TWO WAYS TO RUN IT
The same measurements, from an appliance or from a PC.
HopWarden comes in two forms. HopWarden IoT is a purpose-built unit with its own screen that plugs into a spare Ethernet port. HopWarden for Windows is an application that runs on a machine you already own.
Both watch up to six destinations, compute the same scores from the same probe engine, and report through the same contract, so a site running one looks the same in the dashboard as a site running the other. What differs is what each one needs from you, and what each one can honestly promise about how it behaves on your network.
HOPWARDEN IOT
The unit
A sealed appliance with a 7″ on-counter monitor. It runs on its own power and its own wired connection, so it keeps measuring whether or not anyone is at the counter and whether or not any PC is switched on.
BETA · REQUEST ACCESS
HOPWARDEN FOR WINDOWS
The application
A Windows service with a tray app, installed once on a machine that stays on at the site: a back-office PC, the till, a spare laptop. Nothing new to mount, wire or power.
COMING SOON · AVAILABLE FOR BETA TESTING
SIDE BY SIDE
What is identical, and what is not.
| HOPWARDEN IOT | FOR WINDOWS | |
|---|---|---|
| WHAT IT IS | ||
| Form | Sealed appliance, own enclosure | Windows service plus tray app |
| Runs on | Its own hardware | A PC you already own |
| On-site display | 7″ on-counter monitor | Tray icon and status window |
| Availability | Beta, by request | Coming soon, available for beta testing |
| MEASUREMENT · IDENTICAL BY DESIGN | ||
| Destinations | Up to 6 | Up to 6 |
| Probe types | ICMP / TCP / HTTP / HTTPS | ICMP / TCP / HTTP / HTTPS |
| Probe cycle | 22s default | 22s default |
| Score, loss, jitter, trend | Firmware probe engine | The same engine, ported and parity-tested |
| What the dashboard sees | Identical | Identical |
| ON YOUR NETWORK | ||
| Measures while | Always, on its own power | The host PC is on and awake |
| Network link | Wired Ethernet only, never joins WiFi | Whatever the host PC uses |
| Vantage point | Its own port on your network | The host PC’s network stack |
| Inbound ports opened | None | None |
| Survives | PC reboots, reimages and retirements | It goes wherever the host goes |
| Throughput test | Coming in a field update | On demand: download, upload, and latency under load |
| IDENTITY AND UPDATES | ||
| Device identity | ES256 key held on the device | ES256 key in Windows CNG, TPM-backed where available |
| Updates | Signed firmware, verified before it runs | Signed manifest and SHA-256, verified before install, never automatic |
| Installer signature | Not applicable | Not signed yet, so SmartScreen warns |
| Getting it running | Plug into a spare Ethernet port | Run one installer, once, as administrator |
WORTH BEING CLEAR ABOUT
The unit can promise things an application cannot.
Our security page describes a device that uses a wired connection, never joins your WiFi, and adds nothing to your network that can be reached from outside. Those are statements about the hardware. Software on a shared PC inherits that PC’s situation: if the machine is on WiFi, the sensor is on WiFi, and whatever else that machine is running is still the machine’s exposure. We are not going to claim it away.
The vantage point differs too. The unit measures from its own port. The application measures through the host’s network stack, so a VPN client, an adapter’s power-saving setting, or a machine that is simply busy can colour the result. Often that is a small effect, and sometimes it is exactly the effect you want, because it is what your staff actually experience on that machine.
An application measures only while its host is awake. A PC asleep at 2am is not a quiet night, it is a gap in the record.
What does not differ is the arithmetic. Both compute the same quality score from the same probe engine, hold the same kind of device key, and speak the same contract to the dashboard. A site that starts on Windows and later adds a unit does not start its history over.
PICKING ONE
Which one to start with.
The site is unattended, or nothing there stays reliably powered on.
The record has to be continuous, because you intend to use it in a dispute with a provider.
You want the measurement kept off the machines that run the business.
There is already a machine at the site that never gets turned off.
You want to watch it work for a few weeks before committing to hardware.
There is nowhere to mount or power anything new.
Nothing stops a site from running both. They enrol as separate sensors and land in the same fleet dashboard, which is a reasonable way to keep watching a site through the weeks before a unit is mounted.
Request beta access