Connection check

Written by changthai11 on Sunday, October 12th, 2008

APP Shot

Connection check

The two main real-time monitors of NetWorx are the traffic graph and Speed Meter. But the excellent NetStat module gives details for every application connecting to the Internet—all with a good manual to help.

One of the constant subjects both inside the office and in mail from Database readers is network speed: How fast is your connection, of course, and how do you measure just how bad (occasionally “good”) it is.

Well here is a way you can get a very good handle on just how fast or slow your connection is. NetWorx is not only a pretty good traffic monitor, it’s pretty spiffy as well, and the Australians who have donated it to us as freeware deserve our thanks.

The program is a modest 780KB to download, and installs smoothly. “I am here” it announces from an icon in the system tray without getting in your face. NetWorx will start automatically with Windows, so remember to turn that off if you don’t like it.

To get the full benefit of this monitor, however, you should run it for a while - at least a few days and preferably longer. NetWorx gathers full information about your bandwidth.

It will show you this data in real time, but the main value is in accumulating statistics to show your actual net speeds, up and down, over a period of time. NetWorx will chart it for you in a variety of formats good for spreadsheets, databases or simply a good-looking text report.

It is fascinating to watch NetWorx, and you can open one or more of the modules, as the screen shot illustrates.

Geeks can also use the built-in ping and traceroute utilities to supplement the speed reports.

Whether you are merely curious or you must know the speed of your Internet connection, LAN or other network, NetWorx is your friend.

NetWorx is one of several free and commercial programs offered by the programmers, based in Adelaide, Australia, and who live virtually at http://www.softperfect.com.

Email: wandasloan@gmail.com

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