Track/Monitor who is using internet, on shared network

Question

I live in an apartment with my three other colleagues. We have a broadband network, and monthly rental plan that we share. I use a linux system. Can I track who is using the network at any time, like who is downloading etc.? Thanks for any help in this regard.

Also, is there any way with which we can control how much speed one person can have (so that no one can exceed that particular speed limit)?

Answer 1

Yes, you can control how much bandwidth is allocated. Most routers (not all) have a service called QoS (Quality of service) which allows you to fix the bandwidth on a per-application-basis. Mind you, it is not a per-user-basis.

Yet, if you suspect that torrent downloads are really the source of your problem, you can easily limit the fraction of available bandwidth allotted to a variety of processes, so as to keep the use of common resources fairly distributed among all users. Also, keep in mind that downloading may very well take place at night, so that you even search for more sophisticated routers allowing a finer control of resource allocation.

As for seeing who is doing what on your LAN, the best known instruments is wireshark, which is based upon a cruder-looking program, tcpdump, which is basically only a debugging tool. With wireshark, sorting users, protocols, destination is considerably easier. You may want to look at that.