Hacking Tricks

If you use some of the Internet-sharing techniques we’ve shown you in this how-to section, you might find yourself running afoul of your ISP’s bandwidth limits. To help you stay on the network’s good side, we’ll introduce you to some free, open-source software that will allow you to keep a watchful eye on your connection.

Bandwidth Monitor Pro

Bandwidth Monitor Pro Version 3.2 is a handy, open-source utility that we found to be the simplest and easiest to use. Installation is quick and painless, and upon an initial launch, you’ll be treated to a simple layout screen.
Don’t let the simplicity (or lack of any press-able buttons) of the interface fool you. A wide range of settings are only a right-click away. In the Settings menu, there are tons of options to play with (image D). You can customize the look of your readout and of the Bandwidth Monitor Pro window itself.
Another useful option is the one called Period, which allows you to choose a period of time to set the readout for. By default, Bandwidth Monitor Pro measures periods of 24 hours, or daily usage. But this can be altered—with a few clicks, you can choose a day of the month you’d like to start monitoring and when you’d like the monitoring to end.
There are multiple facets of Bandwidth Monitor Pro that you can customize, but arguably the most important option in the Settings menu is the email alert system. Clicking to the Alerts tab (image E) will pull up a menu that allows you to choose conditions that warrant an email alert—for instance, you want to be notified when you are approaching your bandwidth cap.