NetworkMonitor

Added in version 2.32.

class NetworkMonitor(*args, **kwargs)

GNetworkMonitor provides an easy-to-use cross-platform API for monitoring network connectivity. On Linux, the available implementations are based on the kernel’s netlink interface and on NetworkManager.

There is also an implementation for use inside Flatpak sandboxes.

Methods

class NetworkMonitor
can_reach(connectable: SocketConnectable, cancellable: Cancellable | None = None) → bool

Attempts to determine whether or not the host pointed to by connectable can be reached, without actually trying to connect to it.

This may return True even when NetworkMonitor:network-available is False, if, for example, monitor can determine that connectable refers to a host on a local network.

If monitor believes that an attempt to connect to connectable will succeed, it will return True. Otherwise, it will return False and set error to an appropriate error (such as HOST_UNREACHABLE).

Note that although this does not attempt to connect to connectable, it may still block for a brief period of time (eg, trying to do multicast DNS on the local network), so if you do not want to block, you should use can_reach_async().

Added in version 2.32.

Parameters:
can_reach_async(connectable: SocketConnectable, cancellable: Cancellable | None = None, callback: Callable[[...], None] | None = None, *user_data: Any) → None

Asynchronously attempts to determine whether or not the host pointed to by connectable can be reached, without actually trying to connect to it.

For more details, see can_reach().

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call can_reach_finish() to get the result of the operation.

Parameters:

  • connectable – a SocketConnectable

  • cancellable – a Cancellable, or None

  • callback – a AsyncReadyCallback to call when the request is satisfied

  • user_data – the data to pass to callback function

can_reach_finish(result: AsyncResult) → bool

Finishes an async network connectivity test. See can_reach_async().

Parameters:

result – a AsyncResult

get_connectivity() → NetworkConnectivity

Gets a more detailed networking state than get_network_available().

If NetworkMonitor:network-available is False, then the connectivity state will be LOCAL.

If NetworkMonitor:network-available is True, then the connectivity state will be FULL (if there is full Internet connectivity), LIMITED (if the host has a default route, but appears to be unable to actually reach the full Internet), or PORTAL (if the host is trapped behind a “captive portal” that requires some sort of login or acknowledgement before allowing full Internet access).

Note that in the case of LIMITED and PORTAL, it is possible that some sites are reachable but others are not. In this case, applications can attempt to connect to remote servers, but should gracefully fall back to their “offline” behavior if the connection attempt fails.

Added in version 2.44.

get_default() → NetworkMonitor

Gets the default NetworkMonitor for the system.

Added in version 2.32.

get_network_available() → bool

Checks if the network is available. “Available” here means that the system has a default route available for at least one of IPv4 or IPv6. It does not necessarily imply that the public Internet is reachable. See NetworkMonitor:network-available for more details.

Added in version 2.32.

get_network_metered() → bool

Checks if the network is metered. See NetworkMonitor:network-metered for more details.

Added in version 2.46.

Properties

class NetworkMonitor
props.connectivity: NetworkConnectivity

More detailed information about the host’s network connectivity. See get_connectivity() and NetworkConnectivity for more details.

Added in version 2.44.

props.network_available: bool

Whether the network is considered available. That is, whether the system has a default route for at least one of IPv4 or IPv6.

Real-world networks are of course much more complicated than this; the machine may be connected to a wifi hotspot that requires payment before allowing traffic through, or may be connected to a functioning router that has lost its own upstream connectivity. Some hosts might only be accessible when a VPN is active. Other hosts might only be accessible when the VPN is not active. Thus, it is best to use can_reach() or can_reach_async() to test for reachability on a host-by-host basis. (On the other hand, when the property is False, the application can reasonably expect that no remote hosts at all are reachable, and should indicate this to the user in its UI.)

See also NetworkMonitor::network-changed.

Added in version 2.32.

props.network_metered: bool

Whether the network is considered metered.

That is, whether the system has traffic flowing through the default connection that is subject to limitations set by service providers. For example, traffic might be billed by the amount of data transmitted, or there might be a quota on the amount of traffic per month. This is typical with tethered connections (3G and 4G) and in such situations, bandwidth intensive applications may wish to avoid network activity where possible if it will cost the user money or use up their limited quota. Anything more than a few hundreds of kilobytes of data usage per hour should be avoided without asking permission from the user.

If more information is required about specific devices then the system network management API should be used instead (for example, NetworkManager or ConnMan).

If this information is not available then no networks will be marked as metered.

See also NetworkMonitor:network-available.

Added in version 2.46.

Signals

class NetworkMonitor.signals
network_changed(network_available: bool) → None

Emitted when the network configuration changes.

Added in version 2.32.

Parameters:

network_available – the current value of NetworkMonitor:network-available

Virtual Methods

class NetworkMonitor
do_can_reach(connectable: SocketConnectable, cancellable: Cancellable | None = None) → bool

Attempts to determine whether or not the host pointed to by connectable can be reached, without actually trying to connect to it.

This may return True even when NetworkMonitor:network-available is False, if, for example, monitor can determine that connectable refers to a host on a local network.

If monitor believes that an attempt to connect to connectable will succeed, it will return True. Otherwise, it will return False and set error to an appropriate error (such as HOST_UNREACHABLE).

Note that although this does not attempt to connect to connectable, it may still block for a brief period of time (eg, trying to do multicast DNS on the local network), so if you do not want to block, you should use can_reach_async().

Added in version 2.32.

Parameters:
do_can_reach_async(connectable: SocketConnectable, cancellable: Cancellable | None = None, callback: Callable[[...], None] | None = None, *user_data: Any) → None

Asynchronously attempts to determine whether or not the host pointed to by connectable can be reached, without actually trying to connect to it.

For more details, see can_reach().

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call can_reach_finish() to get the result of the operation.

Parameters:

  • connectable – a SocketConnectable

  • cancellable – a Cancellable, or None

  • callback – a AsyncReadyCallback to call when the request is satisfied

  • user_data – the data to pass to callback function

do_can_reach_finish(result: AsyncResult) → bool

Finishes an async network connectivity test. See can_reach_async().

Parameters:

result – a AsyncResult

do_network_changed(network_available: bool) → None

the virtual function pointer for the GNetworkMonitor::network-changed signal.

Parameters:

network_available