How can I tell the transfer rate of each computer on my network?

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I'd like to determine the instantaneous transfer rate of each device connected to my router. I don't have access to all these devices, and some of them aren't computers. I don't need these transfer rates to be continuously monitored and stored, I just need to see the current rate of each computer to see which one is doing a large download/upload.

Is there some program that can allow me to see the transfer rate of each device connected to my router (which is a Netgear WNDR4000)?

Hassan

Posted 2013-09-14T03:25:40.293

Reputation: 503

Hassan, Look into [DD-WRT][1] I know it you can do per-user bandwidth bandwidth monitoring, but it may requiring some dirty work to get that feature installed

[1]: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Netgear_WNDR4000
 – Usta  – 2013-09-14T04:04:28.330

Not an answer to your question, but possibly a solution - simply look at the switch and see which ethernet light is blinking the fastest, then trace the cable from that device and you probably have your culprit. – davidgo – 2013-09-14T07:50:28.220

@Usta Thanks, I'll look into it. I'm not sure if this will be possible, but if I'm able to do this, I'll give it a try. – Hassan – 2013-09-14T23:50:49.183

@davidgo Thanks, but most of the devices are wireless, so there's no way to determine which the LED is blinking for. – Hassan – 2013-09-14T23:52:49.423

@Hassan, If you don't want to do anything messy, you could purchase a router that does support bandwidth monitoring/limiting. My $30 router I use as a booster supports it. TL-WR841N>http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&tag=ie8search-20&index=blended&linkCode=qs&camp=1789&creative=9325&keywords=TL-WR841N

– Usta – 2013-09-15T01:36:37.567

Answers

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You said you have a router, I'm not sure how to proceed in this case, if the firmware don't provide this information you can't do it without additional hardware.

But if you are prepared to add some hardware to your network it can be done.

What you would need is to connect your modem directly to a computer, and share its Internet connection with the router (two Ethernet ports required here). You would have a computer intercepting everything that goes in and out your network.

This create the possibility of using a network diagnosis tool like Wireshark or CommView in this computer to generate detailed statistics about the Internet usage.

Havenard

Posted 2013-09-14T03:25:40.293

Reputation: 788

Not quite entirely true. Free third-part firmwares, such as DD-WRT, support per-user bandwidth monitoring. It may, however, require manually installing a script. I am not familiar enough with DD-WRT walk Hassan through the process, but I know it supports it. – Usta – 2013-09-14T04:03:32.187

Unfortunately, I don't have a computer that I can dedicate to monitoring the network traffic. In fact, none of my computers even meet the requirements (two ethernet ports). – Hassan – 2013-09-15T16:58:50.947