Why should I monitor my bandwidth I hear you say and exactly what is bandwidth monitoring anyway? Ok. I shall explain why we should keep an eye on our bandwidth along with what information we are looking for whilst monitoring. You see a bandwidth monitor can give you the figures, the transfer data rate and many more details such as which programs on your computer are connecting to the internet. Actually only Bandwidth Vista does show you which country you are connected to but the idea of monitoring your bandwidth remains.

Take a look at your bandwidth monitor software program and then connect to your favourite download website. Now take a look at the top speed between you and the remote computer. Keep all other connections closed whilst doing this. The top speed of data transfers, both upload and download makes up your complete bandwidth usage on this transaction. This is an accurate way of testing your bandwidth to a specific location in the world. For instance if you know which country you are connected to then you can quickly work out the speed between your computer and another computer within certain boundaries. Another aspect of bandwidth monitoring is to watch for cost! Yes a lot of users are paying per MB for bandwidth, in fact we all are in a way. Our ISP does have a cap on how much bandwidth can be used. We rarely encounter problems however if the ISP is large enough to flex the line, allowing all users to use as much as they like - to a point anyway. There are many people paying a monthly bandwidth cost, whether it is for their internet connection or for their web hosting, bandwidth is a big issue. The general home user can still make use of a good bandwidth monitor however. For very simple tasks like selecting fastest download servers.

The home computer user should remember that there are also security issues that can be addressed by using a bandwidth monitor. For instance the best bandwidth monitors will alert you to which program has connected to the internet. No point having all those facts and figures if you don't even know which program is doing the damage! If you know which programs are connected to the internet and how much bandwidth they are using then you can make wise decisions as to which programs are allowed access.

James Jenkins
http://www.tamarsolutions.co.uk