Chateau · RouterOS / WinBox / MikroTik app — no consumer-style profiles or parental brand

FirewallaGold/Purple/Blue firewall appliances in front of any router/AP · Firewalla app — a security/monitoring profile, not a Wi-Fi profile

GL.iNet Flint / BrumeOpenWrt home gateways · GL.iNet app / Admin Panel

DIYOpenWrt, ASUSWRT-Merlin, pfSense/OPNsense + separate APs · Web UI only — NetPulse labels these “custom / OpenWrt” rather than forcing a brand profile

Travel routers

GL.iNet — category ownerBeryl AX (GL-MT3000) / Beryl 7, Slate AX / Slate 7, Slate Plus, Opal, Mango, Shadow, Mudi (4G/5G), Puli, Spitz AX (cellular), Collie · OpenWrt-based; repeater / tether / USB-modem WAN modes are the point of the product. In the app: AdGuard Home built in, deep VPN client + server — but no gateway speed test and no branded parental controls

TP-LinkTL-WR1502X (Wi-Fi 6 travel), TL-WR902AC (legacy) · Tether app

OthersNETGEAR (discontinued travel), RAVPower FileHub / HooToo (defunct), generic OpenWrt travel routers · Census only

How NetPulse figures out which router you have

No single signal is enough — NetPulse fuses several weak signals and always lets you confirm. Here's the honest picture, including where it breaks.

1 · Gateway MAC → maker lookup (strongest cheap signal)

The first 24 bits of the gateway's MAC address (the OUI) identify the manufacturer registrant — Arcadyan, Askey, Sagemcom, Calix, Arris, TP-Link, ASUS, eero. Limits: it names the board maker, not the brand you know (an “Arcadyan” box may really be Verizon); it gives the vendor, never the model; and on phones the gateway MAC may be unobtainable at all (iOS exposes no LAN MACs; Android restricts them) — forcing the fallbacks below.

2 · Wi-Fi names & radio addresses

Default network names are diagnostic if never renamed — NETGEAR##, TP-Link_####, ORBI##, SpectrumSetup-XX, ATT#####, FRITZ!Box ####, the xfinitywifi hotspot name. Clusters of radio addresses at small offsets reveal a mesh and its node count. Limits: mesh apps force a custom name at setup, so for exactly the biggest retail brands the name says nothing; iOS can't scan neighbouring networks at all; and the radio the phone hears best may be a satellite, not the gateway.

3 · UPnP self-description (richest, when enabled)

Routers that answer UPnP/SSDP often return literal manufacturer, model name and number — the only signal that routinely gives the exact model. Limits: UPnP is disabled by default on a growing set of gateways/ISPs; fields are often blank, generic, or the OEM name; and the answer may come from an extender, a TV, or a second router — not the primary gateway.

4 · Supporting signals

mDNS/Bonjour announcements, the gateway's hostname, DHCP fingerprints, and the admin page's title where a web UI exists. Limits: many routers announce little or nothing; admin probing is useless on app-only systems (eero / Deco / Google / Spectrum).

5 · Structural clues

Default gateway addresses (192.168.1.1 most; 192.168.0.1 TP-Link/D-Link legacy; 192.168.31.1 Xiaomi; 192.168.12.1 T-Mobile; 192.168.1.254 AT&T; 10.0.0.1 Xfinity), how many radios share one network name (mesh), ISP hotspot names nearby. These shift probabilities — none proves a model.

Known failure modes — NetPulse designs for these instead of hiding them

Double NATYour own router behind an ISP gateway (or the ISP box in bridge / IP-passthrough, nearly invisible): the profile you need may be either device's.

Extenders / AP modeA mesh in AP/bridge mode, or UniFi access points behind an Xfinity gateway, splits “who routes” from “who broadcasts Wi-Fi” — the two fingerprints legitimately disagree. eero's SQM and parental features also change in bridge mode.

Randomised client MACsPhones randomise their own addresses (iOS 14+ / Android 10+), which corrupts per-device identification and can defeat router parental controls (Verizon's app now alerts on this). Gateways and access points do not randomise — different problem.

VPN / guest associationA VPN on the phone hides the LAN entirely; being joined to a guest/IoT network can isolate the phone from gateway discovery.

Model ≠ capabilityEven a perfect model ID doesn't settle features — Deco's speed test and HomeShield tiers vary by model and firmware, NETGEAR parental controls are absent on some current Orbi models, SURFboard features vary by mAX SKU. So NetPulse keys profiles to model + firmware/app generation, shows a generic profile when unsure, and ranks its confidence: confirmed model (UPnP) > maker + name inference > maker alone. That's why the picker above always asks you to confirm.

What we couldn't verify — stated plainly

Open questions from the Nov 7, 2026 research pass. NetPulse does not guess at these.

Open — Market-share figures conflict (Ookla installed base vs. TP-Link's ~20% retail claim vs. blog claims of 37–65%). Denominators differ; no audited, denominator-consistent census was found. NetPulse names the denominator wherever it quotes a share.

Open — Verizon Digital Secure Home / Plus current pricing, and AT&T ActiveArmor tiering: named on official pages, prices not confirmed from a manufacturer page in this pass.

Open — D-Link and Huawei speed-test location (gateway vs. phone), and Xiaomi global-ROM gateway test: not clearly documented by the manufacturers — flagged as unverified, not guessed.

Open — Spectrum guest network and Xfinity guest SSID: conclusions rest on documented feature lists (absence of a guest feature) rather than an explicit manufacturer “we do not offer guest Wi-Fi” statement — re-verify per gateway generation before relying on them.

Open — Linksys Shield / Aware current availability: pricing comes from app-store subscription listings; availability may now be legacy, tri-band-only, or region-limited.

Open — Motorola's exact model→app mapping (motosync vs. Motorola Network) needs a dedicated per-model pass against current app-store listings.

Open — Cox → Spectrum app rebrand (“Cox WiFi by Spectrum” seen in 2026 store data): branding and pricing are in transition.

Watch item — FCC foreign-made-router rules (2026): new-model waiver requirements could change which new models are available (not the installed base); conditional approvals were reported for some vendors (e.g. NETGEAR, eero) with TP-Link's status reported as pending in April 2026 coverage. The underlying FCC implementation was not fully verified in this pass.

Method note — No profile was verified in a live logged-in app — these apps require owning the hardware and an account. Every profile here is documented capability from manufacturer pages and support docs, not hands-on tested.

Sources

Manufacturer / official pages first, reputable secondary sources where a manufacturer publishes no clean capability page. All read Nov 7, 2026.

Installed-base shares & per-ISP makers — Ookla: ookla.com/articles/here-are-the-top-vendors-affected-by-the-fccs-new-router-rules
Subscription prices compared (checked against manufacturer pages, Oct 29, 2026) — RouterHaus: routerhaus.com — router subscriptions compared
eero speed test at the gateway — eero Support: eero.com/support
TP-Link Deco gateway speed test (select models) — TP-Link FAQ: tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1462 · HomeShield guide: HomeShield User Guide (PDF) · Parental free vs. paid: tp-link.com blog
NETGEAR Orbi app / router speed test — NETGEAR: netgear.com/hub/wifi/mesh/orbi-app
ASUS AiProtection free for the life of the router — ASUS: asus.com — AiMesh · ASUS Router app: App Store listing
Google Nest Wifi speed test at the router — Google Support: support.google.com/googlehome
Linksys Shield / Aware subscription terms — app listing archive: apppage.net
UniFi CyberSecure detail — iFeelTech (summarising Ubiquiti docs): ifeeltech.com · UniFi vs eero vs ASUS / Smart Queues: routerhaus.com
Synology SRM / DS router specification — lastbestprice.com — WRX560 spec
Xfinity Gateway Speed Test definition — xfinity-xfi.apps112.com
AT&T Smart Home Manager — AT&T: att.com/internet/smart-home
Verizon router FAQ (SON, parental, Digital Secure Home) — Verizon: verizon.com/support
Spectrum Advanced WiFi user guide (feature list) — manuals.plus
T-Mobile gateways / T-Life — T-Mobile: t-mobile.com/support
Calix CommandIQ (two-stage Bandwidth Test, ProtectIQ) — lightburstbroadband.com · included-free variant: butler-bremer.com
Plume HomePass (Control / Guard / Sense) — conwaycorp.com · alaskacommunications.com
Starlink app / Advanced Test split — satelliteinternet.com
GL.iNet app (features & gaps) — Google Play listing
Detection mechanics & limits — killerscan.net · dev.to — what a local network scanner actually knows

Backend — Convex

Live data, accounts, and history for NetPulse — Convex is the memory and the messenger, not the hands inside your home network.

How it fits together

Readings and any real restart still happen in the app on your own Wi-Fi. Convex stores the results — speed tests, health snapshots, and Guardian findings — so trends, alerts, and multi-home work across devices, updating live without polling.

Backend live · sign in to connect your account

Plan decided Nov 7, 2026One backend for web + appDeployed to production

This page is wired to the live backend: the Convex project is created under the Firmament account, the backend is deployed to production, and email + password sign-in is live. Sign in and your home, your router choice, and your speed tests save to your account. Below is the v1 structure the backend runs: the tables, the functions, and the privacy lines. Stripe billing is the remaining piece and is not hooked up yet.

Accounts

Users, homes & router profiles

Live updates

Changes push to the app — no refresh, no polling

History

Every speed test & health snapshot, timestamped

Alerts

A new Guardian event can trigger a phone alert (Premium)

Entitlements

Free / Premium / Founder — one source of truth

Retention

History kept 13 months, then cleaned up daily

Data tables — v1 schema

Nine tables. Results and history only — never raw network traffic, never router passwords.

usersOne row per account — auth ID, email, name, created date.

homesEach home a user owns, with name & timezone. Multi-home is just more rows — that’s the Premium feature.

networksHome ID, router brand & model, and the profile key that maps to the 22-profile catalog.

speedTestsNetwork, time, down / up / ping / jitter, and source. Powers history & trends.

healthSnapshotsScore + per-check verdicts at a point in time — trends without storing full scans.

guardianEventsKind (rogue_dhcp / loop_storm / bad_ethernet), severity, detail, and when it resolved. Drives alerts + Activity.

activityThe Recent Activity feed — speed tests, restarts, Guardian events, firmware flags.

entitlementsPlan (free / premium / founder), status, period end, store. Written only by verified payment webhooks — the app can never flip its own plan.

devices · optional v1Hashed device address, name, type, last seen — only if device-list persistence is wanted.

Functions the app calls

Queries read, mutations write, actions talk to outside services — no separate REST layer to build.

Homes & networks

homes.list / create / rename · networks.setRouter

Core

Speed history

speedTests.record after each run · speedTests.history — Premium-gated beyond 7 days, enforced on the server, not just hidden in the UI

Premium history

Guardians

guardians.report from the app · guardians.list · a new event schedules an alert action — push for Premium, in-app for Free

Alerts Premium

Plan & payments

entitlements.me tells the app Free / Premium / Founder · stripe.webhook (HTTP action) is the only writer — Founder Lifetime is a one-time payment with no period end

Webhook only

Privacy — the hard lines

Stated plainly, the way the public copy will say it.

“Your network details stay on your phone. NetPulse stores your results and history so you can see trends and get alerts.”

Live state is measured locally on the phone / router — only results and history sync.
No router credentials in Convex, ever. Router sign-ins stay on the device.
Device addresses are hashed before anything is stored.
Deleting a home deletes all of its rows in one go.
Convex can’t reach into a home network from the cloud — and “your network dropped while you were away” alerts still need something at home reporting up.

Build order

Steps 1–3 are live. Stripe billing is the piece still to come.

1
Create the Convex project — done
Created under the Firmament account and deployed to production. This page connects with the public client URL only — no keys in the page.
2
Create the schema + functions above — done
The tables and functions above are live in production.
3
Wire the website to Convex — done
This page is wired to it: sign in and your home, router choice, and speed tests save to your account. One backend then serves the website and the app shell.
4
Stripe (test mode) → entitlements → Premium gates live
$4.99/mo · $39.99/yr · $79.99 Founder Lifetime, exactly as priced on the Pricing view.
5
Then the app shell + store products
Premium via Apple IAP on iOS per store rules; Stripe for web.

ISP Evidence Report

Your measured speeds and Guardian findings, in one document you can send your provider.

Your plan's advertised download speed (Mbps) Advertised upload (Mbps, optional)

What the plan costs per month (optional — powers the plan check)

The report uses only measurements this account recorded — nothing is estimated or filled in. Speeds are measured from your device over its connection, and the report says so; that is the honest way to present them to a provider.

Guided fault check

Four short tests, each from a different spot. Together they point to where the slowdown lives — your room, your Wi-Fi, or your provider's line.

Upgrade check

New router, new mesh, new plan — measure before and after, and get the verdict while you can still return it.

What changed (or is about to) Purchase / switch date Return window (days)

Capture the baseline on the OLD setup — the median of your recorded tests before the switch. After the change, run tests in the rooms you actually use (the guided check is best), then get the verdict. Medians of 3+ tests on each side; one test proves nothing, and this check will not pretend otherwise.

Work-from-home check

Will your video calls survive the workday? Judged from your recorded tests against the platforms' own published requirements.

The 60-second bill check

From your last bill. Providers bury quiet fees — this totals them, and runs the calculation they hope you never do: renting their box vs owning yours.

Tick the lines that appear on your bill, and adjust the amounts to match:

Years you have rented the box

Price of owning an equivalent ($)

Gaming check

Ping and jitter, read from your own recorded tests. Bandwidth is not the game — stability is.

…

Room grades

One honest grade per room, from a test run in that room. Saved on this device — retest any room after a fix.

Room name

Grades use the streaming services' published numbers: about 25 Mbps for a 4K stream, 8 for HD, 5 for SD — plus latency for calls and games. A grade is one room, one moment; retest at the hour the room actually struggles.

Smart-home compatibility check

Plugs, bulbs, cameras and doorbells are the first casualties of a router upgrade. Three questions find the usual cause.

Should you replace your router?

An honest verdict from your router's generation and its maker's support reality — not a sales pitch.

Family digest

The week in internet, in plain language — built to forward to the person whose house it is.

Made for the classic setup: you manage the account, a parent or relative lives with the network. When scheduled email arrives with the app, this sends itself every week; until then, copy and forward takes ten seconds.

Example Home — sample data

Everything is running well

Your router

Internet & speed test

Your saved tests

Recent activity

More

Connected devices

Connected devices

Network Map

Network topology

Routers & access points (3)

Network guardians

Network guardians — the faults your router won't tell you about Checks free · Alerts Premium

Rogue DHCP server

Looping packets & broadcast storms

Bad Ethernet connection

Recent activity

Recent activity

History

Outage journal

Router features

Features for your router

Pricing

Pricing — a generous free core, one fair Premium

Free

Premium

Founder Lifetime

Router research

The router universe — who actually runs America's home Wi-Fi

What security & parental controls actually cost — by brand

Full catalog — every significant router line, by segment

Mesh Wi-Fi systems

Standalone routers

Gaming routers

ISP-provided gateways — read as: ISP → gateway in homes → who builds it → the app

Prosumer / small-business lines sold to consumers

Travel routers

How NetPulse figures out which router you have

What we couldn't verify — stated plainly

Sources

Backend — Convex

How it fits together

Data tables — v1 schema

Functions the app calls

Privacy — the hard lines

Build order

ISP Evidence Report

Guided fault check

Upgrade check

Work-from-home check

The 60-second bill check

Gaming check

Room grades

Smart-home compatibility check

Should you replace your router?

Family digest