We’re excited to announce the launch of our new website in this issue of amag. The fresh new site heralds in a new era for Amnet with a new look and feel and improved usability. We’ve also got some pictures of Amnet’s stand at the Hyundai Hopman Cup for those who didn’t get see it.

This month’s hot tip is about how to monitor your traffic so you'll never be in 'bad shape'.

Enjoy the read and if you have any feedback or suggestions then please email us on amag@amnet.com.au.

We apologise for the delay in this month’s amag, but we wanted to coincide this issue with the launch our new website, so as not to let the cat out of the bag.

We’re excited to announce the launch of Amnet’s new website which you’ll now find at www.amnet.com.au.

What does this mean for Amnet customers? Now amnet.com.au is a dedicated site for Amnet customers. It’s not just a refreshed look either, we’ve made some major improvements to the design and navigation to make it easier to find the information you need. You’ll still find the same tools like My Account and now the latest edition of amag from the front page. Be sure to update all your bookmarks.

In case you’re wondering about why we now have dedicated sites for Amcom and Amnet, here’s a little information that will help you understand the difference.

Amcom Telecom is the fibre optic division of Amcom Telecommunications which delivers high-performance communications solutions to many of Perth and Adelaide’s leading blue chip companies and government entities.

Amnet Broadband is the residential broadband division of Amcom Telecommunications,
offering ADSL broadband services to the general public and SME’s, as well as VoIP, Domain and Web Hosting services. The growth of both divisions led us to split the two sites with each now requiring a dedicated site.

If you have any feedback or suggestions to make about the new website please email us on amag@amnet.com.au.

And the winner is...

December winner - Travis Goad (left)

Congratulations to the Travis Goad, the December winner of our Refer a Friend promotion.

Think it’s too hard to win an iPod? Well it’s not! Travis won after referring just one of his friends to Amnet. So if you’re feeling lucky simply tell a friend about Amnet’s great value broadband. As the saying goes 'You’ve got to be in it to win it'.

Don’t forget it’s a great deal for your friends too. Every referred customer gets a $100 credit to use on their new Amnet Broadband account.

To nominate your friends, log in to Amnet’s Member Tools and follow the Refer a Friend link.

Managing your download allowance

This month we’re talking about ways to manage your download usage to help avoid being shaped. Plus we’re giving an overview of Amnet’s own tools and how we help you manage your allowance. 

If you’ve found a better piece of software or tool why not let us know by emailing amag@amnet.com.au.

Software
There is quite a bit of software out there dedicated to monitoring usage and bandwidth but we found a couple which are quite handy and easy to use.

There is quite a bit of software out there dedicated to monitoring usage and bandwidth but we found a couple which are quite handy and easy to use.

The first is The Net Usage Project  which is a plug-in for the Firefox browser.  This plug-in allows you to enter your account details and it retrieves your account usage from Amnet’s own usage monitor (the one in My Account Member Tools). It also gives you the option of entering the Peak and Off-Peak times and by utilizing a progress bar it shows you how much you’ve used and how much time is remaining before you reach the allowance and much more. From all appearances the tool is quite accurate as it uses Amnet’s own network data and very convenient since you don’t need to log into Amnet’s Member Tools to retrieve the information.

If you’re not a Firefox user but are an Apple user, try iStat Menus by iSlayer, a free piece of software that operates from your menu bar. This software provides quite a bit of information as it monitors everything from your CPU usage to your fan speed and of course provides network monitoring info showing your current and total bandwidth, peak bandwidth, IP addresses and much more. Probably more suited to advanced users, but as with most Apple software it’s easy to use so won’t confuse you with 1’s and 0’s or anything.

Widgets
For those that took the plunge and switched over to Vista we have a Vista widget for you to try. A committed Amnet customer has developed a widget for the Vista side bar called – Amnet Quota Gadget. The widget prompts you to enter your account details and allows you to select how you would like your quota shown either download remaining or used. Once again the information comes from Amnet’s Member Tools so it’s accurate as is another quick and easy way of keeping tabs on your usage.

For the Apple users try a widget called iStat nano by iSlayer which plugs straight into your dashboard. Not only does it have a suite of handy tools for monitoring the performance of your Mac but it tells you your download and upload speeds and how much data you’ve downloaded and uploaded. Not as comprehensive as the quota gadget but it does give you some insight into your usage. Please bear in mind that it will reset when you reset your computer.

Disclaimer: Amnet makes no warranty to the use, performance or reliability of this software. The user assumes all responsibility and risk for their use.

Amnet Traffic Usage Tool and Warnings
Amnet also offers a Traffic Usage meter which can be found by logging into Amnet’s My Account Member Tools under DSL Management. The Traffic Usage tool shows a graph of your usage detailing how much you have downloaded and uploaded and has a breakdown of your standard and peering usage. This is the same information shown in the other tools described above but with a little more detail.

If that doesn’t help your download monitoring we also send warning emails when you reach 75% of your download quota. These emails are intended to give you enough warning before you use all of your allowance and are shaped.

We hope this information and software suggestions help with your usage monitoring and help you get the most out of your broadband connection.