Welcome
Net Monitor

Welcome to Net Monitor - the easiest way to find out what is really happening while you are on the Internet. The Internet may be the best place to find answers, but after you are connected, there are also a lot of questions:

•	•	•	Am I still connected?

•	•	•	Just how fast is my connection (Really!)?

•	•	•	Is that download really downloading?

•	•	•	Why did it say web site not found (I know it's there)?

•	•	•	What is my Truespeed?

•	•	•	What is my Performance measurement

The Net Monitor gives you the answers to these and many other questions, making it easy to keep track of just what is happening while you are online.

If you want to know more about:

•	•	•	The information displayed, jump to the Monitor display page.

•	•	•	Ways to customize how the monitor operates, jump to the Options page.

Check out what you can do!


Monitor Display
Net Monitor Display

The Net Monitor makes it easy to see what is happening while you're on the Internet. The display has four sections and six buttons (click on jumps for specific information).

Display Sections

•	•	•	The Internet Info - what's happening right now

•	•	•	The Connection -  Whats your Truespeed and my Connect Speed

•	•	•	The Website Statistics - information about the web site you are visiting and your own personal IP information

Right Click for the NetMonitor Menu

•	•	•	Options - customize the Net Monitor

•	•	•	Show the TrueSpeed Report

•	•	•	About NetMonitor and what version you have

•	•	•	Help - this screen (figured that one out for yourself, didn't you?)

•	•	•	Exit - close Net Monitor (not minimize)

•	•	•	Modem Wizard - launches Modem Wizard

•	•	•	Connection Manager -  connect to the Internet using Connection Manager

Other

•	•	•	Minimize button - at the upper right is a minimize button (Underscore graphic). This will return Net Monitor to the system tray.

•	•	•	Close button - at the upper right is a close button (X graphic). This will close the program and remove it from the system tray.

•	•	•	Question button - click on the question mark to start help.

•	•	•	Little right arrows - Sizeable Windows - notice the little gray right arrows for each section of NetMonitor,  Internet Info, Connection and WebSite Statistics, by clicking on each arrow you can scale that section to be open or closed, which allows NetMonitor to only display the section that you want open. Now you can NetMonitor displayed as large or as small as you would like.

•	•	The monitor can be moved anywhere on the screen and if you get it close to any edge of the screen, it will "snap" to that edge.


Monitor Options

Just because software is easy to use, doesn't mean it isn't powerful. The options screen has three tabs that allow you to control the appearance and operation of Net Monitor:

•	•	•	General -

•	•	•	Proxy Settings -

•	•	•	About - Information about what version you are using


Options - General

The General / Connection options allow you to turn the following on or off (if a checkbox is empty, the option is off).

General Options

Load Net Monitor at Startup - Set this checkbox to have Net Monitor launched whenever your computer is started. The Net Monitor icon will be loaded in the system tray. Whether or not the monitor window will be displayed depends on the next control:

Keep on top - If checked, Net Monitor will remain on top of all other windows.

Start Net Monitor Minimized - If you have chosen to load Net Monitor at startup, you can specify here whether the monitor will be displayed on the screen (clear the checkbox) or just loaded to the system tray (set the checkbox).

Stay Connected - Ever have troubles with your Internet Service Provider disconnecting you from the Internet because you didn't do anything for the last two minutes? Set this checkbox and Net Monitor will automatically "ping" (access) one of a set of web sites (no actual connection is made) so you won't be disconnected.

ToolTip Display

You have three choices of information that will display when you roll your mouse cursor over the NetMonitor icon in the system tray. Only one of the three can display at any time but can be changed on the fly.

Show Sent and Received Bytes - displays bytes send and received

Show Modem's connection Speed - for modem dial up connections this displays the modems connection speed to your ISP. This will display nothing for LAN, T1, DSL, and Cable Connections

Show User IP address - Displays your IP address

Options – Proxy Settings

If you surf with a proxy server, use this window to change your let Net Monitor know your proxy settings.

Options – Time Sync

NetMonitor can synchronize your PC's system clock to the Global Atomic Clock so that the date and time stamps on your data files are always correct!  Tell NetMonitor if you want to synchronize every time it starts.  Also select your time server here.

Options – TrueSpeed

Designate your own file and server to test your TrueSpeed (we recommend that you leave the default unless you are an experienced user).


Connection Statistics
Internet Info & Connection

This section shows you what is happening while you are connected to the Internet. The information displayed is explained below:

kBytes sent / received

This display shows the total number of bytes sent to, and received from, the Internet during the current session. The count is shown in kBytes (kilo bytes), which means 1024 characters.

Send / Receive Graph

This shows the same bytes sent/received information in graphic form. The send/receive lights on the right flash when data is being transferred. The graph moves at about one tick per 1/2 second and shows just over 30 seconds of transfer measurements.

Current Transfer Rate

This current transfer rate is basically how much data is being sent and received per second. This does not reflect your actual connection speed, since you may not need to send as much information as your connection can handle.

The red/yellow/green lights let you know just how much of your connection's potential you are using. For example, say your 56k modem is connected at 33.6. While you are transferring bytes at a 33k rate, the green lights will be lit. If you are only transferring bytes at 5k per second (because you're waiting for responses, done downloading a page, etc.), only the red lights will be on.

True Speed

Want to know the exact speed of your Internet connection? This is the place to look. Click on the True Speed button and Net Monitor will run a quick test and tell you the best actual connection speed you currently have. Based on actual (and controlled) byte transfers, this is more accurate than whatever your modem says or your ISP promises.

IMPORTANT - for the most accurate results do not use the Internet (download a file, load a new page, etc.) during the True Speed test.

Connect Speed

This is the speed at which your initial connection was made. There are a few restrictions:

•	•	•	This is for modems only. Network, cable and satellite connections will show "N/A".

•	•	•	This requires Winsock v.2.0 or later. If you are running an earlier version, you will see "N/A". You can upgrade to Winsock v.2.0 at Microsoft's web site.


WebSite Statistics

This section displays information about the web page your are currently visiting:

URL - Web Site Address

This is the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the web site you are actually viewing. Web sites often secretly and automatically jump you to new locations. That secret will be revealed here.

Click on the URL button to find out the name of the company and person that registered the domain name!

IP Address

The Internet does not use URLs directly to communicate with web sites. Each URL actually points to an IP (Internet Protocol) Address. For example, http://www.internic.net (where URLs are assigned) is really 198.41.0.6.

# of hops

When you access a web page, you are really going through a number of Internet gateways along the way. Each time you move from one gateway to another, it is called a "hop." A lot of hops can often mean a slower response that is not related to the speed of your connection or the web site. The number of hops is also an indication of how far you are from the web site.

Click on the button to see an actual Tracer Route (showing the servers you went through) to get to the remote site!

User IP

Each time you connect to the Internet, you are assigned an IP Address. Most users get a randomly assigned IP Address each time they call in, though network and cable connections usually permanently assign an IP Address to customers.

Web sites use your IP Address to communicate with you (download web pages, etc.) and that IP Address is displayed here.

Skins

NetMonitor supports “skins” which allow you to modify its appearance.  Use one of the skins that’s included, or create your own!