How to find out where our bandwidth goes ?

bonzodog2

WE got a letter from UPC last week, saying we'd used 156GB in November

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

There's 3 laptops connected most of the time, to a Netgear WGR614 wifi router, connected to a Scientific Atlanta EPC 2203 modem.

Is there a way of finding out, or keeping track of, the bandwidth used by each connected device?

We have WPA security on the router, so it probably isn't the neighbours.

woolymammoth

sounds like someone's laptop has lots of movies on it

that's a fair bit of data for just one person to be honest, but easier for a few... Are all 3 of you downloading 24/7?

PogMoThoin

Watching Youtube or streaming any video will eat up bandwidth

djdunny

also if someone is using a torrent client they may be uploading while downloading and this will also contribute towards that limit.

woolymammoth

anyway to answer the question, unless there's a function on the router, or you have an application on each pc, then no. not that i'm aware of anyway.

bonzodog2

OK, thanks. I have been known to download the odd movie ... but 156 GB would work out at roughly 222 x 700MB movies. Now I know the 156GB is prob DL + UL, but even so .... Does anyone know how much traffic a serious poker-head playing 5-6 games 18hrs a day will generate? (that's not me btw) ?

Razzuh

Hi,

I don't think poker applications generate much traffic. All the graphics are stored locally so there's not much sent and recieved. I'd be surprised if it would add up to even 300MB a day with constant use.

Very few routers support the kind of traffic monitoring you're looking for, and if they do it usually decreases performance substantially. The only way to record it is to put software on each laptop so people are at least aware how much traffic they're responsible for.

Something else to watch for: If someone recently set up an online file backup system that could have caused traffic. Someone in my house did and traffic went up 5GB a day. It's supposed to drop off once the files are synchronised, but it there's a lot of file turnover then it'll add up to a lot.

woolymammoth

Razzuh wrote: »

I don't think poker applications generate much traffic. All the graphics are stored locally so there's not much sent and recieved. I'd be surprised if it would add up to even 300MB a day with constant use.

unfamiliar with poker apps, but i'll second that. Would go as far to say it may even be less

Razzuh wrote: »

Very few routers support the kind of traffic monitoring you're looking for, and if they do it usually decreases performance substantially. The only way to record it is to put software on each laptop so people are at least aware how much traffic they're responsible for.

The linksys wrt54gl is the only consumer grade wireless router that can support this functionality through 3rd party firmware (i'll have to double check that though). as for pc software, networx is a nice little app. If you're on windows 7, the Network Meter desktop gadget is good too.

Razzuh wrote: »

Something else to watch for: If someone recently set up an online file backup system that could have caused traffic. Someone in my house did and traffic went up 5GB a day. It's supposed to drop off once the files are synchronised, but it there's a lot of file turnover then it'll add up to a lot.

again true, but that person would need to have a lot of data and have a lot of it changing constantly to generate that amount of traffic. Possible the entire system, windows & all was being backed up! :eek:

I'll add, that if you happen to have a static IP, check that someone in the house hasn't set up a web server that's become a little popular.

DublinWriter

I recently got the Droop Troop virus on a PC.

It generates a lot of traffic.

Immediately after you connect to the internet, check the little network icon on the bottom right of the screen - if you see the bytes transferred numbers starting to clock up without you even opening a browser, then there's a good chance you have a virus.

I'd recommend Hit Man Pro as the best anti-virus software to get rid of the Droop Troop variant.

Cuddlesworth

http://www.wallwatcher1.com/

If you have a supported router and a machine on all the time. If you have a Linsys BEF series router you can use a add on to retrieve data and not need a machine on 24/7.