For you networking geeks

Lately I have been pissed off at my house mate, he has been abusing the internet D/L limit. I may soon have another house mate once my sister fly overseas again.

So is there such software where I can "monitor & control" their usage individually?

I was hoping I can cap it and charge them $5-10 bucks a Gig over the limit. I would not consider Unlimited d/l option. Than the electricity bill will sky rocket!!!

I have had enough of "sorry I didn't realise", and sick of being the nice guy. I use probably 10G of 60G monthly limit, and throttling mid way through the month. !!!!!!!!

Just tell them your limit is 40GB so they wont download as much porn :P

Turn off the modem when your not home ?!

NetLimiter is one option, but I think you need it installed on each computer.

If you have a wireless router that each computer connects to, to access the net then it's a little bit harder if you dont want to install software on each PC.

Depending on your modem you may be able to upgrade the firmware to add this functionality - for example I have a Linksys WRT54G...by installing OpenWRT you can add shaping features to control bandwidth right at the modem.

You can also get proxy software with bandwidth control/shaping and install it on your PC. You would then have to setup rules on your router to deny internet access for all PC's except the proxy PC - then all other computers would need to add the proxy into their browser settings and your PC would act as a proxy server, monitoring their usage. Here is one example of such a product: http://bandwidthcontroller.com

The modified modem is the best option, but not always available.

The other option, which isnt really going to do what you want, but will place some restrictions on users....if you have a modem that supports QoS you could look at rate limiting certain types of traffic, so users wont be able to download at full speed - just set torrent and other P2P traffic to a much lower download speed

an option i always liked is a linux box like esmith/smoothwall but thats only if u have an old box at home. Another option look at www.dd-wrt.og and see if your router is compatiable it may have options your looking for.

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Originally Posted by jasn78

an option i always liked is a linux box like esmith/smoothwall but thats only if u have an old box at home. Another option look at www.dd-wrt.og and see if your router is compatiable it may have options your looking for.

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yeah was gonna mention linux/squid add-ons, but it's a little bit geeky and can be difficult to setup for the inexperienced...there are quite a few free options for windows though, although the free windows stuff aint as good as the free linux stuff

I will be trailing few programs, for now the bandwith controller seems to be the software I am looking for.

As long as I have a software that shows me the usage of A,B,C,D I will be happy.

Thanks Guys.

Louis, why don't you just warn him that if it happens again you'll just be handing the internet bills to him? :)

That worked with a friend's brother...they both shared one internet and the brother used to download all sorts of games and stuff and would cap the internet in the first week of the new month! So they said to him you're no longer allowed to have your own internet unless you pay for what you use because you hog it....so he pays per month for his own internet now lol.

Unfortunately there's only so much you can do before you have to confront someone and shove the consequences their way.

Even easier - don't provide them with internet access at all.

Configure your router with a password and then block all mac addresses except your own. Make sure they don't know the PPOE password, or they'll just slap on their own cheap modem when you're not there.

Make them get their own wireless broadband and pay for it themselves. That way you will not be legally responsible for what they download either.

If one of them uses your connection to download child pornography, for example, you'll be in gaol before the finger gets pointed at the real culprit.

Force them to use their own account, it's the only way.

I prefer Heckler & Koch, suits the euro thing :)

on a serious note but mate, i hope its a capped plan cause i got f'ed over majorly by my old flatmate for 1grand over the same thing.

My honest opinion is go with gerhard's idea and just ditch them off your router completley I know its not the nicest thing but if your the one with the account your responsible for EVERYTHING unless you can prove it was them

I have just come out of a situation where my ex housemate wasn't paying bills or rent while I have been here overseas(he still owes over $1300)...Get him out of the house before the problem gets bigger...Excuses won't pay your bills.

Another idea would be limiting the speed going to that computer.... Most routers will let you do that under the QoS heading....

So say if your connection speed is 512Mbps you can limit that specific computer to only use either a %ge of that (depending on the firmware) or a set maximum such as 32kbps (dial up speed is normally 52.2kbps)

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Originally Posted by GTom

Another idea would be limiting the speed going to that computer.... Most routers will let you do that under the QoS heading....

So say if your connection speed is 512Mbps you can limit that specific computer to only use either a %ge of that (depending on the firmware) or a set maximum such as 32kbps (dial up speed is normally 52.2kbps)

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Yep as I said here - you could simply limit them if your router allows it

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Originally Posted by Gravey

The other option, which isnt really going to do what you want, but will place some restrictions on users....if you have a modem that supports QoS you could look at rate limiting certain types of traffic, so users wont be able to download at full speed - just set torrent and other P2P traffic to a much lower download speed

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QoS is nice and all, but they can trickle in a lot over time and still screw you.

I've used Smoothwall before and it worked very well. The ability to control who can have what, when and how fast as well as logging what they have done is fantastic. Don't have so much of a use for it anymore.

It can be a bit of work to setup and customise, but once it's up and running it's a near perfect solution. Will run quite happily on an old PII or PIII which you can pick up for nothing if you look around.

Netlimiter Pro 2 will let you install and hide the Netlimiter service. Then from your computer, you can remotely connect and set speeds for each application individually. As long as he isn't too tech savvy, then he won't know it's there and more importantly, won't know how to disable it. Looking at around $30USD for this solution.

I currently run a hardware based solution; Clarkconnect. Similar to Smoothwall/IP Cop/pfSense et al. I've used them all and been happy with Clarkconnect for the last 6 years. You set upload and download limits in kbps, so 128kbps is roughly 16kB/s. You can apply it to certain ports for instance their P2P or BitTorrent port or all ports. This solution is free, however, if you're not too familiar with networking, it can be a bit of a challenge.

Pity you're not in Melbourne, I would've helped you get up and running as I know how frustrating your situation is.

Ten bucks bets your room mate sits on youporn all night Louis!

Thanks for your oppion guys, I have not yet setup any software yet.

I have just warn them of internet changes next month with involves costs and briefly ran over the situation.

I dont wanna be stingy but this is my house! I am happy to share but Hogging bandwith is not cool!!

If worse comes to worst, easiest way is to cut it off internet completely. I can not put up with tip toeing in my own home anymore. Let not get into the issue of "friend" coming over and having to put up with noises I do not need to hear late at night. Especially on my days off!!

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Originally Posted by Soundofav6

Let not get into the issue of "friend" coming over and having to put up with noises I do not need to hear late at night. Especially on my days off!!

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Just make your own noises in your own room, then when they stop making their noises ask them to keep going because "you were almost there" :)

Problem solved.

laughs was about to say the same thing . better still, play farming and animal noises when they start . :)

Charge the 'friend' nightly rent!!!

yes...kindly remind the 'friend' who the landlord is!

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Originally Posted by The_Hawk

Just make your own noises in your own room, then when they stop making their noises ask them to keep going because "you were almost there" :)

Problem solved.

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LOL.... best call !!! made my day hahaha...