SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager is intended to help you use the available internet bandwidth more efficiently. In this respect, the tool analyzes network traffic and through a management console lets, you set limits. The program has an easy-to-use interface, in which current connections are shown so that you can monitor traffic in real time. However, it is important to notice that it requires at least basic knowledge of network administration.
In order to manage bandwidth quotas, you can create rules. These allow choosing a direction (income/outcome), a given protocol and a network card to which you want to add a bandwidth limit. Additionally, you can set a tracking mode and specific penalties. It is excellent that a schedule can be used so that a particular rule is not applied at certain time periods. Similarly, complex rules used to monitor various IP and Mac addresses can be implemented.
If you are one of those who prefers to have a more visual idea of how things are going on your network, you may want to switch to graphs, showing the current state of the traffic as well as a summary of the amount of data sent and received.
The product has various advantages that should not go unnoticed. First, it allows configuring everything from a single location. Second, rules are direction-dependent, which means you can restrict outgoing traffic without affecting incoming connections. Third, rules are transparent to the end user. Finally, the tool allows access to various types of reports and even send alerts to your email inbox.
In fewer words, SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager is an excellent tool in the hands of network administrators. In this respect, it is probably one of the best options to prevent bottlenecks in your network’s internet connection. It is sold in various editions: Lite (free), Standard, Professional, and Enterprise, with varying features and prices. Finally, it is good to know that the program can be complemented with other products by the same developer.
v3.0 [Apr 28, 2013]
Fixed an issue with port mappings and redirects on systems with a dual IPv4/IPv6 stack.
Fixed erroneously displayed stream names in the global usage report in the management console.
Fixed refreshing settings shown in the management console after importing a DB file.
Fixed rules that applied on "not localhost and "not group" in inverted rules.
Fixed computations of hourly quotas that erroneously covered a day instead of an hour.
Added group cache to improve performance with large groups of IP addresses.
Added a column that shows when a rule/stream was last active and handled any traffic.
Added automatic firewall rule addition/removal for the bandwidth management service.
Added resetting stream usage in main view's popup menu when a stream is selected.
Added importing group entries from a local file and geo-location databases.
Updated sorting of streams by IP/MAC address (numeric order and open nodes don't collapse).
Updated the network drivers and underlying DB engine for better compatibility and performance.
A program that lets you easily manage your laptop connections to WiMAX networks
