Modem Connection Speed Info On Taskbar

[Harry M. Turner]

All previous versions of Windows displayed a modem icon in
the lower right of the Taskbar when connected. This
allowed you to view connection speed and bytes in/out. I
just installed WinXP and this does not appear when
connected via modem. Is this info available elsewhere or
can I add it to the Taskbar?

Also, the Taskbar (lower right) displays a "Local Area
Connection" icon for Ethernet with info that "A network
cable in unplugged". Is this normal? If so it seems
useless and a poor trade-off for the modem info which the
vast majority of home users employ. Hardly anyone uses
Ethernet from home.

 

[Kelly]

Hi Harry,

In addition to the great advice already given...

Troubleshooting the Notification Area
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_n.htm#na

/top10faqs.htm

 

[Alex Nichol]

All previous versions of Windows displayed a modem icon in
the lower right of the Taskbar when connected. This
allowed you to view connection speed and bytes in/out. I
just installed WinXP and this does not appear when
connected via modem. Is this info available elsewhere or
can I add it to the Taskbar?

Also, the Taskbar (lower right) displays a "Local Area
Connection" icon for Ethernet with info that "A network
cable in unplugged". Is this normal?

For both, find the connection concerned in Control Panel, Network
connections, r-click, Properties and check or uncheck the box for 'show
icon in notification area when connected'. Click Apply. The second is
probably a connection via a NIC that is not in use. That can usefully
be r-clicked and 'Disable' so it does not go looking for any hardware
net on it

 

[Miguel De Anda]

All previous versions of Windows displayed a modem icon in
the lower right of the Taskbar when connected. This
allowed you to view connection speed and bytes in/out. I
just installed WinXP and this does not appear when
connected via modem. Is this info available elsewhere or
can I add it to the Taskbar?

Also, the Taskbar (lower right) displays a "Local Area
Connection" icon for Ethernet with info that "A network
cable in unplugged". Is this normal? If so it seems
useless and a poor trade-off for the modem info which the
vast majority of home users employ. Hardly anyone uses
Ethernet from home.

I have a similar question: I notice that when I connect with the modem, it
claims to connect at 115kbps, wow, I wish. Anyways, its obviously
innaccurate but I would like to have something a bit more accurate. I know
that in the task manager there is a graph (that only gets updated if the
task manager is opened) but even that isn't good enough. It shows a
percentage of an already innaccurate number. That graph seems to top off at
40%, so is that 115 * .4? 46kbps?

I don't know if anybody here has ever used KDE but on it, kppp gives a nice
detail graph that shows current throughput and max, plus a graph that shows
how much has been sent over the last few minutes. Can xp do that? How much
extra will I have to pay for it?

 

[T.C.]

Usually when the wrong connection speed is displayed, it's an indication
that either a generic, or buggy, or incorrect, modem driver is installed.
Try downloading and installing the latest Windows XP driver for your
specific modem.