netmetertest

The Download	This Issues Review	The Web Site
	NetMeter by ReadError
Just about everyone who goes online has an upload/download ratio that they must follow as part of the terms of their contract with their internet provider. Of course, if you proceed to go above and beyond these limitations, you're going to be suffering from additional charges on your bill. If you're the type individual who listen to internet radio and/or downloads just about everything in sight (I admit to nothing!!), NetMeter is just the right tool to assist you in keeping track of that ratio. It's a nice, neat program with a great little interface that's easy to setup and gives more than enough information to keep you up to date. Here, take a peek: Platform and Requirements......... Netmeter runs on the full compliment of Windows products from 95 to XP with extensive testing done on 2000 and XP, according to the web site The Website... The web site for Netmeter is a no frills, short and simple design giving you basic information on the requirements for the program, it's download link, three screenshot links, and update information along with a mirror site link and paypal donate link. Short and sweet, just the way I like them! *Help Files.... There is basically nothing as far as documentation for this program however, considering that it's an information based program, there might not be too much needed in the way of help files. The information is quite self explanatory as you will soon see. The author states that there is no online or tech support at the moment either. There is a 'Readme.txt' file installed in the directory with basic info on the program including it's history, requirements and subject links. Download, Installation and Uninstall...* The 608k self install .exe file is downloaded via the site's link. There is also a link for the previous version. Being such a small size, the download was immediate on my DSL service. Netmeter uses the standard installation engine to get itself on your hard drive including the intro, EULA, and so on. The installed directory holds about 400k with the remaining files going into Windows itself. The uninstall is quick and easy using the 'Add/Remove' programs from your control panel. The directory itself must be removed manually if you're into keeping the 'house' clean. *Interface and Features.....* This freeware jewel has a graphical chart as it's main window, which can be placed upon the desktop where ever you choose. It's small size gives it the ability to sit there without being over displayed, especially when you use the adjustable transparency display available from the program within XP or 2000. Here's a pic of my copy running on my desktop with no transparency, and another one with: The multicolored graphs give you the current upload and download speeds in kilobytes per second (KB/s) as well as the peak speed for the current session located along the border to the left. The colors, fonts and display are all configurable from the options area which is selected by right clicking on the small icon which sits on your taskbar. Here's pics of all the tabbed windows in the options area to give you a really good idea on just what can be set and changed. This first window give you most of the basic settings for NetMeter. The 'Network Interface' area lets you choose which particular online access route your want to monitor such as your dialup or your ethernet cards. As you can see, I have it set to 'all interfaces'. The windows properties on the left give you the standard windows settings and the XP/2000 transparency is set on the right along with 'click-through' and mouse fading effects. This window is for making adjustments to the graph display. Display units can be in Kilobits or Kilobytes and the vertical grid lines can be adjusted from 10 units up to 60 units, or not displayed at all. This window is where adjustments are made to the display interface itself taking into consideration your fonts and colors. The dropdown list box for 'Colors' contains a nice selection of different areas of the program giving the user the flexibility necessary to give it a personal look. This window is for adjusting the settings necessary to keep you informed of your ongoing upload/download usage compared to what your internet provider gives you for a limitation. There's a place for you to input your starting date for both month and week. The traffic volume alert lets you set your announcements for when you are getting close and when you are going over your limit. OK, so it can look pretty, but the true value in NetMeter is the information that it displays. Lets start at the toolbar area where mousing over the icon will give you your upload and download speeds instantly while the flashing up and down arrows let you know that there's action. Right click, and there's the menu where everything is accessed including the options area. Up to the 'totals' selection gives you the information window which is just full of facts. These four tabs access different types of information and reports on your usage. The first tab gives a complete rundown of total usage based on your settings made in the options area. This window alone is rather impressive! Notice that there is information giving you the totals for many different time settings including transfers for today, the week, since a specific date (which is resettable), the month and total amount transferred. The last window gives your the volume limit based on the settings you made in the options area. (Yeah I know! I'm over my limit! But there's SO much freeware out there!!) This window is for projected reports of your online activity broken down into today, this weeks and this months report. Though it is not noticeable on my pic, this window runs 'on the fly' showing updated values as the data is transferred back and forth. The Daily, Weekly and Monthly report tabs show the total data transferred for that particular period in time. Pictured here is the Daily window with the totals for uploading, downloading and the combination of the two. Each report can be exported as a .csv file for hard copy if needed. *Problems....* Though this is a beta copy, I've found none with this program. It seems to work flawlessly. Of course, a help file is always a welcomed addition to any program, but that seems to be in the works for now. If your not into running beta programming, download the older version. *Conclusion....* This is one great information utility which should be on every computer that connects to the internet. The data recorded and displayed is vital to anyone who does major downloading within a limitation. It's small size and configurable display make it non-intrusive yet substantially necessary. Download a copy and give it a try and see if you don't agree. Cheers! Buzzy :)