Last week we asked you to share your favorite VPN tool, then we rounded up the top five contenders for a vote. Now we’re back with the results. More »
Blog Archives
Best VPN Tool: OpenVPN [Hive Five Followup]
Posted on March 9, 2010
Netalyzr Determines Your Network Health [Networking]
Posted on June 15, 2009
Beta web application Netalyzr is a free tool that analyzes your network for possible problems—large and small—helping you determine your overall network health.
As soon as you start the test (and agree to the security certificate), Netalyzer performs various tests on your computer’s connection. When the tests are complete, you’ll see an exhaustive rundown of all the results, including a handy “Noteworthy Events” section at the top that details the possible problem areas. Tests that pass are marked as green, minor problems are marked in yellow, and problems get the classic red. For a longer explanation of what each section is testing, just click the linked section title.
Did you give it a go? Let’s hear how your network handled the test in the comments.
ICSI Netalyzr [via gHacks]
Measurement Lab Checks if Your Connection is Being Throttled [Net Neutrality]
Posted on January 29, 2009
Google and a host of net-savvy partners have opened up a free set of web tools to help anyone determine if their net connection is blocking or throttling BitTorrent or otherwise limits their bandwidth.
At the moment, three tools are available—when their servers aren't jammed up, and they seem to be pretty popular at the moment. The Glasnost tool determines how your ISP is handling BitTorrent traffic and gives a readout on whether it’s being denied, throttled, or otherwise impaired. Network Diagnostic Tool covers other problems that might affect your upload or download speeds. And the Network Path and Application Diagnosis tries to reveal the routing, network tools, and other “last mile” issues that affect net performance.
The tests are fairly simple, and each seems to require a working Java plugin to run. The Glasnost test, for instance, creates a fake BitTorrent stream between your connection point and the test’s servers, then monitors what happens to the packets.
That’s one reassuring block of HTML.
It doesn’t take a senior analyst to see that Google is looking to shine some light on internet providers’ moves against net neutrality, such as Cox Communications’ “time sensitivity” throttling. In fact, the next two products due out of the “Measurement Lab” are DiffProbe and NANO, which will tell a user whether certain types of traffic, for specific applications or users, are getting priority over others. The side effect of the net giants’ tussle, though, are some handy tools that (should) tell the user exactly why they are or aren’t getting the speeds they paid for.