What is NetTact?
NetTact is network monitoring and diagnostics software for homes, studios, small offices, and remote endpoints. It measures the network from Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker, and OpenWrt devices, then brings history, incidents, and notifications together on a server you control.
The defining difference is where measurement happens. A central monitor can tell you what the network looks like from the server. NetTact Agents run the checks from the networks and devices people actually use, so a weak Wi-Fi link, a bad local gateway, or one remote site's poor uplink does not disappear behind the server's point of view.
NetTact at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is it for? | Finding and diagnosing outages, latency, packet loss, DNS failures, Wi-Fi problems, and unhealthy endpoints. |
| Who is it for? | Homes, home labs, studios, small offices, and small distributed environments. |
| How is data collected? | Agents execute probes and collect permitted local signals, then push telemetry to the Server. |
| Does the Server connect to Agents? | No. Agents make outbound connections; the Server never initiates a connection to an Agent. |
| Where is data stored? | In the self-hosted Server's local data store, or locally with NetTact Desktop. |
| What platforms are covered? | Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker, and OpenWrt, with capabilities that vary by platform. |
| How can it be run? | As an all-in-one Desktop app, or as a self-hosted Server with one or more Agents. |
How NetTact works
NetTact uses an Agent-push telemetry model:
- An administrator creates monitoring targets and enrolls an Agent with a one-time token.
- The Server sends the desired target list to the Agent over its existing outbound connection.
- The Agent runs the allowed checks from its own network location and pushes measurements back in batches.
- The Server stores history, detects availability and Agent-connectivity faults, forms incidents, and schedules notifications when channels are configured.
An Agent does not listen on an inbound management port. It can work behind NAT, dynamic addressing, and restrictive firewalls as long as it can reach the Server. One Agent can also report to several Servers, with separate credentials, targets, and local permission grants for each.
What NetTact measures
NetTact combines signals that are often split across several tools:
| Area | Examples | What it helps answer |
|---|---|---|
| Network quality | Latency, packet loss, jitter, gateway reachability | Is a reachable connection still too unstable to use? |
| Service layers | DNS, TCP, TLS, HTTP | At which layer does access to a service begin to fail? |
| Network path | Traceroute and path changes when available | Did the likely problem move beyond the local gateway? |
| Wi-Fi and links | Signal, link rates, interface state | Is one endpoint suffering because of its local connection? |
| Endpoint health | CPU, memory, disks, throughput, uptime | Is the device itself contributing to slow or failed requests? |
| Fault evidence | History, fluctuations, incidents, recovery | What happened before an intermittent problem disappeared? |
Collection is permission-aware. The machine running an Agent decides what it may collect and which probe targets it may access. A Server can see the granted policy but cannot silently expand it. See the permission model for the exact capabilities and platform differences.
Desktop or self-hosted Server
NetTact Desktop
NetTact Desktop runs the Server, Agent, and tray or menu-bar app together on one Windows or macOS computer. It is the shortest route to monitoring one location without a command-line deployment. Closing the browser does not stop monitoring because the application continues to run in the system tray or menu bar.
NetTact Server and Agents
The self-hosted deployment is for an always-on monitor, several devices, or several locations. The Server uses a single-admin, single-site model and currently supports up to 50 Agents. Its configuration, metrics, incidents, and notification state stay on infrastructure you operate.
The standalone Agent is licensed under Apache 2.0. NetTact Server is licensed under GNU AGPL v3. NetTact Desktop is distributed separately and is not an open-source desktop shell.
What NetTact is not
NetTact is not a passive packet-capture appliance, a general-purpose log platform, or a server that scans every network from one central location. It is also not designed as a large, multi-tenant enterprise monitoring suite. Its current focus is explainable network and endpoint monitoring for smaller environments where simple operation and measurement from the real endpoint are more useful than a large integration catalog.
Common questions
Does NetTact need inbound firewall rules on every device?
No. Agents connect out to the Server and keep one persistent connection. They do not expose an Agent management port. The Server itself still needs to be reachable by the Agents and by administrators using the web console.
Does the Server probe targets directly?
No. The Server distributes desired targets, but Agents execute the probes from their own locations and push the results. This is what makes comparisons between devices and sites meaningful.
Can NetTact monitor an Internet connection that fails only sometimes?
Yes. Continuous measurements and retained history are intended to preserve the period before, during, and after a short fault. Start with the guide to diagnosing intermittent network problems.
Can monitoring data stay private?
With the self-hosted Server, monitoring data is stored on infrastructure you control. Desktop stores its local data on the computer running it. The privacy policy explains product network connections and data handling in detail.
Next steps
- Learn what to monitor on a home or small network.
- Download Desktop for an all-in-one start.
- Deploy NetTact Server for multiple devices or locations.
- Review Agent permissions before enrolling machines.