Network Connections Card (interactive force-directed graph) for Home Assistant plus custom sensor command line netstat

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Network Connections Card for Home Assistant

Introduction

Monitoring network activity of a host (or maybe a router that outputs the same data) provides valuable insights into device connectivity, active connections, and traffic flow. The ha_network-connections-card is a custom Lovelace card for Home Assistant that displays real-time network connection data in a structured format.

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Yes this is my network…

Why Use a Network Connections Card?

Tracking network connections helps users identify active devices, detect unusual traffic, and monitor bandwidth usage. This card provides:

  • Real-time visualization of network connections
  • Tracking of active and historical connections
  • Filtering by source, destination, and port

Warning

This card was built and tested on a Fedora Linux host. The behavior of network monitoring tools may vary on different operating systems. Users should verify their configurations and adapt the implementation accordingly.

Features of ha_network-connections-card

This custom card provides:

  • Dynamic visualization of network connections
  • Integration with Home Assistant’s monitoring sensors
  • Support for filtering by IP address and port
  • Customizable update intervals
  • Flexible UI configuration
  • Graphical representation using an interactive force-directed graph

Special Graphical Interface

The network connections card represents network activity using an interactive force-directed graph. This visualization style allows:

  • Dynamic representation of active network connections
  • Nodes representing devices and edges showing active connections
  • Live updates as new connections are established or closed
  • Clear distinction between internal and external connections

Unlike static tables or lists, this graphical approach makes it easier to identify network traffic patterns and outliers at a glance. The interactive nature enables users to hover over nodes and connections to view detailed information about network activity.

For a table view (auto loaded on the same sensor) see: Netstat Overview Card for Home Assistant plus custom sensor command line netstat

How to Install

To set up this custom card in Home Assistant:

ha_network-connections-card GitHub repository

  1. Download the Card Clone or download the repository from GitHub:
git clone https://github.com/RoyOltmans/ha_network-connections-card

  1. Add the Card to Home Assistant Copy the ha_network-connections-card folder into the www/community/ directory within your Home Assistant configuration.

  2. Include the Resource in Lovelace Add the following to ui-lovelace.yaml:

resources:
  - url: /local/community/ha_network-connections-card/ha_network-connections-card.js
    type: module
  1. Sensor Configuration To provide data for the card, set up a sensor that captures network connections. Here’s an example using Home Assistant’s command_line sensor:

Here’s the expected format and sensor.network_connections (Viewable in Developer Tools → States):

command_line:
  - sensor:
        name: Network Connections
        command: "netstat -ntu | awk '{if (NR>2) print $4, $5}' | awk -F'[: ]+' '{print $(NF-3), $(NF-2), $(NF-1), $(NF)}' | grep -E '^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+ [0-9]+ [0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+ [0-9]+$' | jq -c -R '[inputs | capture(\"(?<source>[0-9.]+) (?<sport>[0-9]+) (?<target>[0-9.]+) (?<port>[0-9]+)\") | {source, sport: ( .sport | tonumber ), target, port: ( .port | tonumber )}] | {connections: .}'"
        value_template: "{{ value_json.connections | length }}"
        json_attributes:
            - connections
        scan_interval: 60
  1. Card Configuration To add the card to your dashboard, place this in an single card panel and use the following Lovelace configuration:
type: custom:network-connections-card
entity: sensor.my_network_connections

Considerations

This card requires a properly configured network monitoring sensor. Users should confirm their operating system compatibility and ensure the necessary tools (such as netstat) are installed and functional.

For more information or contributions, visit the project repository: ha_network-connections-card.

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