Network Diagnostics overview¶
The Network Diagnostics dialog gives you a live, per-second view of the network link between AetherSDR and your FLEX-8600. Use it to confirm connection endpoints, measure latency, inspect per-stream data rates, diagnose audio buffer problems, and tail the application log.
Before you start¶
- AetherSDR must be running. The dialog can be opened whether or not a radio is connected, but most indicators will be empty until a connection is established.
How it works¶
Open the dialog with Settings > Network.... All indicators update once per second automatically. Click Close when finished.
The dialog uses a tabbed layout. Seven tabs are available: Overview, Details, Latency, Rates, Packet Loss, Audio, and Logs. A Timeframe selector in the top-right corner of the tab bar controls how far back the time-series charts display history; it is hidden when the Logs tab is active.
The Details tab organises all labeled indicators into four groups described below.
Network Status¶
Connection path and TCP latency. Confirms which route AetherSDR is using to reach the radio.
| Indicator | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Status | Overall link quality, color-coded green → red. Possible states: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor. |
| Target Radio IP | IP address of the connected radio. Shows "Not connected" when no radio is linked. |
| Selected Source | Local network interface or bind path used for the connection. |
| Local TCP | Local TCP endpoint (address and port). |
| Local UDP | Local UDP endpoint (address and port). |
| First UDP Packet | Whether the first UDP packet has been received since connect ("Yes" or "No"). |
| Latency (RTT) | Current round-trip time in milliseconds. Displays "< 1 ms" when below 1 ms. |
| Max Latency (RTT) | Highest RTT measured since the radio connected. |
Incoming Stream Rates¶
Per-category ingress rates and aggregate totals. Large swings indicate bursty delivery even when no packets are dropped.
| Indicator | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Audio | Incoming audio stream rate in kbps. |
| FFT | Incoming FFT stream rate in kbps. |
| Waterfall | Incoming waterfall stream rate in kbps. |
| Meters | Incoming meters stream rate in kbps. |
| DAX | Incoming DAX stream rate in kbps. |
| Total RX | Aggregate inbound rate across all streams in kbps. |
| Total TX | Aggregate outbound rate in kbps. |
Packet Loss (Sequence Gaps)¶
Drop counts inferred from missing VITA sequence numbers. A zero count here does not rule out jitter or late delivery bursts.
| Indicator | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Audio | Dropped packets / total packets (percent) for the audio stream. |
| FFT | Dropped packets / total packets (percent) for the FFT stream. |
| Waterfall | Dropped packets / total packets (percent) for the waterfall stream. |
| Meters | Dropped packets / total packets (percent) for the meters stream. |
| DAX | Dropped packets / total packets (percent) for the DAX stream. |
Audio Playback¶
Speaker-side buffer health. If underruns increase while the buffer stays near zero, playback is starving. Arrival gap and jitter measure timing, not packet loss.
| Indicator | What it shows |
|---|---|
| RX Buffer Now | Current audio receive buffer fill, in bytes and milliseconds. |
| RX Buffer Peak | Highest buffer fill seen since connect, in bytes and milliseconds. |
| Underruns (total) | Cumulative audio buffer underrun count since connect. |
| Underruns (last sec) | Audio buffer underruns that occurred in the most recent one-second interval. |
| Audio Arrival Gap | Time gap between consecutive incoming audio packets. |
| Max Arrival Gap | Largest arrival gap seen since connect. |
| Network Jitter | Smoothed jitter estimate of the incoming audio stream. |
Controls¶
| Control | Behavior | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Overview (tab) | Shows four health cards (Status, Latency, Packet Loss, Audio Buffer) and four time-series graphs (Latency and Jitter, Recent Packet Loss, Total Stream Rates, Audio Buffer). | |
| Details (tab) | Scrollable grid with labeled values for Network Status, Incoming Stream Rates, Packet Loss, and Audio Playback groups. | |
| Latency (tab) | Full-width time-series graph of RTT, arrival gap and jitter in ms. | |
| Rates (tab) | Full-width log-scale time-series graph of per-stream incoming bitrates (RX total, Audio, FFT, Waterfall, Meters, DAX) in kbps. | |
| Packet Loss (tab) | Full-width time-series graph of packet loss % per stream category. | |
| Audio (tab) | Full-width time-series graph of playback buffer fill (ms) and underruns/s. | |
| Logs (tab) | Live tail of the AetherSDR log file, filtered by category checkboxes. Syntax-highlighted by log level and category name. | Timeframe selector is hidden while this tab is active. |
| Timeframe | Selects how far back the time-series charts display history. Default is 5 minutes. Available options: 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week. | Shown in the top-right corner of the tab bar; hidden when the Logs tab is active. |
| Filter Categories (Logs) | Per-category checkboxes filter the log view. Includes a General (default) category plus all registered LogManager categories. | |
| Select All (Logs) | Shows all log categories in the viewer. | |
| Deselect All (Logs) | Hides all log categories from the viewer. | |
| Live / Paused (Logs) | When Live, the viewer auto-scrolls to newest output. Scrolling up auto-pauses; clicking Live resumes and jumps to the tail. | Default state is Live. |
| Close | Closes the dialog. |
Logs tab¶
The Logs tab tails the AetherSDR log file in real time. The full path of the file being tailed is shown in the log path label at the top of the tab.
Log lines are syntax-highlighted by log level (DBG, INF, WRN, CRT, FTL) and by category name. Use the Filter Categories checkboxes to limit output to the categories you are interested in. Click Select All to restore all categories or Deselect All to clear the view. The Live / Paused toggle controls auto-scroll: scrolling up pauses the view automatically; click Live to resume and jump back to the newest output.
Tips¶
- The dialog can remain open while you operate. All values refresh every second without any interaction required.
- Packet loss counts in the Packet Loss group are cumulative since the dialog was opened; close and reopen the dialog to reset the baseline.
- Zero packet loss combined with rising underruns points to a jitter or timing problem rather than outright loss — check Audio Arrival Gap and Network Jitter in that case.
- On the Rates tab the y-axis uses a logarithmic scale, which makes it easier to see low-rate streams (such as Meters) alongside the much higher RX total.