Utilities
Tools that do real work, not just read-out. Speed tests, Wake-on-LAN packets, an SSH client, and the shared saved-hosts machinery that knits everything together.
Speed test (iperf3)
Bidirectional bandwidth measurement against a real iperf3 server. Unlike web-based tests that pick the "best" server near you automatically, this one lets you choose exactly where you're going and what port.
- Server — pick from the discovered list (sorted by ping, with country flag and city) or switch to Custom and type a host and port yourself. DR-NetTools maintains its own public iperf3 server discovery with latency probes.
- Port — default 5201 (iperf3 standard).
- Phases — the test runs Download, then Upload. Live Mbps figures tick over during each phase.
- Graphs — separate throughput curves for download and upload, one sample per interval.
- Final result — average Mbps for each direction, plus jitter and latency.
iperf3 is TCP by default, which means you're measuring throughput a real application would see — not raw link rate. Expect values below your advertised line rate once TCP overhead and congestion are factored in.
Reading the numbers
- Download much higher than upload — normal for asymmetric ADSL/cable. Symmetric fibre should be roughly equal.
- Unstable throughput — look at the interval chart. Periodic drops often indicate Wi-Fi retransmits; a monotonic ramp-up is TCP slow-start.
- Low numbers everywhere — try a closer server first. If still low, move to a wired link to rule out the radio.
Wake-on-LAN
Builds and sends a magic packet — six 0xFF bytes followed by 16 repetitions of the target MAC — to a broadcast address on UDP port 9. A NIC with WoL enabled wakes the machine up.
- MAC address — any common format:
AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF,aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff,aabbccddeeff. The parser is forgiving. - Subnet broadcast vs directed — the app sends to the local subnet's broadcast address. For wake-from-internet you need your router to forward directed broadcasts to the target subnet (often a separate WoL forwarding rule).
- Confirmation — a banner shows Magic packet sent. WoL is fire-and-forget; there's no way to know the machine actually woke without independently probing it (e.g. ping afterwards).
Prerequisites on the target
- Wake-on-LAN enabled in BIOS/UEFI.
- NIC driver set to permit wake on magic packet (Windows: Device Manager → Adapter → Power Management; Linux:
ethtool -s eth0 wol g). - Modern laptops often only wake from wired NICs; Wi-Fi WoWLAN support varies wildly.
SSH client (built-in)
A one-off SSH session, straight from DR-NetTools. Type host, port, user, password, tap Connect, work, disconnect. The terminal uses DR-ONLINE's own Compose-based VT emulator (same engine as DR-Terminal) — real xterm-256color, not a WebView.
- Inputs — host, port (default 22), user, password. That's the whole form.
- Terminal — 24×80 by default, resized automatically to fit the window. ANSI colours, alt buffer support (vim, less, htop), mouse tracking.
- Function keyboard — a collapsible row with Ctrl, arrows, F-keys, ESC, Tab — useful on mobile where those keys are absent.
This is a troubleshooting convenience, not a daily driver. No saved connections, no key auth, no SFTP, no jump hosts, no known-hosts pinning. For those, use DR-Terminal — the full SSH/SFTP client in the same family, with the same terminal engine.
Saved hosts
See Host monitor in the Scanning chapter for the full picture. Key points:
- The same list of groups and hosts is used by every tool that accepts a host. Long-press a host anywhere to open the context menu with Use in Ping, Use in Traceroute, Use in SSL, etc.
- Groups are organisational only — they don't change behaviour. Use them freely.
- The free tier has a total-host cap. PRO removes it.
Quick actions from a host card
- Tap — last-known state, timestamp, run a one-shot ping.
- Long-press (or right-click on Desktop) — copy address, edit, delete, or jump into another tool.
- Ping group (group header) — refreshes every host in the group in sequence.
- Ping all (top bar) — refreshes everything.