7 Network Checks Every Developer Should Run from Their Phone

Your laptop isn't always within reach, but your phone is. Here are seven network checks every developer should know how to run from their phone — and how NetKit Pro makes each one dead simple.

1. Ping your production server

Why: You get an alert that your site is down. Before opening your laptop, confirm it's actually unreachable.

How: Open Ping, type your server's hostname, and tap start. If you get responses with reasonable latency, the server is up — the problem might be DNS or a specific service. If you get timeouts, it's genuinely unreachable. The live latency chart makes it easy to spot intermittent issues.

Pro tip: Add your most-used servers as mental bookmarks. The Quick Targets feature lets you test against known-good hosts (Google, Cloudflare, Apple) to confirm your own connection is working first.

2. Run a speed test before a video call

Why: Your video call is about to start and you want to make sure your connection can handle it.

How: Open Speed Test and let it measure your download and upload bandwidth. The speed-over-time chart shows whether your connection is consistent or dropping out. If upload is below 5 Mbps, consider switching to a different network.

Pro tip: Run the test on both WiFi and cellular to see which connection is better at your current location.

3. Traceroute to debug routing issues

Why: Your server is up but connections from certain locations are slow or failing.

How: Run a traceroute to your server. Look for the hop where latency spikes or timeouts begin. Switch to the map view to see the geographic path your packets take — this can reveal unexpected routing through distant locations.

Pro tip: Compare traceroutes from your phone (mobile network) vs. WiFi. Different ISPs route traffic differently — this can help isolate whether the issue is path-specific.

4. Check SSL certificates before they expire

Why: An expired SSL certificate will take your entire site offline with scary browser warnings.

How: Open SSL Inspector and enter your domain. View the full certificate chain, check the expiry date countdown, and verify the protocol version and cipher suite. Quick Targets let you test popular services instantly.

Pro tip: Check all your domains monthly. The certificate expiry countdown tells you exactly how many days you have left — catch renewals before they become emergencies.

5. DNS lookup to verify deployments

Why: You just updated DNS records and need to know if they've propagated.

How: Open DNS Lookup and query your domain. Check the A record to see if it points to the new IP. Check TXT records to verify domain verification tokens for services like Google Workspace or Stripe.

Pro tip: Query with different record type filters. After a migration, check A (IP), CNAME (aliases), and MX (email) records to make sure nothing was lost.

6. Port scan to check firewall rules

Why: You changed firewall rules and need to verify only the right ports are open.

How: Scan your server with the Common profile for a broad check, or use the Web/Database profiles for targeted scans. Open ports should match your expectations — anything unexpected is worth investigating.

Pro tip: Run a Database profile scan against your production server's public IP. If ports 3306, 5432, or 6379 show as open, those database ports are exposed to the internet and need to be locked down immediately.

7. Set up host profiles for quick monitoring

Why: You manage multiple servers and need a quick way to check on all of them.

How: Create a Profile for each server. Use "Run All Tools" to scan a host with every tool in one tap. Enable uptime monitoring to track availability over time. Check your profiles regularly to spot issues before users report them.

Pro tip: Add notes to each profile with important details like the hosting provider, OS version, or which services run on that host. When something breaks at 2 AM, you will be glad the context is right there.

The right tools in your pocket

These seven checks cover the majority of "is it down or is it just me?" situations. Having them on your phone means you can start debugging within seconds of getting an alert — on the train, at dinner, wherever.

NetKit Pro puts all of these tools in a single app for €4.99. No ads, no tracking, no subscriptions.