BELMONT LABS / EXPERIMENTS / EXPERIMENT 12
EXPERIMENT // BL-012
● ACTIVE / STABLE
EXTERNALLY KNOWN OBSTRUCTION HEURISTICS

ekoh

A comprehensive client-side network diagnostic apparatus that measures the specific conditions affecting audio streaming quality. Twenty-one distinct tests. One composite score. Shareable results. The apparatus does not guess. It measures.

Traditional speed tests measure bandwidth. They do not measure suitability for streaming. A connection testing at 100 Mbps can still experience buffering due to jitter, latency variance, or packet loss under sustained load. The lab found this gap unacceptable.

DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS
Mission Brief

Experiment 12 emerged from a straightforward grievance: traditional speed tests measure bandwidth, but they do not measure suitability for streaming. A connection testing at 100 Mbps can still experience buffering, dropouts, and failures due to jitter, latency variance, CDN accessibility issues, or packet loss under sustained load. The lab found this gap unacceptable.

ekoh is a comprehensive client-side diagnostic tool that measures the conditions that actually matter when streaming audio content. Twenty-one distinct tests evaluate stability, latency, jitter, throughput consistency, DNS resolution, CDN reachability, real-time protocol support, browser compatibility, and extension interference.

The result is a single composite score (0-100) that reflects actual streaming reliability. Results are stored with human-readable three-word passphrases that expire in 72 hours. The data is shareable. The data is exportable. Support teams can collect standardized diagnostics. Network engineers can benchmark CDN accessibility. The apparatus does not guess. It measures.

v2.0 Implementation Note: Session-based result persistence required substantial architectural engineering — incremental database writes, concurrency management, payload optimization, and careful database locking strategies were essential to ensure reliable data capture across all 21 tests. The final implementation saves individual test results progressively during execution, with a complete final aggregate save, ensuring no diagnostic data is lost even under high load conditions.

⚠ Research note appended by Chief Science Officer: "We tested ekoh on seventeen different network configurations. It identified problems in fourteen of them that traditional speed tests missed entirely. The lab considers this performance acceptable. Barely."
ACCESS ekoh DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
Designation ekoh v2.0
Experiment No. BL-012
Status ACTIVE / STABLE
Type Network Diagnostic Tool
Tests 21 Distinct Diagnostics
Client Tests 18 (95% of score)
Server Ref Tests 3 (5% of score)
Score Range 0-100 (Composite)
Passphrase Expiry 72 Hours
Hazard Rating MINIMAL
Observation Log
BL-012-1A Initial testing complete. Seventeen tests operational. ekoh score algorithm validated.
BL-012-3C VPN detection heuristics deployed. ASN lookup nominal. Warning banner confirmed functional.
BL-012-7B Passphrase system tested. Three-word format confirmed. Auto-expiry after 72 hours verified.
BL-012-9D Multi-cycle testing mode deployed. Variance tracking operational. Standard deviation calculated.
BL-012-14A Client/server test separation implemented. VPN test recategorized. New client DNS and geographic tests operational.
BL-012-19P v1.09-P deployed. 16 client tests (95% weight), 3 server reference tests (5% weight). Test focus reforged to measure user connection, not server infrastructure.
BL-012-21U v1.10 deployed. Added extension/addon detection and UI compatibility tests. Range request test reengineered for local server validation. Enhanced chart tooltips with contextual explanations. 21 total diagnostics operational.
BL-012-2A v2.0 deployed. Session-based result architecture implemented. Incremental database persistence, encrypted passphrases, concurrent write optimization. Results shareable via three-word passphrase without file export. All 21 diagnostics reliably captured and retrievable.
01

The ekoh Score

The ekoh score is a weighted composite (0-100) combining client connection tests. The weights reflect their relative importance to streaming reliability.

TCP Latency (15%)
Your round-trip time to CDN edges
Jitter (15%)
Your connection's latency variance
Throughput (12%)
Your sustained download bandwidth
Client DNS (10%)
Your DNS resolver performance
Consistency (10%)
Your bandwidth stability over time
Geographic Reach (8%)
Your routing quality to global CDNs
Stream Resolver (7%)
Your access to live radio gateways
HLS Simulation (6%)
Your playlist segment fetch pattern
WebSocket (6%)
Your real-time protocol connectivity
Reconnection (6%)
Your stream recovery speed
Server ICMP (5%)
Server packet loss (reference only)
SCORING INTERPRETATION

90-100: Excellent — Ideal for high-quality streaming  ⋮  75-89: Good — Reliable for most scenarios  ⋮  60-74: Fair — Occasional issues possible  ⋮  40-59: Poor — Frequent buffering likely  ⋮  0-39: Critical — Streaming unreliable

02

Test Suite

v1.10 EXPANSION

New UI compatibility and extension detection tests identify browser environment issues that affect streaming. Range request validation now uses local server testing for accurate results. Enhanced chart tooltips provide contextual explanations for non-technical users. Client tests (18) comprise 95% of score. Server tests (3) provide reference data only (5% of score).

Client Connection Tests (18 tests — 95% of score)

🔍 VPN Detection
Identifies if you're using a VPN or proxy that may affect streaming
⚡ TCP Latency
Your round-trip time to CDN edges across multiple endpoints
🌐 Client DNS
Your DNS resolver performance to streaming domains
🗺️ Geographic Reach
Your latency distribution to global CDN nodes
🚀 Throughput
Your sustained download bandwidth measurement
📊 Jitter
Your connection's latency variance (standard deviation)
🔌 WebSocket
Your real-time protocol connectivity and RTT
📻 Stream Resolver
Your access to live radio stream gateways
🎬 HLS Simulation
Your playlist segment fetch pattern (20 sequential requests)
⏭ Range Requests
Your byte-range seek capability validated against local server infrastructure
🔄 Reconnection
Your stream recovery speed after disconnection
📈 Consistency
Your bandwidth stability over time (coefficient of variation)
🎵 Audio Codecs
Your browser support for MP3, AAC, Opus, FLAC, Vorbis, HLS
📦 Packet Loss
Your connection's data loss rate via WebRTC ICE statistics
💾 Buffer Headroom
Your capacity vs streaming tier requirements (128k to 9216k)
🔐 CORS
Your cross-origin access capability for CDN endpoints
🧩 Extension Detection
Identifies privacy extensions, ad blockers, and VPN browser add-ons that may interfere with streaming
🖥️ UI Compatibility
Validates browser version, screen resolution, zoom level, CSS/JS feature support for optimal playback

Server Reference Tests (3 tests — 5% of score)

These tests measure the diagnostic server's infrastructure, not your connection. Included as reference data only.

🌐 Server DNS
Server's DNS lookup timing to streaming endpoints (reference)
📡 Server ICMP
Server's latency and packet loss to CDN nodes (reference)
🗺️ Server Routes
Server's network path hop count to CDNs (reference)
03

Key Features

🔄
Multi-Cycle Testing

Run 1-5 consecutive test cycles to identify intermittent issues. Tracks score variance across cycles, highlights inconsistent network conditions, and calculates mean, min, max, and standard deviation.

📤
Session-Based Result Sharing

Results are automatically saved to encrypted sessions on the diagnostic server. Share results with a unique three-word passphrase (e.g., StreamingCrimsonEagle) that expires in 72 hours. Recipients can instantly view the complete diagnostic data without downloading files.

📊
Data Export Formats

JSON export includes full diagnostic payload, all test results and metadata, cycle-by-cycle breakdown, and timestamps. CSV export provides flattened key-value pairs compatible with spreadsheet analysis and importable back into ekoh.

🛡️
VPN Detection & Warnings

Identifies VPN/proxy usage through IP analysis, ASN lookup, and known VPN provider databases. Displays warning banners explaining that many streaming services block VPN connections or restrict content availability. Results clearly indicate tunneled connection status.

💡
Contextual Chart Tooltips

All charts feature enhanced tooltips that explain metrics in plain language. Hover over any data point to see not just the raw number, but what it means for streaming quality with performance assessments like "Excellent - instant loading" or "Acceptable - minor delays."

      BL-012 ekoh v2.0: ACTIVE — 21 DIAGNOSTIC TESTS OPERATIONAL (18 CLIENT + 3 SERVER REF) — SESSION-BASED SHARING ENABLED  ⋮  SESSION ARCHITECTURE DEPLOYED — INCREMENTAL RESULT SAVING — ENCRYPTED PASSPHRASE AUTHENTICATION — 72-HOUR EXPIRY ENFORCED  ⋮  ekoh SCORE MAINTAINED — 95% CLIENT TESTS / 5% SERVER REFERENCE — DATABASE-BACKED PERSISTENCE — REAL-TIME RESULT RETRIEVAL  ⋮  RANGE REQUEST TEST REENGINEERED — LOCAL SERVER VALIDATION — NGINX SUPPORT CONFIRMED — PODCAST SEEKING CAPABILITY VERIFIED  ⋮  EXTENSION INTERFERENCE DETECTION NOMINAL — PRIVACY BADGER / UBLOCK / GHOSTERY / VPN ADDONS IDENTIFIED — SEVERITY CLASSIFICATION OPERATIONAL  ⋮  UI COMPATIBILITY MATRIX DEPLOYED — BROWSER VERSION / SCREEN RES / ZOOM / CSS GRID / FLEXBOX / PROMISES VALIDATED — CRITICAL ISSUES FLAGGED  ⋮  CHART TOOLTIP ENHANCEMENTS ACTIVE — CONTEXTUAL EXPLANATIONS FOR NON-TECHNICAL USERS — PLAIN LANGUAGE QUALITY ASSESSMENTS IMPLEMENTED  ⋮  CSV EXPORT EXPANDED — 42 NEW FIELDS FOR ADDON/UI DATA — ENVIRONMENT METRICS CAPTURED — FULL IMPORT/EXPORT CYCLE VERIFIED  ⋮  ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL — v2.0 DEPLOYED TO PRODUCTION — SESSION-BASED SHARING ONLINE — THE APPARATUS IS WATCHING  ⋮