Network tests

Novabench includes four network tests that measure different aspects of your internet connection. You can run them individually or together depending on what you need to diagnose. Every network test also reports the network environment on the device: the security agents, proxies, VPNs, and filters in the path.

When to run tests together vs. individually

Run them together when you troubleshoot a general connectivity problem. The speed test tells you whether bandwidth and latency are adequate. The traceroute reveals where in the network path problems occur. The DNS benchmark identifies whether slow name resolution is a contributing factor.

Run individually when you have a specific question:

• Internet feels slow? Start with the speed test to check throughput and loaded latency.
• A specific server or site is laggy? Use traceroute to find which hop introduces the delay.
• Websites take a long time to start loading, but load quickly once they begin? Run the DNS benchmark to check whether your DNS resolver is slow.
• Sites or apps slow to connect over HTTPS? Run the HTTPS test to see whether DNS, TCP, or the TLS handshake is the bottleneck.

Shared features

All network tests share several capabilities.

IP lookup (Plus)

Novabench can perform detailed lookups for IP addresses discovered during network tests. Each lookup returns geographic location, ISP name, ASN, and reverse DNS hostname. IP lookup data enriches traceroute route maps and DNS geographic charts.

Enable IP lookup in the network test configuration before you run a test. IP lookup requires Plus or above.

WiFi sensor monitoring

When your device is connected via WiFi, Novabench captures wireless signal data during any network test:

• RSSI: signal strength (dBm)
• Signal quality: normalized quality percentage
• Frequency: WiFi band (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz)
• Link speed: connection rate between your device and the access point

Novabench charts signal data over the duration of the test (Plus), so you can correlate WiFi signal changes with throughput fluctuations or latency spikes.

Scheduling

You can schedule network tests as recurring tasks. Each scheduled entry runs one sub-test type (speed, traceroute, DNS, or HTTPS) on a defined schedule. Novabench stores scheduled results in your results history for trend analysis.

For details on configuring recurring tests, see scheduled tests.

Result tagging and history

After any network test, you can tag results with:

• A custom name
• Serial number, hostname, and username identifiers
• Custom key-value tags

Novabench stores all past network test results in a sortable, filterable grid. Each row shows the test type, key metrics (download/upload for speed tests, hop count for traceroute, fastest resolver for DNS), and tags. Advanced filtering requires Plus or above.

Cloud submission

If you submit network test results to your Novabench account (Plus), you can access them from the web. You can also share them with others and compare across multiple test runs or devices.

Network environment

Every network test also scans the device's network path and reports the security agents, filters, proxies, and tunnels between your applications and the internet. This scan runs once per network session. Novabench attaches it to every network result, so you can see what was active on the device when the test ran. It is available on every plan.

Detected items are grouped into categories:

• Security agents: endpoint protection and EDR software (for example CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne, Carbon Black)
• Content filters: application firewalls and filtering software (for example Little Snitch)
• Proxies: HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS, and secure web gateway proxies (for example Zscaler, Netskope)
• DNS proxies: local or forced DNS resolvers in the path (for example Cisco Umbrella)
• VPN and tunnels: active and dormant VPN connections and tunnel interfaces (for example GlobalProtect, Tailscale, Cloudflare WARP, WireGuard)
• Network extensions, filter drivers, and packet filters: operating-system-level hooks into the network stack

Novabench gives known vendors friendly names. Anything unrecognized keeps its raw operating system name, so nothing is hidden.

What is detected on each platform

The scan reads network configuration in process and does not launch external command-line tools. It therefore stays quiet under endpoint security software that watches for suspicious process activity. An elevated scan adds deeper detail when the Novabench service is available. When it is not, the test reports what it could read without elevation.

If you request an elevated scan but the service is unavailable, or the scan fails, Novabench reports a failed scan. It does not report that no filters were found.

Feature availability summary

Related pages

• Speed test: download, upload, latency, jitter, and packet loss
• Traceroute: hop-by-hop route analysis with geographic visualization
• DNS benchmark: resolver ranking and protocol comparison
• HTTPS test: phase-by-phase TLS connection timing and certificate details
• Stress test: validate CPU and GPU stability under sustained load
• Battery test: profile battery drain across workload scenarios