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My question is pretty straightforward. I am on a budget. I have too many devices, ranging from phones, ip tv, play station, PCs and laptops. My home router is pretty basic. I was wondering other than depending on my router (i.e., buying an expensive one) is there any way I can monitor which of my device is utilizing how much bandwidth?
BoredToolBox
Posted 2017-07-27T04:24:15.153
Reputation: 33
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Its not really practical to do transparently do this kind of monitoring except on a router (ignoring enterprise grade switches)
That said a cheap router may not exclude you from doing bandwidth monitoring depending on the type of router. If your router is compatible with DD-WRT you can flash that onto it and take advantage of its monitoring features. Plenty of cheap ethernet routers work with DD-WRT (but not ADSL or VDSL routers). If your budget > $0, and you do have an ADSL/VDSL router, it would be possible to put a cheap DD-WRT ethernet router between that router and your devices and use it for monitoring.
Also, depending on your router, you can sometimes get a very crude indication of utilization of each port on it by looking at LED activity. This won't help you if most of the activity is coming through WIFI.
It is also possible (but not trivial) to configure another computer on the network to act as a gateway (you will need to set it up as a gateway and to handle DHCP), which would cause traffic to be routed via that computer - and you could then find / roll some software to monitor the usage of each link. You would want this device to be always-on and connected via ethernet - so its generally better to just use a router to do this - you will save the cost of the router in decreased power bills.
davidgo
Posted 2017-07-27T04:24:15.153
Reputation: 49 152
I don't understand the first line. I would edit it, but i think it's better you do that. – None – 2017-07-27T06:31:45.150
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First, every router is different, therefore some won't tell you (Most do not).
In Windows go to a command prompt (cmd in search box or in run), type in ipconfig. On Mac or Linux, go to your Applications then Terminal, and type in ifconfig. Find a line that says something like "Default Gateway."
Find the IP address and remember it or copy it. Go to an address bar in any router and type in that address. such as http://192.168.1.1 but using the value that you got for default gateway. It should give you a username and password. Screen.
Do some password research for routers. Sometimes the password is listed on the bottom or side of the Router itself, look. If not, Google "Netgear Yadayada login passwords" or similar replacing the Router Name with your own, and try to find it. BUT often, the username is usually "admin" and the password is usually "admin" or "password."
After successful logon; Because every router is different you are going to have to navigate through the screens, menus and navigation bars. Till you find bandwidth usage, or what it is currently using. Sometimes you might be able to set max bandwidth for certain IP and MAC Addresses or by device name (to get an IP Address, use step one but find "...Local...IP... Address..." or similar on that particular device).
If you are unable to find it. There are seldom software out there for your router. Try using it by going to the manufactures website. The software might tell you what it is using.
If still unable to find the bandwidth of devices. On every Windows OS you can go to Task Manager and it will show what it is using at any time in the "Network" tab. You can also go to sites like http://testmy.net to test your download and upload speed. (If no one is one and not using internet but this, it should give you your max speed. If multiple devices are using the internet, it will tell you the download speed to that device)
Sometimes QoS or "Quality of Service" may affect internet bandwidth. In your router's settings you might want to adjust the settings right for you. (This is especially crucial for top notch ISPs like CenturyLink, because the router often communicated afar to the ISP services to dictate what you want to prioritize). Usually Netflix,Videos and Gaming are throttled. You may want to adjust these settings to your liking.
Phones you may be able to find an app that keeps track of your internet usage and download and upload speeds. By measuring the upload and download rates.
Good Luck!
El8dN8
Posted 2017-07-27T04:24:15.153
Reputation: 1 319
Note that on Wi-Fi, you want to measure the airtime used, not bits or bytes per second, because a fast Wi-Fi client can be over 1000x more airtime-efficient than the oldest slowest clients. So a fast client could be moving hundreds of times more bits per second, and still be causing less Wi-Fi congestion than an older slower client. Also note that lag (latency) spikes on a congested link are a sign of a bug called bufferbloat. My best advice is to fix your bufferbloat first before bothering to look for or deal with bandwidth hogs. – Spiff – 2017-07-27T05:41:57.717