Monitoring users Network bandwith usage

Ebenezer_Scrooge_2

Is their a way i can monitor other users download usage over my wireless connection? Ie by monitoring the IP address they are using on the network?

weegie.geek

this'd be better suited in the techie forum, but i'm sure someone will move it.

Monitoring one machine's easy, usually. You can run an app that will measure in/outbound data. The problem with that is that a lot of these apps won't be able to differentiate between internal (streaming stuff between your PCs for example) and external (internet) traffic. It's also fairly easily circumventable if it's there for you to see who on your network's eating up all your monthly bandwidth allowance.

The other problem is measuring the data usage of stuff like xboxes, wiis and ps3s. There are no apps to run on them to measure their usage.

You CAN measure usage by another, more reliable method, and that's by using a router capable of doing so. This is done entirely by the router, so it doesn't matter what the device that's using the bandwidth is, be it a wi-fi enabled phone or your tivo, it just measures what each device (determined by its MAC address) is using. MACs can be spoofed so it's not foolproof if it's proof of something you're after, as opposed to just stats.

I couldn't tell you which routers are capable, but it's definitely the way to go if you want your measurements to be (relatively) reliable and flexible.

Rex_Mundi

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email abuse@moneysavingexpert.com.