In any operating system, it is possible for an internet user to monitor the bandwidth usage. This is useful to keep track of internet usage in case you have a maximum bandwidth cap or download limit. To begin you need to install a software called SurplusMeter on your OS X. SurplusMeter can be downloaded from here.
Once you’ve installed the application, open it and make the following adjustments to the configuration. In the opening interface, set the connection type appropriately based on what type of internet user you are. The available options are PPP modem, Ethernet port and Wireless. If you have a download limit on your internet connection, then you can set the download limit in the box given. How all this works will be explained later.
You can even set the date when the monitor should be reset from the “Month starts on” box. This is because; an ISP tracks bandwidth usage beginning with a particular day. This day is different for different ISPs.
After you’ve configured SurplusMeter, it will immediately start monitoring your internet usage.
The user interface displays the download and upload traffic of your internet connection for the day, while keeping track of the traffic volume. Apart from this, it gives other useful statistics like the daily allowance, average daily usage, daily surplus usage, etc.
If you use an Ethernet connection to transfer files via LAN, then you should pause the SurplusMeter by clicking on the Pause Monitoring button on the main interface. This stops the monitoring temporarily until the file transfer within the LAN is going on. Once it’s completed, you can resume monitoring again by clicking the button again.
You can add SurplusMeter to your Login Items by going to System Preferences->Accounts->Login Items and checking the SurplusMeter icon in the list. You can also minimize the Surplus meter Window by clicking on the green button on the top left of the screen. The Application will continue to run in a minimized window which shows all important bandwidth usage details for your Internet connection.
While there are other applications is OSX which perform the same function, the sleek and simple interface SurplusMeter, which at the same times shows all the information necessary makes it an ideal choice for bandwidth monitoring. Even people who are virtually new to computers or the Internet will find this tool simple to deal with and easy to understand. Hence it is recommended to all OS X users.
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