How to limit router bandwidth?

3

Is there a way to configure my (D-Link DIR-615) router to throttle down the allowed bandwidth after a certain amount of bandwidth has been used? For instance, I want my router to operate normally up to 20GB. After 20GB I want the router to limit bandwidth to a fraction of the normal speed (perhaps 1/5th).

I live in Canada, so in about a month, everyone is going to be billed based on the amount they used (usage based billing). Instead of the unlimited bandwidth that I am enjoying now, most people will be capped at 25GB and will have to fork out $2/GB of over usage.

Thank you in advance for the help.

David

Posted 2011-01-31T04:57:19.127

Reputation: 2 007

I have a similar router, and have a similar problem (also in Canada). I'm not aware of a way to do conditional throttling, because the router doesn't keep track of the usage out of the box. You might have to invest in a smart firewall like SmoothWall or IPCop, running on its own PC, or perhaps a different router that does have this sort of functionality. Other than that, I can't think of anything in particular. – None – 2011-01-31T05:03:56.823

Not everyone, just everyone under the grasp of Bell. – John T – 2011-01-31T05:17:24.633

@John T, if not everyone then, can you mention an ISP that will not have usage based billing after March 1 (sort of like the deals that Teksavvy is providing now)? – David – 2011-01-31T05:52:44.607

Answers

2

Certain models of the DIR-615 family are DD-WRT (a 3rd party firmware) capable with some work.

Third party firmware gives you the flexibility required to implement enterprise-class features on your little $50 SOHO router such as the throttling you're after.

Since most custom firmware is just a compact modified build of Linux, tools like cron are there and can be used to schedule usage checking on an interface along with awk/sed/grep. Parsing the WAN interface's usage and throttling based on the data is only a script away, some firmware may have an even easier alternative built-in. Typically you will make use of the tc command in shell scripts to throttle interface speeds.

John T

Posted 2011-01-31T04:57:19.127

Reputation: 149 037

I can barely understand what you're saying. Is there a tutorial in layman's terms? – David – 2011-01-31T05:49:35.740

@David what I'm saying is your request is not possible on your router with it's current software. You'll need to install alternative software to accomplish this. The complete install guide is here: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Installation

– John T – 2011-01-31T05:59:54.743

@David, you need to get a good router that can support DD-WRT or Tomatao. These are "operating systems" (firmware) for your router and will have capablities to do this. – wag2639 – 2011-01-31T06:32:36.767

Asked: 2011-01-31T04:57:19.127

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Active: 2018-05-18T09:19:17.633