Net.Medic

How many times have you tried connecting to a popular web site only to find that it takes forever and a day just to pull up the information? The only thing more frustrating than waiting for a web page to load is not knowing whether the delay you are experiencing is a result of the site itself, the internet in general, your local provider, or your own computer. While there are many specialized diagnostic tools that focus only on specific segments of your 'net connection, until now there has never been a program that covers the entire scope of the personal Internet experience, beginning at your desktop itself and culminating in the web sites that you access. Net.Medic is a tool that is drawing rave reviews across the 'net, and for good reason. This consummate 'net diagnostic tool does an excellent job of pinpointing where the Internet's bottlenecks are and then revealing this information to you via instrumentation panels. The attractive, high-tech interface presents you with a dashboard of toolbar panels (similar to a car's dashboard of gauges) that display critical statistics and information about your connection. Each panel represents a specific segment of the Internet that can be analyzed to help isolate, diagnose, prescribe, and sometimes even automatically fix the problems that inevitably arise. Each panel can reside with several other Net.Medic panels on the dashboard, or the panel can be set to float by itself on top of your desktop. A third option allows you to lock the panel onto your web browser so that you can view its information while still browsing the web. A Net.Medic icon also resides in the desktop traybar and graphically signifies the overall status of your connection. As with other Net.Medic functions, the icon flashes green or gray to represent an error-free connection, yellow to signify a minor problem, and red to alert you to severe trouble. In addition to a ticker bar that reports on the status of your connection and lists any problems that have occurred, nine different panels can be viewed on the dashboard at the same time. The most important Net.Medic panel resides at the top of the dashboard just below the ticker bar and graphically portrays the status at each step of your 'net connection. In addition to icons for your computer, modem, and the remote site, this panel also identifies the number of intermediate hops between you and the remote site. The hops are grouped into three major categories -- your local provider and its routers, the Internet backbone that your provider connects to, and finally the Internet itself and the routers it uses to deliver your information. Clicking on any of these six core segments brings up a specialized panel that gives in-depth information about that area. For example, the modem panel reveals your modem's maximum baud rate speed, its current speed and compression rate, its average data transfer speed, and finally, its overall health. The remote site panel, on the other hand, gives the average rate of information served, the time spent delivering information, the current time of delay, and the percentage of delay caused by the site itself as opposed to the percentage caused by general internet congestion. Whenever trouble arises you can click on the panel with the problem to receive a diagnosis and general prescription. If the problem is related to your computer or modem, Net.Medic can often correct it automatically via the 'autocure' button. Otherwise, if it is a severe emergency Net.Medic will allow you to notify the node's administrators or prescribe an alternative solution for you. While the panels alone reveal more information about your internet connection than you'll find anywhere else, Net.Medic's value as a diagnostic tool certainly doesn't end there. Two other major capabilities round out the scope of Net.Medic's set of features. The first is Net.Medic's logging options -- the program automatically keeps a log of health-related problems as well as a log of connections made with your internet provider. Both logs provide insight into minor and severe problems encountered during your current and previous sessions. Clicking on an individual problem will present the same diagnosis and rescription screen that is encountered when clicking on one of the alerts for a Net.Medic panel. The other major feature, Net.Medic's reporting capabilities, provides some of the program's most critical information. Of Net.Medic's six available reports, the two that are most relevant are the Health Summary and the Traffic reports. The Health Summary provides a pie graph that depicts the areas in which most major problems occur. The percentages are split accordingly among the desktop, modem, ISP, intranet, internet, and remote server segments of your 'net connection. Typically, problems most often arise with the remote server. The Traffic Report reveals the average level of traffic per hour for your internet provider and for the internet in general. You can use this report to determine when to avoid peak times of use. In order to get an accurate reading for this and other reports, you will need to first use Net.Medic for an extended period of time so that the program can develop a consistent traffic pattern for your provider and the 'net. Overall, at just under $50, Net.Medic is an essential diagnostic tool for any 'net user who has ever experienced the frustration of waiting an eternity for a web page to finish downloading. If you fit into this category (and most of us do), take heart that your $50 will be well spent in helping to alleviate this aggravating and extremely common problem. Pros: Excellent 'net diagnostic tools, attractive and intuitive interface, easy to use, impressive feature-set Cons: Price tag; needs a user tutorial, better help documentation, and an integrated traceroute utility For more information on Net.Medic, check out: http://cws.internet.com/32win.html#netmedic apps conference Main Menu