TristamTech

Disclaimer: This repository documents the architecture and problem-solving approach behind systems independently designed and built by the author. It contains no proprietary source code, API keys, credentials, employer branding, or real user/organizational data. Screenshots are illustrative proof-of-concept only. Systems built using employer infrastructure (Jamf Pro) are documented here as a record of skill and handover-ready design, not a claim of personal ownership over the deployed instance.

📶 Native Network Speedtest — Zero-Dependency Bandwidth Diagnostic

Wraps Apple’s own networkQuality binary in a branded UI — no third-party CLI, no external server dependency beyond Apple’s own infrastructure.

📦 External Dependencies	⏱️ Auto-Kill Timer	🖥️ OS Requirement
0	60 sec	Monterey+

Speedtest Progress

📖 Executive Summary

One click, one native macOS binary, one branded progress UI. No install, no account, no third-party server round-trip beyond what Apple’s own test already requires.

🏗️ Why `networkQuality` Over Ookla/CLI Tools

Zero install footprint — already present on every modern Mac
Tests concurrent up/down load (closer to real-world stress) rather than Ookla’s sequential model — a deliberate tradeoff the UI explains inline, since raw numbers differ from consumer speedtest sites and were generating confused tickets before the explanation was added

⏱️ The “Fake but Honest” Progress Bar

networkQuality gives no live progress feed — it’s a black box until it returns. Rather than leave users staring at a frozen 0%, the test runs in the background while a loop tracks the actual running process, not just cosmetic timing:

networkQuality > /tmp/speedtest_output.txt &
nqPID=$!
currentProgress=5
while kill -0 $nqPID 2>/dev/null; do
    ((currentProgress++))
    echo "progress: $currentProgress" >> "$commandFile"
    sleep 0.3
done

Dead ends that shaped the final design:

Problem	What broke	Fix
Apple renamed a metric mid-OS-cycle	`Download capacity` → `Downlink capacity`, breaking the parser	Extended regex matches either label, OS-version-agnostic
Test window could get buried behind other apps	Silent orphaned process	`--ontop` + 60-second auto-kill safety timer

Speedtest Complete

🛠️ Tech Stack

SwiftDialog · bash · native macOS networkQuality

📂 Repository Structure

network-speedtest/
├── README.md
├── screenshots/
│   ├── Speedtest_Progress.png
│   └── Speedtest_Complete.png
└── scripts/
    └── network_speedtest.sh

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