Software utility
for monitoring useage against the HughesNet Fair Access Policy !
FapMon Features :
Transfer Rate Display : Numeric
display shows both your current upload and download speeds.
Total
Transfered : The HughesNet F.A.P. counts both uploaded &
downloaded data. The "Total Transfered" numeric display keeps
a
running count of how much data total you've transfered .. both up
& downstream.
Full Recovery Timer : This numeric display
constantly tracks how long it will be before your F.A.P. "bucket"
is completely empty. If you
do get hit by the F.A.P., this timer will
let you know how long you have to wait for restrictions to be
completely lifted.
FAP Bucket Display : The blue bar-graph
& numeric display next to it give you visual displays to show
how much data you can still
download at high-speed before the FAP
kicks in. The display gradually turns white & the number
decreases the closer you get to your
package FAP limits. The number
& display gradually rise during inactivity, tracking the data
'bucket' refill rate.
Signal Strength Meter : Bargraph &
numeric display show your current signal strength. (This feature is
currently only supported on
DW3000/DW4000 systems.)
Proxy On/Off
Switch : Quick & easy way to enable or disable your proxy server.
(Helps speed up your connection, depending on your application.)
Proxy
Reset Switch : Helps eliminate those occasional HughesNet 'ghost'
downloads.
Broadcast Port Setting : For use on systems that are
networked & sharing the satellite internet connection.
Service
Level Select : Just go to the FapMon configuration screen & select
the service level that matches your subscribed package.
The data recovery/refill rates & off-peak rates are automatically
set.
Manual Service Level Entry : HughesNet is constantly
changing their service packages, especially for business level systems.
FapMon allows you to manually enter your service level rates
too! This assures you'll always be able monitor your useage,
even if you subscribe to a new a new or not-listed package
level.
DirecWay Data-Filter : Some data feeds like the old
DirecWay Radio, as well as system firmware/software updates aren't
counted towards the FAP. FapMon knows that, and so it doesn't
let those downloads effect the FAP calculations.
FapMon
Client Module : Special version of FapMon to run on client computers.
Keeps client & host systems sync'd with the transfer
levels
so all users can be aware of the current FAP status levels.
Works
on all DirecWay/DirecPC Systems : FapMon works on all HughesNet
systems .. from the original DirecPC Classic system right through
to the new DW7700! Whether you're on the DirecPC, DW3000, DW4000,
DW4020, DW6000, DW7000, or DW7700!
All that and SO
MUCH MORE !! : FapMon can be configured to auto-load when Windows
starts .. Can run "always on top" or "hidden",
Can run as an icon
in the system-tray (with complete status display!) ..Calculates and
factors in the "off-peak" extended download times..
The list just goes
on and on !
Installing FapMon : Installing FapMon is pretty straight-forward.
Download the version you want, then extract & run it. By
default it will want to create a folder called FapMon in your Program
Files directory and install there. You can however change the installation
directory to one of your choice. During installation FapMon will want
to install the "WinPCap" packet library for Windows. Make sure you
allow this during the installation or FapMon will can run. After
installing FapMon, reboot your computer.
Configuring FapMon : Select
FapMon from your Start menu, or double-click the FapMon icon in the
FapMon folder created when the
program was installed. This will
start FapMon and bring up its main data monitoring screen.
(See picture "A" below.) All the numers & data-transfer rates
will clear & set to zero. Right clicking once on the top
program display will bring up a pull-down menu. (See picture
"B"
below.) Highlight & click on the first menu option "FapMon
Configuraton". This will bring up the configuration screen. (Picture
"C")
Picture "A" (above) shows the main
data monitoring screen. Right-clicking once on the
top of the display
will bring up the pull-down menu. (See picture "B" to the right). Select
"FapMon
Configuration" to bring up the configuration screen. (Picture "C"
below.)
Configuring FapMon <continued>
: From the configuration screen you can select the various settings
for FapMon. The first thing to do
is configure the "Satellite Device"
so FapMon knows what device to monitor for your internet traffic.
What device you select depends on which HughesNet system you
have. For DirecPC, DW3000 & DW4000 users : From
the pull-down options under "Satellite Device",
select the connection
called "Satellite Receiver USB Device". For all other HughesNet
systems : select your ethernet/networking card
that your DirecWay
modem (or your router if you're system is networked) is connected
to. (Picture "C" above shows an Intel Pro/1000 networking card selected
as the device to monitor.)
Selecting your Service Level : The
most common package for HughesNet / DirecWay home systems
is the basic "Consumer" pkg.
This package features a 169Mb download
threshold, and a 47kbps recovery rate. This is the default setting
for FapMon .. so if it's your
package too then configuration is complete.
(Click once on the "OK" Button, and skip to the "FapMon in Action"
section below.)
If you subscribe to a package that
has a higher recovery rate, and/or larger download threshold there
are two ways you can configure
the FapMon Service Levels. The
easiest way to configure recovery rate & transfer thresholds
is by simply entering your subscribed package values into
the appropriate boxes on the FapMon configuration screen. For example
: A fairly common DW6000 home user package comes has all the same
values as the preset "Consumer" package, except it has a slightly
higher recovery rate of 50kbps. A
subscriber to this package would
simply click in the "Recovery Rate" box and change the number 47 to
the number 50. That's it ! Any of the values in FapMon can be
manually changed to meet the exact settings of your package. Selecting
the "OK" button saves your
personal settings. You don't have to re-enter
them each time you restart FapMon. You can also change them at any
time by simply entering new values and again selecting "OK".
Another method to selecting a Service Level is to use the pull-down
menu under "Presets by Service Level". Select a package name,
then
click the "Set" button to see the values of that package. Even if
a package isn't named exactly the same as yours, it may still have
the same values. There are many DirecWay service packages,
the "Presets by Service Level" are a few of the more common
ones.
Once you have your values set, simply click the "OK" button
to start FapMon monitoring.
Configuration
Instructions for European HughesNet Users :
The FAP works
slightly different overseas, but FapMon has options for these
users too ! (for this example we'll use the Bronze limits):
1) Set
the Threshold to 92.4 (This is the absolute bucket, i.e. Disconnected
Download Limit)
2) Set the Warning Threshold to 61.3 (The FAP free
interval, i.e. Cumulative Download)
3) Set the recovery rate to 32
(Or simply select the "Bronze" package, & click on "set".)
Now,
on a full bucket, the user starts downloading at full throttle. When
the bucket reaches the warning level, the FAP meter turns dark red.
At that moment the user should be in a capped bandwidth state (i.e.
at the throttle limit bandwidth). If the user continues downloading,
and halfway thru the limit throttle state, the meter turns bright
red. Eventually the meter would reach the FAP level (an empty bucket)
and begin the Disconnected state. At that moment the transfer rate
should drop to 0. After about 1.064 hours, the meter change color
from bright red to dark red, and the bucket should be at about 25%
the warning threshold (~15.4MB). At that moment the user should be
able to download again (until the bucket hits 0 again).
For users in
the USA, the warning threshold serves no other purpose than to warn
them of an impending FAP enforcement.
Below are a few screen-shots
from FapMon showing some of it's features in action !
The
image to the left shows FapMon running.
It shows the user as having
an almost full bucket,
with only 29 sec. left before their
FAP bucket is completely refilled. Their signal strength and
transfer speed is also shown. The arrow next to the
data bar is pointing
down to show a download is in
progress.
The image
on the right shows the FapMon Client software
running. It operates
the same as FapMon, but can display its data in the task-bar
area.
The FapMon System Tray Status Display is part of
FapMon. It
shows a graphical display of data transfers, and will show
you all your upload & download related details by simply holding
the mouse pointer over it.
The animation for the System
Tray display can be turned on or off through the configuration menu.
FapMon can be displayed
in any number of ways. Below is "Shade Mode" (selectable from the
configuration menu).
It condenses the FapMon display, removing
the graphic bars and only showing numeric values.
FapMon is available FREE to members of this site ! Not yet a member
? Click the 'Membership' button on the menu to join !
Please Note : While programs like SatSpeed, FapMon, and others here
at HughesNet Uncensored are available free to our site members,
the programs
themselves are NOT shareware
/ freeware and are NOT freely redistributable. They are for your personal
use only and should not be given, sold, or
redistributed to others. Your cooperation helps us continue to bring
you these great programs. Thank you !
FapMon is like no other download management program available.
It was written specifically for HughesNet / DirecWay users
to meet the
needs exclusive to these satellite internet consumers.
FapMon monitors your transfer levels and tracks them against
your HughesNet
F.A.P. package settings, helping you stay below the
F.A.P. and keeping your internet connection at high-speed. (
Not familiar with the
DirecWay Fair Access Policy ? If you're
a DirecWay customer it's important to know about ! Full
details on the F.A.P. page here ! )
There are plenty
of download management/monitoring
utilities available on the internet,
but none come close
to meeting the special needs we satellite internet
customers
have. That's where FapMon comes in !
FapMon has a host
of features that other types of
data monitoring/management programs
just don't have. Here's sone of the features of this great utility
! (FapMon Screen-shot Above)
