The latest rage among internet service providers is capped bandwidth, bandwidth meters, and tiered pricing. Why? Because we live in a capitalist society, and those that sell us what we buy have one thing in mind. More money. Plus, some greedy users expect an ISP to give them all-you-can-eat internet access for $20 a month and then they stream Netflix 24/7. It’s not fair, but it’s what it is. Here’s my little Mac tool for monitoring how much bandwidth my Mac uses.
Who Monitors The Monitors?
Monitoring bandwidth should not only be the domain of the bandwidth sellers. After all, cell phone companies monitor their charges to customers, and how’s that working out for us?
TrafficBot is a cheap Mac app that lives in your Menubar and monitors your bandwidth, your network traffic, how much internet you’re using—in real time and over a period of time.
Click TrafficBot and the drop down dashboard displays your current internet usage; In, Out, and Total, and a percentage of your monthly cap.
Preferences are simple to set up (this is good for students and small businesses which have bandwidth caps and usage controls).
Set the bandwidth limit. Set a warning when you reach a certain usage threshold. It even supports Growl notifications.
I understand and appreciate the problems that Verizon and AT&T have with cell phone bandwidth usage. They have a limited supply of bandwidth. But users have an insatiable desire to use the internet.
Mac users in many parts of the country and elsewhere in the world are seeing a trend toward usage caps, bandwidth limits, and tiered pricing. If you need more internet, you pay more for the internet.
TrafficBot monitors your Mac’s usage through the month, and gives you notice when you’re nearing specific limits. That’s the way to go if your ISP caps you to specific tiers for a specific price. Unfortunately, there’s no trial version, and it’s Mac App Store only.
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