Update Notes: 17-Mar-2000

I just received an email from Nikorn Viravatandej in which he says this to say about NetSonic:

"I've noticed that after a short session of web browsing and leaving my computer alone for an hour, the connection window reports over 10mb of data received and sent. This isn't very good for accounts such as Asianet Unlimited Time where there is a data transfer charge of 8 Baht per megabyte.

NetSonic always seems to be busy pre-fetching web pages to gain a headstart in case we decide to go on to the next navigation link. Because of this, it's faster to use the caches built into browser software.

Some bad things I've found about NetSonic:

• NetSonic is wasting a lot of bandwidth. A few users using NetSonic can suck up all the bandwidth available on an overseas link.
• This extra pre-fetch can create congestion and as a result will slow everyone down.

As you're the one who wrote about the good side of NetSonic, perhaps this could serve as raw material for you to write something in opposition to your own article. Meanwhile, I've uninstalled NetSonic and gone back to the built-in cache and proxy settings of IE and Netscape."

Here are my comments:

I've been meaning to add a more observations re: NetSonic for some time now, so this a good opportunity. Before proceeding though, it should be noted that I'm using the registered or "Pro" version of NetSonic as opposed to the freeware version, thus there may be some differences as to what CAN or CAN'T be configured.

• I fully agree with Nikorn re: the downside of using "pre-fetch". That's the main reason why I don't use it. I can't imagine how any software can predict where I'm going to go next when *I* don't even know where I'm going to go next. Thus, I've never turned on this feature and I recommend everyone NOT to turn it on either - unless it's been proven to work for you. Also, it should be noted that not every ISP-type account has a data transfer limit as Asianet Unlimited does, so this may not be a problem for most people as it is in Nikorn's case.
• Not all websites lend themselves well to caching. Some people, for example, find it a hassle to have to press the reload button every time they visit frequently changing sites such as news sites. Additionally, some sites don't work with NetSonic's caching enabled AT ALL; for example, Dialpad (www.dialpad.com) and SakéMail (www.sakemail.com). But there's an easy way out of this as well: simply add these sites to NetSonic's "exclusion list".
• During NetSonic's installation, a companion program called "Gator" also gets installed. Gator is used as a repository for commonly used information such as logins, passwords, credit card information, etc. Now, I'm not sure what bandwidth requirements Gator has, but given its raison d'être, I'm extremely leery about keeping it around, lest this information gets sent or retrieved without my knowledge. Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid installing it when you install NetSonic, but it can be removed (not very smoothly though).
• One thing I've learned is that you just can't install NetSonic and forget about it. It requires a bit of tweaking and you DO need to know when to turn it on and off. Perhaps there's a "better" program than NetSonic and I'm certainly open to trying it. But overall, I still prefer the idea of PC-side as opposed to ISP-side caching, especially if you use several ISP's like I do and the cache manager has the ability to work with multiple browsers (like NetSonic can).

Update Notes: 23-Feb-2000

I just discovered that "PIE" (Public Internet Exchange) has been renamed "IIR" (Internet Information Research). The original article has been amended to reflect this. I've also updated the link speeds mentioned in the article.

Update Notes: 26-Jan-2000

• In the article I stated: "I wish there were general Thailand caches available at PIE/IIR, NIX and/or IIG that any Thailand user could hook into". Actually, there are, sort of, details of which can be found at the Thailand cache infrastructure project at http://ntl.nectec.or.th/pubnet/services/cache/. The reading is somewhat technical, so take it in small bites. Also interesting is a slide presentation (in Acrobat PDF format) on how to set up a cache server using Slackware Linux and Squid.
• I also received an email from David Hunsberger in Kampuchea who wanted to bring my attention to "an indispensable product for economizing on surfing in a pay-as-you go environment." David finds WebRecord, a product of Canon Software, more useful than NetSonic and certainly more powerful than other web caching products. Unfortunately, no evaluation/demo download was available, so I couldn't give it a try. For additional information, check out: http://www.software.canon.com/software/webrecordp/index.htm.