In addition to a ticker bar that reports on the status of your connection and lists any problems that have occurred, nine different panels can be viewed on the dashboard at the same time. The most important Net.Medic panel resides at the top of the dashboard just below the ticker bar and graphically portrays the status at each step of your 'net connection.
Beyond the icons for your computer, modem, and the remote site, this panel also identifies the number of intermediate hops between you and the remote site. The hops are grouped into three major categories — your local provider and its routers, the Internet backbone that your provider connects to, and finally the Internet itself and the routers it uses to deliver your information.
Clicking on any of these six core segments brings up a specialized panel that gives in-depth information about that area. For example, the modem panel reveals your modem's maximum baud rate speed, its current speed and compression rate, its average data transfer speed, and finally, its overall health. The remote site panel, on the other hand, gives the average rate of information served, the time spent delivering information, the current time of delay, and the percentage of delay caused by the site itself as opposed to the percentage caused by general internet congestion.
Whenever trouble arises you can click on the panel with the problem to receive a diagnosis and general prescription. If the problem is related to your computer or modem, Net.Medic can often correct it automatically via the 'autocure' button. Otherwise, if it is a severe emergency Net.Medic will allow you to notify the node's administrators or prescribe an alternative solution for you.
