Help with NetGate

Open NetGate and choose Set Up NetGate. Follow the macOS prompts to allow the helper and network extension. Traffic monitoring is free; controlling app connections requires an active license.

NetGate is built for macOS 13 and later. It is a Mac application; there is no Windows or iPhone version.

Click the NetGate icon in your Mac’s menu bar. The panel shows app usage and traffic control. Open Live Monitor with the waveform button when you want current download and upload rates.

You can view per-app traffic, usage totals and traffic history. A license adds connection control, allowing you to choose which apps can go online. Personal plans cover one Mac; lifetime family plans cover two or three.

Check whether traffic control is on and the app is allowed in the active profile. A profile may block new apps by default, and a traffic limit may have paused connections. If setup is incomplete, check the network extension permission in macOS. Use manual control to make a temporary exception.

Yes. Use the access switches beside the apps in the panel. Keep the browser allowed and block the sync app you want to pause. Changes are saved in your active profile, so you can reuse that combination later. Connection blocking requires a license and the macOS network extension permission.

Turn traffic control off in the panel. This also pauses profile automation. When you want network rules or schedules to take over again, open Profiles and Automation and choose Resume.

Priority is manual pause, schedule, saved Wi-Fi, connection type, then your chosen fallback. If schedules overlap, the first matching schedule wins; use the up and down buttons to change their order. Overnight intervals belong to the day they start. Outside enabled intervals, scheduled traffic control turns off.

macOS requires location permission to reveal Wi-Fi names. NetGate uses the name to recognize a network you choose to save; it does not request coordinates or scan neighboring networks. Recognition is optional. Without a readable name, use connection-type rules. Identical Wi-Fi names count as one saved network.

Yes. Look for Set NetGate Traffic Control, Apply NetGate Profile and Resume NetGate Automation in Shortcuts. Profile actions use a saved profile ID; deleting the profile makes an action using it unavailable. Normal license and permission checks still apply.

The NetGate dictionary supports listing and applying profiles, setting traffic control and resuming automation. For example: tell application "NetGate" to apply profile "Work". If profile names repeat, use the UUID returned by list profiles. Requests follow the normal license and permission checks.

Set a daily, weekly or monthly limit for your Mac or a saved Wi-Fi network. NetGate shows a warning at 90% and requests a traffic pause at the limit. Checks happen periodically, so some overshoot is possible. Turn traffic control off or pause automation when you need manual control.

NetGate counters are an estimate. The overall Mac limit includes local traffic; a saved-network limit excludes recognized local addresses and counts traffic tagged after network recognition was enabled. Older untagged history is not assigned to that network. VPNs, network changes and delayed reports can also affect comparisons.

Live Monitor observes traffic already passing through your Mac. Speed Test actively transfers data through Cloudflare to measure the connection’s capacity. It can use about 125 MB of payload, plus network overhead; on limited data, check live readings first. You can stop a running test.

App usage and optional destination history are stored on your Mac. Choose retention and cleanup settings in NetGate. Private Mode hides the figures on screen; recording destination names is a separate setting. License activation and optional connection checks contact external services, as explained in the privacy page.

Removing an app does not erase its recorded usage. NetGate keeps that history and marks the app as uninstalled. Hide uninstalled apps to simplify the list; their past usage still contributes to the totals.

Personal plans cover one Mac. Lifetime family licenses cover two Macs for $40 or three Macs for $50, with a single payment and no subscription. Traffic monitoring remains free.

A lifetime license has no scheduled expiration, but its activation still needs periodic contact with the license service. Keep the activation up to date. A lifetime license is not a promise of permanent offline activation.

Check the purchase record or the copy of the key you saved. Use that key when activating NetGate again, and keep it in a secure place. Do not publish it in screenshots or public issue reports.

Monitoring and connection control are separate capabilities. Check the license status in NetGate and whether macOS has allowed the network extension. If the panel reports an activation or rule error, follow the message shown there before retrying.