Netgear's Bit Counter [The Bauminator]
Next month, Netgear plans to introduce a wi-fi router that will offer users the ability to track how much data they are downloading via the Internet. The router will allow users to monitor their daily, weekly and monthly downloads and uploads, and provides a feature that will send an alert to the user when the user reaches a threshold that is customizable.
As some Internet service providers are examining the use of monthly download caps or metered billing to manage their networks, the ability for users to easily and transparently monitor their Internet usage has become a concern. Some ISPs have released online usage trackers for their customers, but most require that users proactively monitor their usage, rather than having the ability of reporting usage when it exceeds a threshold that the user sets.
Netgear's introduction of usage monitoring looks to be a handy feature for users of an ISP that has a monthly download caps or consumption-based billing policies. For instance, if a user's ISP has a 250 GB download cap, the user could set the router to issue an email alert when the user reaches 200 GB of downloads, letting the consumer know that he or she only has 50 GB of downloads left for the month before he or she hits the ISPs download cap.
And even though Netgear may be the first company to integrate a usage monitoring feature into its routers, it will likely get some company soon. According to the Associated Press, Cisco is also contemplating equipping its routers with usage monitoring.
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