Bandwidth Monitoring at Home

[Stuart]

Out of interest does anyone see how much they use and which item in the house is using the most. I want to track in our house who is using the bandwidth.

We excluded our oldest from using xbox online for a week and it dropped like a brick but he's convinced having read online that it doesn't use alot so I'm thinking the only way to do is to find a new router that will actually track what IP's use what.

Anyone else have there home network setup in such a manner - is it even possible ?

[Mslater]

Hi Stuart,

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PS Monitor is in the firmware [url=http://lifehacker.com/5048579/monitor-your-monthly-bandwidth-with-your-router]Monitor Your Monthly Bandwidth with Your Router[/url]

[Zeeflyboy]

Xbox live doesn't use huge amounts regarding online play.... it varies though from game to game and whether you are hosting, using dedicated servers etc etc. It's impossible to give a figure due to those considerations.

Start downloading demos though and those are often over a Gb each, game updates, downloadable content add ons etc etc and it adds up fast.

[LaurenceGough]

A not so technical way is just to run [url]www.speedtest.net[/url] on your computer while certain devices are on and while they're not.

XBox's do use a lot, just with most gaming applications. I've seen household's connections slow down greatly when the xbox is being used online.

In your router's settings you can lower the priority (QoS) for certain IPs and then assign static IP addresses on your network.

[Mslater]

[QUOTE=LaurenceGough;812448]A not so technical way is just to run [URL="http://www.speedtest.net"]www.speedtest.net[/URL] on your computer while certain devices are on and while they're not.

XBox's do use a lot, just with most gaming applications. I've seen household's connections slow down greatly when the xbox is being used online.

In your router's settings you can lower the priority (QoS) for certain IPs and then assign static IP addresses on your network.[/QUOTE]

It's not that reliable Laurence, you might as well just look at the lights on the router and see how fast they flash. Speedtest uses streaming data to check the speed over time whereas Xbox is usually burst packets and quite often UDP rather than TCP so it doesn't show up so well. It might give an indication but you'll never get the same results twice, only a ball park figure.

[Jamin_00]

It is something I would be interested in finding out :)

[Gixxer]

DD-WRT is very good alternative firmware. Chech here to see if your router is supported... [URL="http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database"]Router Database | www.dd-wrt.com[/URL]

I've not used it for a few years, so I'm not 100% sure if you can monitor individual bandwidth usage, but there is definitely a plugin script for it which does allow you to do so.

Edit: the bandwidth monitor script for it is here... [url=http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=75275]DD-WRT Forum :: View topic - Per-user Live Down/Upload Rate Monitoring [No PC needed!][/url]

[AcidDrink]

[QUOTE=Stuart;812439]Out of interest does anyone see how much they use and which item in the house is using the most. I want to track in our house who is using the bandwidth.

We excluded our oldest from using xbox online for a week and it dropped like a brick but he's convinced having read online that it doesn't use alot so I'm thinking the only way to do is to find a new router that will actually track what IP's use what.

Anyone else have there home network setup in such a manner - is it even possible ?[/QUOTE]
I don't know about bandwidth monitoring (I refuse to sign contracts with providers who have limits), but I can for certain tell you that if your oldest only plays games, that doesn't use a lot of bandwidth (I make these games for living). Maybe a 1GB a week, which is nothing and that's stretching it.
If he watches movies and uses Netflix for example, then yes, that can eat a lot.