iPhone tethering connections can now be monitored by Traffic2Net, a utility for Mac OS X from Nova media (http://www.novamedia.de). The US$14.95 app is a universal statistics manager to keep track of time and data usage of mobile Internet connections.

Traffic2Net displays connection details of 2G and 3G connections in one window. The connection details include the time online, up- and download volume, average data throughput, peek speeds, and even the IP address and interface used. Data usage and time online of the current connection are visible in the menu bar of Mac OS X.

Traffic2Net allows you to set session and period limits for your connections. This way, you can have a warning displayed on the screen whenever a limit has been reached, says Jan Fuellemann, PR spokesperson at nova media. This is very helpful feature to avoid any additional payments caused by overstepping a data plan’s limits, he adds.

Traffic2Net is completely independent from any connection manager, so you can use it regardless of the way you establish a mobile Internet connection. The software works with most 2G and 3G modems available worldwide. A demo is available for download.