Review: Spb Wireless Monitor

Posted by: dgoldring on Nov 18 2008

Today, Spb Software House announced their latest offering for all of you Windows Mobile users out there, Spb Wireless Monitor.  Long time Spb fans will probably recognize this as the phoenix which rose from the remains of one of their older programs, GPRS Monitor.  Well, that outdated program has now been completely reinvigorated, with a whole new look, purpose, and features.  Read on to see how Spb plans to help you improve your mobile experience this time.

Now, I have always had an unlimited data plan, so exceeding my limit was never a problem for me.  I do realize, however, that a vast majority of plans out there have limits on the amount of messages you can send, the amount of data you can download, or even the amount of time you can spend surfing the mobile Internet.  Few Windows Mobile devices (if any at all), however, offer any kind of a monitor to track your data usage.  I was surprised, because many of the “dumb” phones I have used do offer a rudimentary monitor like this.  But not Windows Mobile.  Fortunately, Spb is already making arrangements to have Spb Wireless Monitor come preloaded on a number of Windows Mobile devices.

The first thing I noticed is that Spb has completely updated the user interface.  It is almost entirely based upon finger-friendly menus; and provides large, easy to read charts.  This is a fantastic step forward, which really made the program feel like it belonged with Windows Mobile 6.1, and the finger friendly environment in which mobile devices currently operate.

The main function of the program is to provide you with ongoing reports of your data usage.  The nice thing here is that you can view these reports in the way that works best for your needs.  Reports can be organized by data traffic per application (left), data cost per application, total cost, or total traffic (right).   And, unlike its predecessor, Wireless Monitor can track a wide variety of data connections, including CDMA, GPRS, phone as a modem, USB connection, 3G, Wifi, and more.  Heck, it even includes (and no, I did not test this claim) over 440 predefined service plans for easy configuration.

In addition to organizing the presentation of data in your report, you also have complete control over the period of time represented by the report.  There are presets (left) for today, yesterday, this month, last month, this year, or last year.  That should cover a lot of what you plan to review.  If not, there is also an option to display a custom period (right), which allows you to enter any dates and create a personalized report.

You can even control what data is displayed by limiting it to a particular data connection.  For me, that would be Sprint PCS or Wifi, but you may have others.  You can also choose how the information is displayed.  I prefer a table which shows your data usage (organized by cost or application, based upon your preferences.  You may prefer a different method, however, such as this bar graph.  Personally, I prefer a pie chart, and wish this had been included as an option.

Of course, reviewing information and reports might help you plan your future usage, but it is not going to help you where it really matters.  For that, you want something more like real time monitoring.  And Spb has kindly offered two tools to help you in this area.  First, Spb Wireless monitor allows you to set data alarms.  These are easily configured and extremely useful.  Just input your data limits, and the program will issue an alarm when you have exceeded that limit.  I suggest setting a second alarm slightly below your data limit.  That way, you will receive an alarm as you approach your limit, and again when you reach it.

The second tool at your disposal is the Today Screen Plug-in.  For this, we are going to have to turn off Touch Flo, since it does not allow additional plug-ins to be displayed.   Here, you can see the plug-in displays all of your connections, and a real time monitor of your usage.  You can configure each data connection to display stats for the current connection, today’s use, or usage for the entire month.  One thing I would have liked to have seen would be a custom period of time.  That way, you could enter your actual billing cycle rather than calendar month.  Nonetheless, this is a great way to determine how close you are to your data limits, or even track your data use at a glance.  Just tap any of the listed connections to jump into a full report.

I do think this program has a lot of room to grow.  I would love to see more monitoring features, such as: SMS  or MMS messages sent/received, voice call talk time, and possibly even Internet History.  I would also like to see Spb improve the reporting methods by allowing you to compare periods of time, for example month to month, and create different kinds of charts like line graphs, or pie charts.

Still, I was extremely impressed by the improvements Spb has already made to this one.  They took an outdated and underutilized program in GPRS Manager, and really turned it into a must have program for all Windows Mobile enthusiasts, especially those who are not on an unlimited data plan.  Anyone who is concerned about the money they spend using the data plan on their phone is going to want to load Spb Wireless Monitor.

In other words, this is going to be one of the most important utilities for any Windows Mobile user with a data plan of any kind.  Yet, it could be much more, and I do hope that Spb continues to develop it in order to add more functionality and power.

What I Liked:

• Easy to read interface
• Configurable reports
• Usage alarms
• Today Screen Plug in

What Needs Improvement:

• More chart types (pie, line)
• More reports (SMS messages, MMS messages, voice calls)

Where To Buy: Spb Software House

JAMM Store

Price: $19.95

Trial: 15 days

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