FAQ

Self-hosted versus a hosted speed-test service?

A hosted service tests from its own servers, on its schedule, and keeps your data. baudflow tests from your network, on your schedule, and the data never leaves your machine — it is yours to chart, export, and scrape.

Can baudflow prove my ISP isn’t delivering the speed I pay for?

Yes. baudflow compares every test against the promised speed you configure and rolls the results into an SLA percentage (“delivered 91.3% of promised speed this month”), breach streaks, and a calendar heatmap of when your connection fell short. Because it stores the full raw result of every test and never backfills, the record is auditable from day one: export the chart, scrape /metrics into Grafana, or screenshot the heatmap. See Internet speed SLA.

How does baudflow compare to speedtest-tracker?

speedtest-tracker is the mature incumbent: PHP/Laravel, broad Apprise notifications, SQLite/MySQL/Postgres support, and a multi-language UI. baudflow is a newer Elixir/Phoenix alternative focused on a live real-time dashboard, a first-class continuous ping runner, SLA tracking against your promised speed, and adaptive schedules. See the full comparison.

What do I need to run it?

Docker and a Postgres database — the Ookla CLI is bundled into the image. From source you need Elixir 1.20+, OTP 29+, Postgres, and the Ookla CLI on your $PATH. See Getting started.

Why PostgreSQL only?

baudflow leans on Postgres for typed columns, JSON storage of raw results, and window queries for baselines and SLA. See Deployment → Why PostgreSQL?.

Is there a login?

No. baudflow is single-user by default and assumes it sits behind your own reverse proxy or auth proxy. Auth is on the roadmap. See Deployment → Security & access.

Does the ping runner use ICMP?

No. It measures TCP-handshake RTT by opening connections to host:port at a fixed cadence, so it needs no binary and no CAP_NET_RAW and runs unprivileged under a locked-down security context. See Ping.

How is the Ookla CLI licensed?

The Ookla Speedtest CLI is a third-party binary bundled into the image for convenience; you accept Ookla’s license terms by using it. baudflow itself is AGPL-3.0. See Getting started.

How long is data kept?

Measurements are pruned daily at 03:00 beyond retention_days (default 365). The full raw JSON is retained for each measurement until it is pruned. See Configuration reference.

Can I get baudflow into Grafana?

Yes. GET /metrics exposes the baudflow_* gauges in Prometheus text format; point a scrape job at it and build panels or Alertmanager rules like any exporter. There is also an embeddable heatmap for dashboards that take iframes. See Prometheus metrics.

Does it work on a phone?

The dashboard is responsive and renders in the browser’s local timezone, so a glance from a phone just works. It is a LiveView app, not a native app — there is nothing to install.

What is on the roadmap?

Remote agents reporting from multiple locations, auto-grouped incident timelines with traceroute context, a REST API, and exportable reports. See Contributing → Roadmap.