The device, small enough to fit on the back of a smartphone, will provide field technicians visibility into all potential bottlenecks and advise on how to resolve them in a single site visit
In sum — what to know:
A new hardware tool for ISPs and enterprises — Ookla introduced a new handheld network diagnostic tool to help ISPs and organizations diagnose and optimize Wi-Fi performance in homes and offices.
Compact form factor — The pocket-size device fits on the back of a smartphone.
Works on dual-mode — The device supports two modes — Active Pulse, for “one-tap” activation and troubleshooting, and Continuous Pulse, for ongoing performance monitoring.
Internet speed test platform provider, Ookla, this week unveiled Speedtest Pulse, a new pocket-size network analyzer designed to improve in-building Wi-Fi experience in homes and offices.
Aimed at internet service providers (ISPs) and organizations struggling with poor visibility into on-site user experience, the device enables field technicians and on-site IT staff to run quick tests on wired and wireless connections and determine whether the issue is with the ISP, the Wi-Fi connection, or the device in use.
“As customer expectations increase and high-speed internet access matures, the new No. 1 battleground for ISP customer satisfaction and retention is that “last 50 feet”,” Chip Strange, chief strategy officer, said in an email.
A 2023 study found that 40% of broadband speeds are lost over the Wi-Fi connection. More recently, a Techsee 2025 survey reveals that 51% of respondents said they will switch providers if Wi-Fi issues are not resolved promptly, and rightly so. A stable Wi-Fi connection today is a critical asset for business continuity.
However, gaining comprehensive visibility of the subscribers’ in-home or in-office experience has been a continuous battle for ISPs for many years. Doing so across hundreds and thousands of sites is an even bigger challenge.
Currently, the industry relies on a two-tier operational model. The first involves a quick visit by a frontline technician who takes the first shot at fixing the issue, but without an enterprise-grade diagnostic toolkit, they often end up escalating it to an expert. This is the second model, which involves a network engineer visiting the site with specialized equipment and troubleshooting the problem.
The system “depends either on low-visibility guesswork that can result in costly, repeat technician callouts, or on expert-grade tools that are too expensive, time-intensive, and complex to use across the workforce.” Strange noted.
Speedtest Pulse ISPs them in the middle. It offers an easy-to-use tool at a competitive price point that technicians can use on their first visit and resolve the issue on the spot.
It can validate new installs, and troubleshoot with “one tap”, says Ookla. Thanks to its compact form factor, the device attaches to the back of smartphones and plugs into routers very easily. Then, sitting on the device, it reads the performance data to locate the source of the issue.
It doesn’t stop there. Ookla highlights that Speedtest Pulse addresses a critical gap that many diagnostic tools have — lack of actionable insights. Speedtest Pulse leverages machine learning algorithms embedded in its smartphone app to analyze data and generate comprehensive events reports with details and metrics, along with troubleshooting recommendations.
The device supports dual mode — Active Pulse, which activates the test, validates new installs, and shows all potential issues — and Continuous Pulse, which is slated to release in 2026, that continually gathers and analyzes data from the router to proactively spot bottlenecks before they impact customers’ experience.
For ISPs, this can mean quicker resolution of lingering tickets, and consequently, reduced operational costs and repeat truck rolls. In large enterprises, hospitals, and college campuses where Wi-Fi environments are complex and variable, it can allow IT teams to easily validate the network health, reducing the volume of routine troubleshooting tickets for specialists downstream whose time is better used attending to more urgent network issues.
Under the hood, Speedtest Pulse leverages Ekahau, that Ookla acquired in 2018, and is famously known for its Sidekick 2 Wi-Fi diagnostic device.
With the new solution, Ookla pushes deeper into the network test and measurement hardware market, bringing new competition to companies like Fluke Networks, Viavi, and Exfo, offering Wi-Fi performance diagnostics tools.