FREE Software To Monitor Your Broadband Usage

If you notice a slowdown in your broadband speed, then this could be a red flag to indicate that something may be going that is consuming your bandwidth. It could be software you installed that is making constant communication to the internet or worse yet it could be a rogue process or service that has installed itself on your computer, as a malware infection.

The software I present today is called Net Guard; and what Net Guard does is give you the ability to monitor your internet connection and broadband usage, to determine what the bandwidth hogs are.

Cucusoft Net Guard includes powerful Bandwidth monitor and Bandwidth meter to help you find who is wasting your bandwidth. As you know, sometime, you didn’t visit internet, but there are still some unknown software using your Broadband in your computer. Normally, you have no idea about them, don’t know who they are, how to monitor them, how to kill the useless program which is biting your bandwidth. Those unknown programs sometime even affect your normal Internet surfing speed a lot and you have to pay the Broadband Bill for them. Those unknown software sometime will make your Broadband Bill exceed its limit, you have to pay the extra fees.

Now, Cucusoft Net Guard can help you fix these problems. It can easily to monitor your broadband status, to find who are using your broadband, how much bandwidth they are using, and more details statistics available, you can make decision by yourself after checking the simple report, keep it or kill it. That means you can see and control who can use your Broadband, who cannot.

During the install of Net Guard you will reach a point where you will have to input an email address and a registration number will be sent to you.  Also, following the install of Net Guard you will find a handy floating bar that allows you to monitor (in real time) your upload and download consumption speeds. This toolbar can be turned “off”.  Overall, Net Guard is a nice utility (especially for FREE) and could be quite helpful in troubleshooting internet connectivity issues and speed; especially if you are tied to a bandwidth limit each month.

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[GEEK SQUEAKS'] – Optimize Your Internet Connection, System Info Utility, Windows 8 Revealed, and Angry Birds

SG TCP Optimizer
Provides an intuitive interface for tuning
and optimizing your Internet connection.

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LookInMyPC: Get Complete Windows System Information

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Windows 8 User Interface Revealed by Microsoft

MrinTech
Buy & Download Angry Birds + Rio for Windows XP, Vista & 7!

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Speed Up Your Internet Connection: 8 DIY Tips

This is a guest post by Kip Keilty, who is currently writing for a NEW Australian broadband comparison website called Broadband Compare, where users can compare broadband plans and find helpful user guides.

If you’ve kept up with the news, you understand that the United States has average Internet connection speeds that are far below average for the civilized world. Unless you live in California near Berkley or in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, your Internet connection is likely to be less than 30 Mbps. Many Americans have connections of 2 Mbps or less, causing even more of an issue for mobile and online workers. The truth is that Internet users are limited to the type of services available and by their cost, so everyone should be interested in making the most out of what they have. Here you will learn to speed up your Internet connection: 8 DIY tips can make you more accessible and productive by making your browsing and file downloading go faster than ever.

1. Check for alternative services: Shop around a little bit to see if you can get a faster Internet connection from a different ISP. If you have DSL, see what the cable outfit in town has to offer, etc.
2. Use Ethernet: Another way to get more from your Internet connection is to connect your computer using an Ethernet cable, rather than using wireless. Remember: wireless networks are good for convenience, but are not even close to being as fast as a 100 Mbps Ethernet connection. The speed difference may not be noticeable for occasional browsing, but if you are trying to push through a lot of work and files, you will be better off with the wired connection.
3. Dump Internet Explorer: Internet users should beware of Microsoft Internet Explorer. It comes with Windows, but it is notoriously slow because of the way it sucks up resources on your system. For a faster browsing experience, go to the Apple Web site to get its award winning Safari browser or try Google’s Chrome: both deliver impressive speed gains over Microsoft.
4. Try Opera: If you really want to optimize your Internet experience, download the Opera Web browser which is widely recognized as the fastest around. It even has a turbo mode that uses get Opera and turn on Turbo mode (it’s very fast). Opera turbo will use its servers to fetch Web pages for you, compress them, and then send it down the pipe to your Opera browser. This technology gives even users with dialup connections impressive speed gains.
5. Get a download manager: Downloads suck up bandwidth more than ordinary Web use, so try to avoid downloading files in the background while you work. A plethora of download managers are out there that allow you to schedule downloads, stop and start downloads, and even accelerate downloads.
6. Spyware: Check for spyware and other applications that might be hogging system resources by running in the background. Closing your other programs is an easy way to speed up your Internet connection, but spyware might require a specially designed software utility to eradicate.
7. Do a clear out: Remove the bells and whistles from your browsers. If you keep the same Web browser, get some of those add ons, search bars, social media bars, and other special addons and plugins you’ve installed over the years. These make your browser work harder and clog up your Internet connection by using bandwidth in the background. Some of them may even be spyware.
8. Secure your network: Put a password on your router’s admin page and enable security on your wireless protocols with a security key that’s hard to guess. Your Internet connection may be slow because your neighbors are downloading files from your wireless router. Get the freeloaders off your network and you’ll be surprised at how fast you surf.

Now you have some good ideas for how to speed up your Internet connection: 8 DIY tips that show how just a few changes to your computer and network can make a big difference in the way you use the Internet.

This is a guest post from the team at BroadbandCompare.com.au, a broadband comparison website offering ADSL, cable and mobile plans.

post to jaanix

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Geek Squeaks’ of the Week (#31)

If you are someone that is into computers, technology, and software; then, you need to follow the blogs I have listed below. Listed is a compilation of articles (from the past 7 days) from the blogs that are on the What’s On My PC… blogroll. The authors of these articles (and blogs) go to to great lengths to draft and publish these articles, without compensation, on a frequent basis.

Geek Squeaks’

Plato On-Line
WHY Do We Have Sex?

Bill Mullins’ Weblog – Tech Thoughts
Secure Cam Motion Detection Surveillance Software – Free

Snakebytez
Google Video Increases upload limit to 16GB

Tux in the Midwest
Drupal Notes Series

TTC Shelbyville
Scan Your Computer With Avira Antivir Rescue System

Piyada’s World
A simple tool to disable write access on your USB thumb drive

Technize-Be Techdated
Google Redirect Virus Removal

Mrintech
Pingtest: Check the Quality of your Broadband Internet

thePC Security
An Ultimate Guide to Software Update Notifiers

Computer Too Slow
Types of Internet Connections

Lifehacker DefaultBrowser
Sets a Portable Browser to System Default

Tech-for Everyone
Gmail Quick Tip — Keyboard Shortcuts

Free PC Security
Layered Security Part 2

AKS-Feel The Change
Check Whether your Email Account Phished or Not

Carol’s Vault
Choose Between a PS3 or Xbox 360 as a present

411-Spyware.com
How to Remove TrustCop

Teck~Line Lounge
Warning Fake Twitter Email Going Around

SpywareBiz Blog
Are online threats bugging you?

Evilfantasy’s Blog
Microsoft Security Essentials Final

Right On Technology
Fitbit Wireless Pedometer

Rarst.net
CrossLoop – remote access and support software

Freeware Pharmacy
GSmartControl

Technogran’s Tittle Tattle
The ribbon and why others are applying it.

post to jaanix

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Test Your Internet Connection Speed

If you are connected to the internet then you have purchased a plan through an internet service provider. Most residential plans are dial-up, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), Cable or Satellite. Many people when purchasing a plan through an internet service provider often do not realize or understand that they are purchasing bandwidth (the transmission speed or throughput of your connection to the Internet). Most providers offer faster download (downstream) speeds than upload (upstream) speeds. So, how do you know what your throughput is?

There are many sites and options available on the internet to test or troubleshoot your throughput or speed. The site that I use on a regular basis is  “Speakeasy – Speed Test”. Simply visit the site, click on a server, and sit back while the test runs.

The “Download” test will run first, followed by the “Upload” test. The “Download” test measures  how fast your connection delivers content to your computer or local area network AND the “Upload” test measures how fast content is delivered from your computer or local area network to others on the Internet. If you are a business or someone that is a power broadband subscriber, the download and upload speeds should be very close to being the same. These types of tests can be used to troubleshoot your internet connection and to determine if you are getting what you are paying for.  The site also posts your current IP Address.

For your convenience, I have posted a “Speakeasy – Speed Test” banner on the sidebar of the blog that will allow you to test your internet connectivity speed anytime you are visiting.

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FREE Utility to Monitor Network Bandwidth and Usage

NetWorx is another one of those portable apps that should be in everyone’s troubleshooting toolbox. This little gem can help you identify possible sources of network related issues. NetWorx is highly customizable and includes network tools such as ping, trace route and netstat. It can be setup to alert you when your network connections have diminished, or when there is an unusually heavy flow of data that is characteristic of Trojan horses or other malicious activity. It can help you evaluate your bandwidth conditions to ensure you are getting what you are paying for. Audible and visual alerts are available to alert you of abnormal bandwidth conditons. As indicated, Networx is available as a portable app that can be carried with you on your portable media (e.g. flash drive).

Features:

Clear graphic and/or numeric display.

Usage reports with export to a variety of file formats, including Excel, MS Word and HTML.

Permits close supervision of uploads and downloads.

Works with dial-up, ISDN, cable modems, ADSL, Ethernet cards, and more.

Includes network information & testing tools with advanced netstat that displays applications using your Internet connection.

Scalable to your own modem download capabilities.

Option to notify user or disconnect from the Internet automatically when network activity exceeds a certain level.

Speed meter to accurately time downloads and report the average transfer rates.

Dial-up session journal with detailed information about every session.

Absolutely free and does not contain any adware/spyware/malware.

Troubleshooting examples:

Find out and monitor how fast your Internet connection is.

Find out and monitor how much Internet traffic you consume.

Verify whether your ISP charges your Internet usage fairly.

Detect a suspicious network activity on your computer.

Perform simple network tests such as ping and trace route.

Be notified about excessive Internet usage.

[ Get NetWorx Here ]

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