

Show HN: Slowy app, Real-world connection simulator and bandwidth limiter - potomak
http://slowyapp.com/

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boundlessdreamz
You don't need an app for this. I wrote a shell script which uses ipfw for
exactly this purpose (Most probably this app uses ipfw too) here is the
script- <https://gist.github.com/1409218>

Run it like

    
    
       throttle -p 3000 -d 1000ms -s 256Kbit/s start
    

p - Port

d - network delay you want

s - speed

~~~
marquis
For designers working with css, going to the command line can be daunting. So
you could wrap this in a nice app on the dock or the menu bar, and maybe you'd
like a couple of euro for your time and writing some support documentation..

~~~
boundlessdreamz
I know :) The comment made me smile because I wrote the script for a client
who is a designer.

I used to use the ipfw commands directly. I didn't want the client to remember
the syntax and also starting and stopping the throttling involved a couple of
commands which can go wrong. So I wrote this and also had some default values
so that he can just do _throttle start_ and _throttle stop_

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ComputerGuru
Umm... Lion does this out of the box w/ XCode:

[http://mattgemmell.com/2011/07/25/network-link-
conditioner-i...](http://mattgemmell.com/2011/07/25/network-link-conditioner-
in-lion/)

It's called the "network conditioner" and it does lag, packet loss, latency,
bandwidth limiting, and more. And it's free.

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Void_
So how is it different from /Applications/Utilities/Network Link Conditioner ?

~~~
CharlieA
On the homepage (6th feature) "As Slowy mainly is a GUI for built-in OSX
tools, it will occupy only few MB of your RAM and nearly 0% of your CPU."

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pitchblack
I'm pretty sure Network Link Conditioner is the same.

~~~
Maro
I think the author would be better off giving it away for free, earning
goodwill and making a name for his dev shop, then releasing other apps to all
the people who now are aware of him.

~~~
beobab
Or sell it, and earn good will because he sells good products?

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exDM69
I'd like to have something like this for Linux. Anyone got any tips how to set
something like this up? Command line and kernel option hacking preferred to
GUI gadgets.

I would need to test my virtual-connection-over-UDP code with packet loss,
latency and incorrect packet order delivery and I really wouldn't want to
write code inside my app to test.

~~~
nodata
tc

~~~
exDM69
Excellent. I sort of expected an utility like this to be part of a "standard
installation".

Are there good examples of using tc to emulate a crappy connection?

~~~
obtu
Sure. You can add jitter, packet loss, duplication, corruption, shaping,
reordering, prioritisation. This page has examples:
[https://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/netwo...](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/networking/netem)
(netem is the kernel framework, it is to tc what netfilter is to iptables).
The examples apply to outgoing traffic, search for ifb0 for a way to apply
them to incoming traffic.

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JonnieCache
Seems to be a trend to wrap a lesser known commandline tool in a cocoa app and
knock it out for a couple of quid to arts graduates. Someone did a cocoa
version of guard recently. That other guy tried to make a system preferences
pane for the hostfile, but apple wouldn't let him. I'm sure there have been
others.

At least this guy has the decency to point out that it's already built into OS
X right there on the landing page ;)

If you need to do this stuff to a saturated gigabit pipe in both directions,
then may I suggest the superbly named 1U Network Nightmare, yours for only
$9999.

<http://www.gigenn.net/gigEnn/>

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youngtaff
I use Charles (<http://charlesproxy.com>) for this sort of thing - offers a
few more features than Slowly

Available on Windows / OS X / Linux

One the downside it needs Java!

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steemcb
See also Speedlimit: <http://mschrag.github.com/>

Does the same thing and is free!

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phzbOx
I really liked the design of this page. The gray/white/red color scheme was
right for this product IMO.

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alby115
Hi guys, I'm the developer of the application. Thank you for all your
comments. I'll take them into consideration while trying to improve the rough
edges and missing features of Slowy for the next update. I'll update the
website soon (<http://slowyapp.com>), completing the FAQ section and adding a
new blog section.

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TobbenTM
For Windows I would recommend NetLimiter[1]. Really nice way to check speeds
and connections as well as remote controlling the bandwidth on other computers
(with a NetLimiter client on both).

[1]: <http://www.netlimiter.com/>

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eps
The website has some layout problems when viewed from the iPhone, and, more
importantly, it appears to only have a description, but no Download button or
a pricing information.

~~~
llz
It's a mac app, you wouldn't want to download it on your iPhone anyways :)

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martindj
It doesn't limit upload rate. Thats too bad.

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nsfmc
i was always a big fan of sloppy <http://www.dallaway.com/sloppy/> and hadn't
bothered to look for alternatives, but the other projects here are equally
heartening and have... less java

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karolist
Please consider posting some mac app store stats after some time, thanks!

