Net Radar

Frequently asked questions


Net Radar monitors your VPN connection on two levels:

  1. On an internal level Net Radar monitors all VPN related network events. Net Radar knows when a VPN connection is created, and when it's ended. On the Mac this works even when Net Radar isn't on the foreground. This works both for VPN connections configured in the network settings of your Mac, iPhone or iPad, and for VPN connections made by custom apps that most commericial VPN service providers offer you to use.
  2. The second level of monitoring is outside your device. When a VPN connection is made, a GeoIP service is called to determine the new public IP address, geographical location and other metadata of your new connection. This is being compared with baseline data of your unprotected connection. When a comparison between the baseline data and the current data indicates a private connection, then your VPN connection is considered to be correctly working.
Please run the Net Radar Setup Assistant to change the GeoIP service used by Net Radar. You can rerun the Setup Assistant by selecting the 'Start Setup Assistant' menu item in the menu of Net Radar. Right click on the status bar item of Net Radar to display the menu. Or alternatively, press the Settings icon on top of the popup of Net Radar.

Follow these steps to select another location server:

  1. Open the Settings tab view.
  2. Open the General section. This section shows a list of available location services. The location service that's currently used, has a check mark.
  3. Tap on another location service.
  4. A popup will show the results of the selected location service.
  5. Tap Save if you like the results and speed of the location service.

Selecting another service is only possible when VPN is disabled. The reason is that a new baseline is generated with connection and location metadata is generated when you select a new location service. More info about this can be found in 'Changing preferences', section 'Baseline preferences'.

Follow these steps to completely disable warning notifications without losing the coloured location text in the status bar:
  • Open the Preferences panel of Net Radar. This can be opened by clicking on the 'Preferences' menu item in the menu of the Net Radar item in the status bar. This menu appears when you right-click (or Control + click) with the mouse on the status bar item.
  • Select 'Notifications' for setting 'Show warnings as'.
  • Open the Notification section in the System Preferences of macOS.
  • Select 'Net Radar' in the list on the left side.
  • Select 'None' for setting 'Net Radar alert style'

Follow these steps to suppress notification alerts of Net Radar:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Select the 'Net Radar' app on the left side.
  3. Tap on 'Notifications'.
  4. Disable setting 'Allow Notifications'.

Net Radar uses technology that works independent of the technique used by VPN services. Therefore, Net Radar should work with most VPN services.

Net Radar has been successfully tested on OS X 10.11 and newer with following commercial VPN services, using the latest versions of the custom VPN software provided by these services:

Service Software version Remarks
Cloak 2.0.15
CyberGhost 5.0.14.12
Hide.me VPN 1.0.5
Hotspot Shield 1.5.2b41
IPVanish VPN 2.2 (231)
NetShade 7.0.3 (97) Concerns direct download version
Private Internet Access 72
PrivateTunnel 2.7.0.9
ProXPN 4.5.0.0
Spotflux 2.11.2
TunnelBear 3.0.16 (495)
Tunnelblick 3.7.1b (4813) This is actually not a service, but an open source OpenVPN client.
Viscosity 1.5.11 This is actually not a service, but a commercial OpenVPN client.
VyprVPN 2.8.0
WindScribe 1.70 (4)

Net Radar has also been tested with the built-in VPN software of macOS, using L2TP, PPTP, IPSec and IKEv2 configurations. Where are happy to add more services to this list if you share us your experiences with your VPN service and related software. Just send a message to feedback@betamagic.nl, with inclusion of the software version and the macOS platform version.

Net Radar has been successfully tested on iOS 10.3 and newer with following commercial VPN services, using the latest versions of the custom VPN software provided by these services:

Service Software version Remarks
Betternet 3.3.21
Hide.me VPN 2.6 It may necessary to disable setting 'Monitor transient connection'
Hotspot Shield VPN 3.8.0
OpenVPN 1.1.1
Opera VPN 2.0.2
Private Internet Access 2.2.1 Current version 2.2.2 seems to be broken.
Speedify 5.4.1
TunnelBear VPN 2.7
Windscribe 1.15

Net Radar is available as an iOS app , as a standalone macOS app and as add-on in Download Buddy. This matrix compares the three editions:

Feature Net Radar
iOS edition		 Net Radar
macOS edition		 Net Radar
add-on
Detects and shows the status of your VPN connection ✓ ✓ ✓
Shows public IP address and geographical location of your internet connection ✓ ✓ ✓
Works with OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP and IPSec connections ✓ ✓ ✓
Works with IKEv2 based VPN connections ✓ ✓ Soon
Monitors your internet connection in the background Limited ✓ ✓
Built-in logging console ✓
Today widget with essential connection data ✓
Shows a modal warning when your VPN connection goes down ✓
Stops all active downloads in Download Buddy when your VPN connection goes down ✓
Available in the App Store ✓
Available in the Mac App Store ✓
Available in the Betamagic Store ✓
Available as In-app purchase in Download Buddy ✓
How to remove Net Radar data from your Mac

To remove all Net Radar data from your Mac, you'll need to delete the local Sandbox container folder:

  • Start Finder, choose Go > Go to folder from the menu and copy & paste this string:
    ~/Library/Containers/betamagic.Net-Radar
  • Choose Go
  • Move folder betamagic.Net-Radar to the Trash can.
  • Empty the Trash can.
How to remove Net Radar data from your iOS devices

To delete all Net Radar data from your iOS devices, you must delete the Net Radar app:

  • Perform a long press on the app icon until it starts wobbling.
  • Press the cross mark to delete the app.