The network monitoring software can be used to monitor incoming and outgoing traffic of selected network adapters and connections. Traffic is shown in graphs and logged in files for further processing. Reports are extensive and provide access to daily, weekly, monthly and custom reports. Even better, reports can be exported which can be useful for book keeping among other things.

A realtime network traffic graph visualizes the incoming and outgoing traffic. Notifications can be used to perform actions under certain conditions. They can be configured to run so called actions when network traffic drops or rises above a certain level. Possible actions include running a software, displaying visual and sound alerts or to drop the connection.

Networx includes network information and testing tools like netstat that display all applications currently using the network connection. The application uses roughly 10 Megabytes of computer memory in minimized state.

Update: The program sits quietly in the system tray of the operating system for most of the time it is running. A right-click brings up the program menu where you can display or hide the traffic graph on the desktop and access other tools and settings.

The application is offered as a setup and portable version, ideal for users who carry an USB or troubleshooting DVD with them around when they to tech support. The latest program version is compatible with all recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system, including 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, as well as Windows server variants.

NetWorx 5 has been released in 2009, check out our review of the new version here.

The rise of mobile phones, netbooks and other mobile devices pushed the need for data compression tools that reduce the actual size of a data transfer.

Toonel (via Make Use Of) provides a solution both for desktop computer users as well as those that connect with a mobile device to the Internet. It features an impressive list of operating system it is compatible with including Windows, Linux, Macintosh, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

All versions basically function the same way. The traffic is routed through the Toonel servers which compress the communication with the user’s computer system. The user will have to set a proxy address in his favorite web browser or application so that the traffic will be compressed by the local client before it is being send to the Toonel server and from there to the destination address.

Toonel works with http, https, ftp connections and virtually any other form of TCP / IP connections. One interesting feature is to control the quality level of images which can greatly reduce the bandwidth needed to transfer the data. Users who want to save as much as possible might want to consider turning image browsing off in their application.