NetSpeedo

NetSpeedo is for those of you, who are you using ADSL routers, that would like easy access to various information about your current internet connection, without having to type a single command into a telnet application. NetSpeedo can also maintain your internet connection history, so that you can easily keep track of when and how much you use your internet connection, plus it also provides some simple ways to restart your router, whether that be automatically after you have been connected to the internet for a number of hours or have downloaded or uploaded a number of megabytes, or manually as and when you choose!

Anyway, you should find that NetSpeedo looks something like the screenshots below...

As you can see, there are quite a few different settings to choose from when using NetSpeedo, but it should be fairly straight forward to use, once you have had a quick look at them, and read the more detailed explanations given below. However, what is not visible in the screenshot (on the left) above, are the commands that are available on the menu, and that the same commands are also available on the right-click menu associated with the icon in the system tray, which is the part of the screen near your PC's clock, should the appropriate option have been enabled. Hence, the commands are described in detail below:

• File - Connect (Ctrl+O) - This connects NetSpeedo to the specified ADSL router.

• File - Disconnect (Ctrl+D) - This disconnects NetSpeedo from the specified ADSL router.

• File - Exit (Ctrl+X) - This performs the disconnect command, when necessary, and then exits NetSpeedo.

• Edit - Copy All (Ctrl+C) - This copies all of the currently displayed router information to the clipboard.

• Tools - Reset Activity (Ctrl+R) - This resets the minimum and maximum, downstream and upstream, speeds.

• Tools - Restart Router (Ctrl+E) - This restarts the ADSL router. (NetSpeedo automatically reconnects a minute later)

• Tools - Settings... (Ctrl+S) - This displays the current NetSpeedo settings.

• Tools - Update Now (Ctrl+U) - This manually updates the ADSL router information on the main screen.

• Help - About (Ctrl+A) - This displays the about information for NetSpeedo.

In order to use NetSpeedo, it is first necessary to provide some information about your ADSL router, so that NetSpeedo is able to connect to it. The information required, as well as the other settings available in NetSpeedo, are described in detail below:

• Router Information - This includes: the model, which is the manufacturer and model number of your ADSL router, and must be selected from the list of those supported; the address, which is the local TCP/IP address of your ADSL router, and can be either an IP address or a host name, optionally followed by a colon and then a port number, should the Telnet service be provided on a non-standard port number; the username, which is the username used to logon to the ADSL router; and the password, which is the password used to logon to the ADSL router. The username and/or password may be optional.

• NetSpeedo Configuration - This includes the 'Update Connection Information Every X Second(s)' setting, where X is the number of seconds, and must be between 1 and 60 seconds inclusive, which is how often NetSpeedo requests the latest connection information from your ADSL router. The default setting updates the connection information every 10 seconds.

• NetSpeedo Options - This includes: the 'Automatically Load On Windows Start-Up' setting, which automatically loads NetSpeedo on Windows start-up; the 'Maintain Internet Connection History' setting, which maintains a history of all of the relevant information for every internet connection established; the 'NetSpeedo Is Always On Top' setting, which ensures that NetSpeedo is always on top of any normal Windows; the 'Restart Router After X Hour(s) Online' setting, where X is the number of hours online, and must be between 1 and 600 inclusive, with a default of 72, which automatically restarts your ADSL router once you have been online for the specified amount of time; the 'Restart Router After X Megabyte(s)' setting, where X is the number of megabytes, and must be between 100 and 10,000 inclusive, with a default of 1,000, which automatically restarts your ADSL router once you have downloaded or uploaded the specified number of megabytes of data; the 'Show NetSpeedo Icon In System Tray' setting, which shows the NetSpeedo icon in the system tray, rather than the taskbar; and the 'Show Speeds In Kilobits Per Second (Kbps)' setting, which shows the average, current, maximum and minimum speeds for downstream and upsteam in kilobits per second, rather than kilobytes per second.

If for some reason you decide that you no longer want to use this program, please make sure that the 'Automatically Load On Windows Start-Up' option is not selected, before you delete the program from your PC, to avoid any error messages.

Once the NetSpeedo settings have been specified and accepted, the current router information will be displayed on the main screen. The current router information available, which is separated into four main categories that are described in detail below, can be copied to the clipboard, individual router fields at a time, simply by left-clicking on the appropriate router field:

• System - This includes the 'Uptime', which is the uptime of the ADSL router; i.e. how long it has been powered on.

• Connection - This includes: the 'Status', which is the connection state of the ADSL router to the internet; the 'Address', which is the internet TCP/IP address provided by your ISP; and the 'Duration', which is the internet connection uptime.

• Utilisation - This includes both the 'Network' and the 'Processor' utilisation of the ADSL router, as a percentage.

• Activity - This includes the 'Connection Rate', the 'Data Transferred', the 'Average Speed', the 'Current Speed', the 'Minimum Speed', and the 'Maximum Speed', all of which relate to your ADSL connection, i.e. the connection between your ADSL router and your ADSL internet service provider, and are shown for both the 'Downstream' and the 'Upstream' directions. The 'Duration', which for most ADSL routers is the same as the 'Duration' in the 'Connection' category, indicates the time period that has elapsed since all of the fields in the 'Activity' category were reset.

NetSpeedo currently only supports a limited number of ADSL routers, one of which can be seen in the screenshot shown (on the right) above. However, I am keen to add support for other ADSL routers, so if you would like me to add support for your ADSL router, and you are willing to assist me, then please feel free to contact me using the form provided in the contact section.