Network Conditioning

Simulate real-world network conditions during test execution. Test how your app behaves on slow connections, high latency, or complete network loss — without changing your test code.

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Network Profiles

Profile	Latency	Download	Upload	Use Case
Normal	0ms	Unlimited	Unlimited	Default — no throttling
4G	20ms	15 Mbps	7.5 Mbps	Standard mobile performance
3G	100ms	2 Mbps	1 Mbps	Slow mobile connections
Edge	400ms	250 Kbps	150 Kbps	Poor coverage / rural areas
Offline	—	0	0	Airplane mode testing

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How It Works

Network conditioning operates at two levels:

Platform-Level Controls

Android — Uses ADB to toggle network radios:

# Offline: disable both data and wifi
adb -s <udid> shell svc data disable
adb -s <udid> shell svc wifi disable

# Normal: re-enable
adb -s <udid> shell svc data enable
adb -s <udid> shell svc wifi enable

iOS Simulator — Uses simctl network commands:

# Apply 3G profile
xcrun simctl network <udid> status 3g

# Apply Edge profile
xcrun simctl network <udid> status edge

# Reset to normal
xcrun simctl network <udid> status none

info

iOS real devices do not support programmatic network conditioning. For real device testing, use the proxy-level latency injection (applied automatically).

Proxy-Level Latency Injection

For cross-platform consistency, Xenon also injects latency at the command proxy level. This adds the profile's latencyMs delay to every Appium command, simulating the round-trip overhead of a slow network. This works for all platforms and device types.

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Usage

Network conditioning is applied per-session through the Dashboard or API:

Via Dashboard

1. Open a live session in the Dashboard
2. Select the desired network profile from the control panel
3. The profile applies immediately and resets when the session ends

Via Execute Script API

// Apply 3G conditions to the current session
await driver.executeScript('xenon: setNetworkProfile', [{ profile: '3G' }]);

// Reset to normal
await driver.executeScript('xenon: setNetworkProfile', [{ profile: 'Normal' }]);

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Session Lifecycle

• Profiles are scoped to individual sessions — they don't affect other concurrent sessions
• When a session ends (normally or via timeout), network conditions are automatically reset to Normal
• Switching profiles mid-session is instant