Limited availability
Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.
The Network Information API provides information about the system's connection in terms of general connection type (e.g., 'wifi, 'cellular', etc.). This can be used to select high definition content or low definition content based on the user's connection.
The interface consists of a single NetworkInformation
object, an instance of which is returned by the Navigator.connection
property or the WorkerNavigator.connection
property.
NetworkInformation
Provides information about the connection a device is using to communicate with the network and provides a means for scripts to be notified if the connection type changes. The NetworkInformation
interface cannot be instantiated. It is instead accessed through the Navigator
interface or the WorkerNavigator
interface.
Navigator.connection
Read only
Returns a NetworkInformation
object containing information about the network connection of a device.
WorkerNavigator.connection
Read only
Provides a NetworkInformation
object containing information about the network connection of a device.
This example watches for changes to the user's connection.
let type = navigator.connection.effectiveType;
function updateConnectionStatus() {
console.log(
`Connection type changed from ${type} to ${navigator.connection.effectiveType}`,
);
type = navigator.connection.effectiveType;
}
navigator.connection.addEventListener("change", updateConnectionStatus);
Preload large resources
The connection object is useful for deciding whether to preload resources that take large amounts of bandwidth or memory. This example would be called soon after page load to check for a connection type where preloading a video may not be desirable. If a cellular connection is found, then the preloadVideo
flag is set to false
. For simplicity and clarity, this example only tests for one connection type. A real-world use case would likely use a switch statement or some other method to check all of the possible values of NetworkInformation.type
. Regardless of the type
value you can get an estimate of connection speed through the NetworkInformation.effectiveType
property.
let preloadVideo = true;
const connection = navigator.connection;
if (connection) {
if (connection.effectiveType === "slow-2g") {
preloadVideo = false;
}
}
Specifications Browser compatibility See also
RetroSearch is an open source project built by @garambo | Open a GitHub Issue
Search and Browse the WWW like it's 1997 | Search results from DuckDuckGo
HTML:
3.2
| Encoding:
UTF-8
| Version:
0.7.4