Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Router to track bandwidth usage?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    500

    Router to track bandwidth usage?

    Hi everyone,
    Been gone a while..

    Anyway, I have a LOT of people in my house right now, all with wireless laptops.
    I've seen a HUGE amount of bandwidth used in the past few days (8-16GB a day) which is unusual for my household. This is a problem for me since my ISP has a monthly traffic cap.

    I've started the usual things, doing virus/malware scans and whatnot, checking for unknown connected devices (using encryption on router), but since I need to replace my wireless router anyway since its very dated:

    Are there any routers out there that will track bandwidth usage by IP or MAC or some other individual identifier so I can identify the culprit? I'm thinking either its an infection i'm not finding, or some one is doing some heavy file sharing against my wishes!

    I'm not so concerned about lan vs wan traffic, since I'm the only one really transferring stuff internally, so I can cross my IP/Mac off the list and take that into account manually...

    Do these routers exist for a home type network? I've just started researching, but am only finding old articles and Cisco stuff so far, so I'd like some advice!

    Thanks!

    Wasn't sure where to put this since it isn't security related per-say, but please move it if you think it fits somewhere, as I'm sure it'll get more attn in the appropriate section!
    Last edited by cross; March 4th, 2011 at 06:33 PM. Reason: Location
    Ron Paul: Hope for America
    http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

  2. #2
    AO Senior Cow-beller
    Moderator
    zencoder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Mountain standard tribe.
    Posts
    1,177
    Astaro has some very good, opensource-based solutions. And for personal use (less than 50 IPs I believe) they are free. You can setup a gateway that can report...and limit...bandwidth usage.

    http://www.astaro.com/
    "Data is not necessarily information. Information does not necessarily lead to knowledge. And knowledge is not always sufficient to discover truth and breed wisdom." --Spaf
    Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job. --Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
    "...people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right." - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

  3. #3
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Moved from General CC. This is potentially security related, if only in so far as bandwidth = $$$$ ?


  4. #4
    Dissident 4dm1n brokencrow's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Shawnee country
    Posts
    1,243
    I've had to deal with this very issue on a number of small networks. Netflix is going to kill your bandwidth, as are torrents. I use IPcop on an older computer with a Layer7-modified kernel to block torrents. Unfortunately that does not block encrypted torrents, but that is easy enough to deal with as all torrents are UDP, so simply capping UDP will put a lid on even encrypted torrents. Netflix is a pain. Their movies are generally streaming from Limelight networks. You'll need to block those sites. Google "blocking Netflix" for more details. I can try to post more details once I get in front of one of the IPcops. Also, Amazon is streaming movies now, and even YouTube can hose your bandwidth.

    Parkinson's Third Law: usage rises to meet bandwidth.
    “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers

Similar Threads

  1. Cisco Router Enumeration
    By n00bius in forum The Security Tutorials Forum
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: July 24th, 2007, 03:48 PM
  2. Auditing Routers: The Checklist - Looking for Feeback
    By KuiXing-2005 in forum Network Security Discussions
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: April 4th, 2005, 04:44 PM
  3. Linksys Router Owners - HEADS UP!
    By thehorse13 in forum Network Security Discussions
    Replies: 31
    Last Post: June 8th, 2004, 08:19 AM
  4. anyone want to help me with some cisco hw?
    By Simo in forum Miscellaneous Security Discussions
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: October 28th, 2003, 03:47 PM
  5. how to hack cisco a router... wow
    By NUKEM6 in forum Non-Security Archives
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: February 3rd, 2002, 11:28 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •