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What kinds of programs are there that can limit the bandwidth of a computer? I am curious because I am getting really slow speeds because other computers in my network are always downloading big files. Or is there an option in windows to slow the computers download speed?
AFAIK there isn't an option in windows that will let you limit the bandwidth.
If you use a computer to connect to the Internet (by using ICS i.e.) there should be some programs that will let you throttle certain connections.
But maybe there's a simpler way. With what are they downloading big files? Some P2P software maybe? Alot of P2P software will let you limit the maximum download/upload speed.
mungyun,
There are two basic sorts of software that do this:
1. Bandwidth limiters (chokes) that reduce the actual speed of individual connections.
2. Bandwidth caps that allow a certain amount of traffic in a set time period.
I am afraid that I do not have any links but if you do a google search for those you should find quite a bit. They will all be commercial and have to be used by the network administrator.
I am not aware of anything that an individual can do and would NOT recommend it if i was, as it would most certainly upset the network admins :)
Cheers
Some kind of firewalls/proxies can limit bandwidht at user/computer level. You can customize, for example, that a specific user can use 5% of BW or all FTP connections cannot exceed 30% of BW.
Hmmm, doesnt Squid offer bandwidth control of some form? I recall that it does.
http://www.squid-cache.org
I could be wrong though
Cheers.
I use a small program called netlimiter it allows you to control bandwidth on an app by app level. So if you need more bandwith for say a P2P and less for email then you can set it up that way. It is user friendly and easily configured.
Oh its not freeware.
http://www.netlimiter.com/
You didn't specify what kind of connection you are on or if this is for home or work...
But, if you are authorized to do something like this, you could setup a router made from a linux box. You can also shape traffic. Its actually a pretty cool project. I've known people to use it to shape traffic on their home web/ftp servers so all his bandwith isn't sucked up from people accessing files/pages.
http://lartc.org/howto/
hey Dcrypter, ive visited netlimiter site and it looks good for my (personal) needs.
Site is kinda unclear about details of the software. Do you have some docs about that i can have?
tks anyway for info
Within Windows you can either crank down the NIC's speed by configuring the advanced properties of the network connection (although this really just lets you set a 10/100 card at 10) or you can twiddle with the registry. All the registry settings are listed in KB article 314053 at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp
I've fiddled with this in a few cases with so-so results. I'd really recommend one of the options already listed, particularly phishphreek80's idea.
If you are at home -->Tell the rest of the family to piss off
If you are at work -->Go around and uninstall (if you are the sysadmin) all the p2p software
If you are at college -->Either suck it up and d/l at other parts of the day or rat out the culprits to
the admins (will lose friends this way).
Anything else -->Someone is stealing your connection; you best do something :D
WOW, I'm surprised on how many replies came in. But it is my roomate, he is using DC++ for P2P. and there is always about 5 600+MB files he starts to dl before he goes to bed, well, night time is when I do all of my stuff.
FYI: My roomate is starting college soon for networking. Currently he knows nothing about it. I kinda social engineered him. by telling him that he could hack into my computer anytime he wants only if I could do the same.*grin*.I have linux. He has windows. So me limiting his dls should be open range. and he leaves his computer unlocked when he is gone.
So i will look at DC++ and see what there is. and I was hoping to find some sort of stealth BW limiter(so my roomate can't tell hes being limited) I may try and look into programming one.
do you and your roommate share a router, and if you do, do you have control over it?? if so -- depending on the router -- you can limit bandwidth and set rules based on times for different computers
Yeah, the router is in my room, as with the modem. But, it is a linksys and there are no options of that sort I can find on the config screens. I was just thinking of setting up a script that send him a bunch of pings to slow him down, not as many as a DoS, but come to think of it, that would probably slow me down to :(
Errrrrrrrr?
To "preserve the peace and tranquility" so to speak, might I suggest a compromise solution?
Introduce him to "job scheduling" He sets up his d/ls and they kick in when you are both asleep............finished by the morning, so he won't loose out on anything, and you will have all the resource until you go to bed.
Or you launch them for him before you pack up for the night.
No contention, no confrontation and everyone is happy?
:D
Compromise? Me? lol. Well, recently with work and college he has most of the time to spend online and I get what time he is off and I am home. We are at peace about everything. I did tell him, however, that since the router is in my room, I get the rights to pull his connection anytime. We laughed about it.
FYI: The mechanism that gives the ability to limit output bdw is called in the community (IEEE, IETF, ...) "shaping". (I suggest to google it). This is one basic function in networking and telecom for bandwitdh provisioning.
Cisco call it rate limit, but they always change labels (HSRP, ...).
I don't know about linksys but I would be surprised that a so called router does not implement such a basic function.
Anyway, shaping the uplink bdw of your room mate would not be fair & is a first step to room war.
As you play with the beauty of linux (or on your linksys if it offers QoS), you could try CB-WFQ (Class based weitgh fair queuing mechanism) to set 2 priorities high for u low for your room mate, this would have the enjoyable result when congestion with minimum latency and throughput garantee on your last mile connection.
If your studying networking such experimentation would be highly valuable for your technical background. I personnaly need to understand those functions for VPN and traffic engineering...
Hey Networker! Thanks for the technical info! As a matter of fact, I am going into UNIX this semester and networking and UNIX next semester. The other reason I want to limit, is because the router is an older one and is succeptable to jamming problems when we are both on it.
But I will search for info on "shaping" etc. This is the stuff i'm interested in, well, and linux security.