Comparison

OpenPacketLoss vs Network Hamster

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

OpenPacketLoss

Features
Read full description

OpenPacketLoss-Server is a lightweight utility that transforms your computer into a dedicated network testing endpoint. By hosting the server on your own hardware, you can measure the precise quality of the connection between two points on your network, eliminating the unpredictable variables of the public internet. How to Use It Run the Server: Launch the app on a stable PC or laptop—this becomes your "target" device. Connect the Client: Use any OpenPacketLoss client on a different device (such as a phone, tablet, or another PC). Troubleshoot: Start the test to view real-time packet loss, jitter, and latency. Why Run Your Own Server? Testing against a server you control allows you to isolate your hardware. You can instantly determine if connection drops are caused by faulty cables, weak Wi-Fi, or router congestion, or if the issue is actually with your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

About

Network Hamster

Diagnose internet issues with a real-time visual indicator and detailed diagnostics. Understand your network's performance, identify bottlenecks like bufferbloat, and generate shareable reports to prove problems to your ISP.

Highlights
  • One-tap network diagnosis
  • Bufferbloat grading and fixes
  • Live ping, jitter, packet loss monitoring
  • Speed test with history
  • Router vs. internet fault isolation
  • Advanced tools like MTR and Ping Lab
  • Shareable diagnostic reports
Features
Read full description

Your internet is acting up. Is it your Wi-Fi? Your router? Your ISP? Network Hamster tells you — in plain English. A helmeted hamster pedals a bicycle in real time, matched to your actual latency. Fast connection, fast pedaling. Congested network, and he grinds to a crawl. It's the most honest status indicator you'll ever install. Behind the mascot is a genuinely serious diagnostic toolkit. ONE-TAP DIAGNOSIS Tap Diagnose and get eight checks in under a minute: interface, captive portal, your router versus the internet, NAT topology, DNS, web response time, and latency under load. Then a verdict in words you can act on — "Local network is healthy, high latency is upstream. Your router is not the problem." BUFFERBLOAT GRADING The reason your video calls stutter when someone downloads something. Network Hamster measures how much your latency balloons under load and grades it A+ through F, then tells you exactly how to fix it. FIND OUT WHERE YOU STAND • Live ping, jitter, packet loss, and p95 latency across six rotating servers • Speed test with download, upload, and bufferbloat, plus saved history • Router vs. internet isolation — know instantly whose fault it is • CGNAT, double NAT, and symmetric NAT detection • DNS benchmarking against Cloudflare, Google, and Quad9 ADVANCED TOOLS • Monitor Mode — ping every second for hours, graph the whole session, get alerted the moment your connection drops, and export CSV • MTR traceroute with per-hop whois, reverse DNS, and a map of where your packets actually travel • Ping Lab — test with different packet sizes to expose MTU and queueing problems • Buffer Probe — detects undersized modem buffers that quietly cost you the bandwidth you pay for • Wireless Health — tells you whether jitter is born on your Wi-Fi or upstream • Wi-Fi Guard — catches repeated forced disconnects • Inbound Watch — spots unusual traffic arriving at your device • Cellular coverage mapping and DNS record lookup PROVE IT TO YOUR ISP Every diagnosis exports as a shareable report: latency per server, packet loss, traceroute, bufferbloat grade, and a timestamped event log. Stop arguing from memory. Paste the evidence. BUILT HONESTLY Some things iOS simply does not allow — Wi-Fi signal strength, raw packet capture, cell tower identity. Network Hamster never fakes them. Where a limit exists, the app says so and does the most useful thing that is actually possible. No account. No tracking. No data collection. Just a hamster who is very concerned about your ping.

Screenshots

OpenPacketLoss3 screens
Network Hamster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Network Hamster at every 3 days against OpenPacketLoss's fortnightly. OpenPacketLoss's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenPacketLoss ships an update fortnightly, Network Hamster every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
OpenPacketLoss versus Network Hamster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenPacketLossNetwork Hamster
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVishnu Nampoothiri UKHarborViewIT, LLC

In-app purchases

None

OpenPacketLoss

No in-app purchases

None

Network Hamster

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is OpenPacketLoss free?
OpenPacketLoss is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Network Hamster free?
Network Hamster is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do OpenPacketLoss or Network Hamster have ads?
Neither OpenPacketLoss nor Network Hamster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OpenPacketLoss or Network Hamster?
OpenPacketLoss ships an update fortnightly, and Network Hamster every 3 days. Most recently, OpenPacketLoss was updated on October 2, 2026 and Network Hamster on September 26, 2026.

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