FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions. Please, send us an e-mail if you have a question without answer: we will add it.

Which kind of data do you collect?

HomeNet Profiler collects performance and configuration information related to your home network. You can find detailed information in the collected data page. HomeNet Profiler does not collect personal information.
What is your privacy policy?

Before sending data to our server, HomeNet Profiler anonymizes all local identifiers. It will identify data collected from each volunteer with a unique random identifier, so that a volunteer’s identity is not directly revealed. We will use the collected data only for research purposes and commit never to use the data in research that aims at determining the identity of individual volunteers. More information on our privacy policy is available here. If you run the Netalyzr module, you should be aware that Netalyzr has it's own privacy policy.
Can I share my reports?

In general, you should not send the link to your report to anyone, because it contains your unique identifier and it will give access to the data we collect from your computer. If you want to share a report, then it is better to create an alias at the bottom of the report page. With the alias, you can share the page alias without revealing your identifier.
Can I download the data collected from my machine?

Yes, you will find the link to the raw data, called raw reports, at the bottom of your normal report page.
Can I delete my data from your server?

HomeNet Profiler allow to select beforehand which data we will collect. So, if there is any data you do not want collected from your machine, you should uncheck it. If you have a concern with data that was already collected, please send us an email.
I'm not at home, how should I answer the survey?

HomeNet Profiler is made to run from your own home. If it's not the case, then just say you're not at home during the first question, and answer the rest of the questions like if you were at your home. We are still interested in measurement data, but it will make less sense for us (we focus on home networks, not business networks).
Why is there less information on my report page than on the example page?

HomeNet Profiler adapts to your machine and home network. Some machine have no WiFi, or no Bonjour libraries, thus reducing the number of information we can show on the report pages. For better results, please turn-on your WiFi, and run as sudo for Linux users.
I have several homes, how should I answer the survey?

Lucky you! we did not thought deeply about this use case. Answer the survey like if you were at the home where you run the HomeNet Profiler. Count the computers you carry with you when you switch home as in both homes. Better is to run the HomeNet Profiler on different computers for the different homes.
I've lost my secret URL what should I do?

If you've lost your secret URL, you can restart the HomeNet Profiler and run it until the last screen (when you have to press DONE), you will see your secret URL again. This only work if you run the HomeNet Profiler on the same computer than the previous run(s).
I've lost my secret URL plus, I've changed computer what should I do?

We cannot recover it for you because we have no other way to identify a measurement report to a user. This is part of our privacy policy.
Does the HomeNet Profiler install anything on my computer?

The HomeNet Profiler stores an identifier in a hidden folder (located in your home directory). We use this identifier to detect duplicate measurements from the same home (and same computer).
How do I remove HomeNet Profiler's identifiers from my computer?
You must delete the ".hnp" directory in your home directory. On Windows you have to go to your
```
"C:\Documents And Settings\username"
```
folder and delete the ".hnp" directory. On MacOS and Linux, you can execute
```
rm -rv ~/.hnp
```
in a terminal.
Why does the Linux version need to run as root?
We need root privileges to run a succesful WiFi scan. Alternatively, you can give sudo rights to the iwlist command-line tool. On most Linux distributions, you can do this with the following command:
```
sudo chmod +s `which iwlist`
```
Which protocols do you look for?

We are particularly interested in auto-configuration protocols like UPnP and Zeroconf, but we are not sure they are well supported. Thus, we look for services advertised via these protocols.