Compare
LAN Sheriff vs WhyFi
LAN Sheriff maps devices on a world map; it does not analyze Wi-Fi performance.
LAN SheriffNothing leaves town unnoticed 🤠 Every server your devices talk to, live on a world map. Self-hosted, open source, zero config.
WhyFiSlow WiFi on Mac? Find out why. Fix it.Which to pick
Pick LAN Sheriff if you want…
- Live outbound traffic map
- Device discovery and mapping
- A free, open-source tool
- Integrations with Tailscale, Discord or Slack (on LAN Sheriff's list, not WhyFi's)
Pick WhyFi if you want…
- Real-time Wi-Fi diagnostics on macOS
- Integrations with macOS, ChatGPT or Claude (on WhyFi's list, not LAN Sheriff's)
Side by side
- What it is
- LAN Sheriff:LAN Sheriff is a self-hosted, open-source tool that visualizes every outbound connection from your devices on a live world map.
- WhyFi:WhyFi is a macOS menu-bar app that monitors Wi-Fi, router, ISP and DNS in real time and tells you how to fix issues.
- Best for
- LAN Sheriff:Live outbound traffic map
- WhyFi:Real-time Wi-Fi diagnostics on macOS
- Who it’s for
- LAN Sheriff:Home users, hobbyists, and small-team IT admins who want privacy-first network visibility.
- WhyFi:Mac users who need to diagnose slow or unreliable Wi-Fi connections.
- Pricing
- LAN Sheriff:Free
- WhyFi:Paid
- Open source
- LAN Sheriff:Yes, 105 GitHub stars
- WhyFi:—
- Works with
- LAN Sheriff:Tailscale, Discord, Slack, ntfy, webhook
- WhyFi:macOS, ChatGPT, Claude
LAN Sheriff features
- Watchtower egress map. Shows a live world map with lines to every external server, including country, org, app and traffic details.
- Deputy & Patrol modes. Runs without privileges on a single machine or with elevated access to monitor all devices on a network segment.
- Radio Chatter DNS feed. Streams every DNS lookup with domain, resolver and classification of trackers or malware.
- Precinct network map. Auto-generates a diagram of devices and their connections based on observed traffic.
- Wanted List suspicion engine. Ranks and explains suspicious connections using plain-language reasons.
- Dispatch peer sharing. Pairs multiple instances to aggregate observations without exposing raw traffic.
- Export & alerts. Exports CSV/JSON and can send alerts to webhook, ntfy, Discord or Slack.
- Multi-language UI. Interface available in 12 languages, including right-to-left scripts.
WhyFi features
- Live connection monitor. Shows signal strength, noise, latency, jitter and DNS lookup time continuously from the menu bar.
- WhyFi Radar. Scans the room four times per second to locate the strongest Wi-Fi spot with a 0-100 score.
- Speed test with bufferbloat detection. Runs download/upload tests via Cloudflare and reports latency under load.
- AI-ready diagnostic export. Generates a shareable report that can be pasted into ChatGPT or Claude for assistance.
- One-click DNS switching. Switches between Google and Cloudflare DNS without leaving System Settings.
- Channel scanner. Shows congested Wi-Fi channels and suggests better ones.
- Captive portal detection. Identifies hotel or airport Wi-Fi login pages and alerts you.
- Battery-friendly polling. Polls faster when visible and slows down or sleeps when the Mac sleeps.
LAN Sheriff vs WhyFi FAQ
Is LAN Sheriff or WhyFi free?+
LAN Sheriff is free. WhyFi is paid.
Is LAN Sheriff or WhyFi open source?+
LAN Sheriff is open source (291-Group/LAN-Sheriff on GitHub, AGPL-3.0 license). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for WhyFi.
Do LAN Sheriff and WhyFi integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: LAN Sheriff lists Tailscale, Discord, Slack, ntfy and 1 more; WhyFi lists macOS, ChatGPT and Claude.
On DevHunt
LAN Sheriff
32 upvotes · Launched on DevHunt on Aug 25, 2026
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.