aahonarmand/neticu

NetICU is a macOS menu-bar app that monitors the quality of your internet connection to specific servers or websites in real time. It sits quietly in the top bar of your screen and continuously measures ping, jitter, and packet loss to whatever targets you configure, updating the display every few seconds. The app was built with unstable networks in mind, and the README specifically mentions its usefulness in Iran, where internet disruption is a frequent problem. The main feature that sets it apart from a simple ping tool is the ability to monitor two targets at once and show both readings in the menu bar simultaneously. A typical setup described in the README is to track one domestic server and one international server at the same time. If the domestic reading stays healthy while the international one degrades, you can immediately see that the problem is at the country's internet gateway rather than your local network or Wi-Fi. If both degrade together, the problem is closer to home. Beyond basic ping, the app breaks down each connection into its individual timing phases: DNS resolution, TCP handshake, TLS negotiation, and the time to first byte from the server. This breakdown helps distinguish between a slow server (high time-to-first-byte with normal TCP) and a slow network path (high TCP times). The dashboard shows all monitored targets with trend charts and letter grades from A to F. Quality thresholds are adjustable so the app does not show constant warnings on networks where baseline latency is naturally higher. Additional features include per-monitor proxy support so you can compare direct and proxied connections to the same host, alert notifications when a target's ping stays above a threshold, and display of your public and local IP addresses. The app contacts external IP lookup services only when you manually request it, or on a timer if you opt into auto-refresh. Installation is a download and unzip. The app is not notarized by Apple, so the first launch requires a manual approval step in macOS security settings. Building from source requires Xcode 16 and macOS 13 or later. The project is MIT licensed.