Measuring Home Networks with HomeNet Profiler

This paper designs HomeNet Profiler, a software that runs on any computer connected inside a home network, to collect a wide range of measurements about home networks including the set of devices, the set of services (with UPnP and Zeroconf), and the characteristics of the WiFi environment. To attract a larger number of users, HomeNet Profiler runs one-shot measurements upon user demand. We validate this design choice against periodic measurements taken from six home networks. Data collected from these six homes and with HomeNet Profiler in more than 1,600 homes in France shed light on the diversity of devices that connect to home networks and of the WiFi neighborhood across home networks.