LOUST
LOUST-PRO/NetBoozt_InternetUpgrade
Period: Mar 2024 —
The challenge
Standard networking diagnostics (ping, mtr, dig) could not tell me whether a slow connection was DNS, TCP, TLS, or the application protocol. On Mexican ISP paths, deep-packet inspection was the dominant variable, and I had no way to see it.
My role
I built a desktop tool that surfaces the actual transport chain — resolver, RTT, TLS handshake — with per-ISP profile switching so the user can tune behavior for each carrier without restarting the daemon.
What I did
01 Per-ISP profile switching
Why: Each Mexican carrier (Telmex, Totalplay, AT&T MX) has different inspection patterns, and one configuration does not fit all. Switching profiles live lets the tool follow the carrier rather than fight it.
Trade-off: Three profiles to maintain instead of one. Each carrier gets the configuration it actually needs, not a lowest-common-denominator compromise.
02 Transport-chain diagnostics
Why: A single ping number hides the bottleneck. Per-stage numbers (DNS resolution time, TCP handshake, TLS negotiation, application roundtrip) surface exactly where the slowdown lives.
Trade-off: More diagnostic output to read than a single latency number. Each number answers one specific question, which is the point.
03 Tauri UI over a Rust backend
Why: Native desktop feel without the Electron bloat. The diagnostic surface stays responsive even when the backend is mid-probe across multiple transports.
Trade-off: Smaller ecosystem of Tauri UI libraries than Electron. For a single-author tool the ecosystem does not matter; for a large team it might.
What changed
Bottleneck identification
Before: About 10 minutes of guessing and switching tools
After: Under 1 minute reading the chain
Evidence: estimate, not measured
Profile switching
Before: Required daemon restart
After: Live switch in under 5 seconds
Tool startup time
Before: About 3 seconds (Electron baseline)
After: Under 1 second (Tauri)
Trade-offs
I gave up the Electron ecosystem for native performance. For a tool I open daily, the speed wins; for a tool I open monthly, the ecosystem might.
What I learned
Diagnostics tools earn their keep by answering one specific question, not by being a Swiss-army knife. A focused tool that answers the bottleneck question beats a general one that does not.
Stack
- Rust
- Tauri
- Linux
- networking