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. Seventeen 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. Seventeen distinct tests evaluate stability, latency, jitter, throughput consistency, DNS resolution, CDN reachability, and real-time protocol support.

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.

⚠ 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
Experiment No. BL-012
Status ACTIVE / STABLE
Type Network Diagnostic Tool
Tests 17 Distinct Diagnostics
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 All systems nominal. Diagnostic tool deployed to production. The apparatus is watching.
01

The ekoh Score

The ekoh score is a weighted composite (0-100) combining nine performance components. The weights reflect their relative importance to streaming reliability:

Throughput (25%)
Sustained bandwidth vs. streaming requirement
Buffer Capacity (20%)
Ability to maintain buffer under variance
Latency (15%)
TCP connection establishment time
Jitter (15%)
Latency variance and stability
Consistency (10%)
Throughput coefficient of variation
DNS Resolution (5%)
Speed of resolving streaming endpoints
HLS Simulation (5%)
Ability to fetch media segments reliably
WebSocket (3%)
Real-time protocol support
Reconnection (2%)
Recovery time from interruptions
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

Client-Side Tests

🔍 DNS Resolution
Measures DNS lookup time for major CDN endpoints
🔌 WebSocket Handshake
Tests WebSocket protocol support and round-trip time
🎵 Codec Support
Identifies browser support for AAC, MP3, Opus, FLAC, Vorbis
📊 Packet Loss Estimation
Uses WebRTC to estimate packet loss rate
🌐 CORS Preflight Check
Verifies cross-origin resource sharing for streaming endpoints

Server-Side Tests

📡 ICMP Ping
Tests reachability and latency to major CDN nodes
⏱️ TCP Latency Sampling
Multiple TCP connection attempts to measure latency distribution
🚀 Throughput Measurement
Sustained download test with coefficient of variation analysis
📉 Jitter Analysis
Standard deviation and mean absolute deviation of latency
🎬 HLS Segment Simulation
Fetches multiple HLS segments to simulate real streaming behavior
📦 Range Request Test
Verifies HTTP range request support for seeking
🔄 Reconnection Simulation
Measures time to re-establish dropped connections
🗺️ Traceroute
Maps network path and hop count to CDN endpoints
🎯 Stream Resolver Check
Tests connectivity to streaming infrastructure
🛡️ VPN Detection
Identifies VPN/proxy usage that might affect streaming
📈 Consistency Test
Multiple throughput samples to measure variance
🧮 Buffer Ratio Calculation
Compares throughput to buffer requirements for 320 kbps streaming
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.

📤
Result Sharing

Results are stored with a human-readable three-word passphrase (e.g., StreamingCrimsonEagle) that expires in 72 hours. Share results via passphrase entry, direct link, JSON export, or CSV export.

📊
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

Identifies VPN/proxy usage through ASN/organization lookup, known VPN provider databases, and behavioral patterns. Displays a warning banner when VPN is detected, as it may affect results.

      BL-012 ekoh: ACTIVE — 17 DIAGNOSTIC TESTS OPERATIONAL — PASSPHRASE SYSTEM NOMINAL — EXPORT FUNCTIONS ARMED  ⋮  ekoh SCORE ALGORITHM VALIDATED — WEIGHTED GEOMETRIC MEAN APPLIED — PENALTY FACTORS ACTIVE  ⋮  VPN DETECTION HEURISTICS OPERATIONAL — ASN LOOKUP NOMINAL — WARNING BANNER CONFIRMED  ⋮  MULTI-CYCLE TESTING MODE DEPLOYED — VARIANCE TRACKING OPERATIONAL — STANDARD DEVIATION CALCULATED  ⋮  ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL — DIAGNOSTIC TOOL DEPLOYED TO PRODUCTION — THE APPARATUS IS WATCHING  ⋮