Advanced Network Quality Test (ANQT) for Windows

Some time ago, I did not become a software developer. Instead, I became a system administrator and later an IT architect. I know the basics and wrote scripts in PowerShell and Python, but I am not a professional developer.

Now, in the time of AI and LLMs, I can make my ideas real.

Today I made one old idea come true. It is a simple application to test Internet access.

We all know speedtest.net. But Internet access is not just about speed. It is many things together: local network at home or office, DNS, provider, firewalls, etc.

I wanted to make an application that can run different tests and show the quality as percentage (%).

Today, I published the first version of "Advanced Network Quality Test" for Windows. It has a graphical interface (GUI).

Which is faster: 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1?

When I was experimenting with hosts and Pi-Hole, I read that "0.0.0.0" address in the hosts works faster thфn "127.0.0.1". And now I decided to test and verify it.

About tests

• To automate tests I prepared code on Python "DNS_Loopback_Speed".
• To get more accurate results I performed 10000 tests for each address and took the average.
• I have two devices running Windows 10 and Ubuntu 22.04, so I also compare speed of resolving between Windows and Linux.
• I've seen option of using 127.0.0.0 in hosts, therefore I add it too.
• Just to compare delays between local resolution (hosts) and external DNS servers I add 2 tests (my local Pi-Hole DNS and Google DNS). My devices connected to network via Wi-Fi, so results may not be reliable.

Brief information regarding these IP addresses:

• 0.0.0.0 - non-routable meta-address
• 127.0.0.1 - loopback Internet protocol address = localhost
• 127.0.0.0 - loopback network address

Visual Studio Code - error "XHR failed" in extensions

After fresh installation of Visual Studio Code I decided install Python extension, but faced with an error "Unable to open 'Extension: Python': XHR failed.".