Monitor Network Usage

[the_power99]

Hey guys, bit off topic but thought I'd ask anyway;

On my home network (wired and wireless) i would like to monitor the internet usage by various computers, the reason being we keep going over our limit or the internet is almost always slow (unless i am the only one home, then its fine) and of course all users deny its them.

Is it possible to find out what is chewing up all our bandwidth?

note:
Most connected devices are wireless except one pc that is directly connected via cable, i thought it would be possible to install something on it to keep track on what's going on,

Hope this is possible


Specs/info
Wireless/ Wired network (encrypted)
1 NETGEAR DG834PN Router
1 wired desktop with networked printer
1 xbox 360 connected via cable to router
2 Windows XP laptops connected via wireless
3 Windows 7 laptops connected via wireless
1 Windows vista laptop connected via wireless
1 Windows vista desktop connected via wireless

 

[heavennevaeh]

Hey guys, bit off topic but thought I'd ask anyway;

On my home network (wired and wireless) i would like to monitor the internet usage by various computers, the reason being we keep going over our limit or the internet is almost always slow (unless i am the only one home, then its fine) and of course all users deny its them.

Is it possible to find out what is chewing up all our bandwidth?

note:
Most connected devices are wireless except one pc that is directly connected via cable, i thought it would be possible to install something on it to keep track on what's going on,

Hope this is possible


Specs/info
Wireless/ Wired network (encrypted)
1 NETGEAR DG834PN Router
1 wired desktop with networked printer
1 xbox 360 connected via cable to router
2 Windows XP laptops connected via wireless
3 Windows 7 laptops connected via wireless
1 Windows vista laptop connected via wireless
1 Windows vista desktop connected via wireless

Monitoring the network traffic from all of your devices would be a job for your router.
Unfortunately, your Netgear firmware probably only allows for a limited amount of actions, monitoring bandwidth is probably not one of them. I'm not totally familiar with netgear though, so you might find something in their firmware gui. If you want to gain more control over your network I would suggest purchasing a router that you can flash DD-WRT or OPEN-WRT onto.

you can get more information on those firmwares from their sites:
www.dd-wrt.com | Unleash Your Router
OpenWrt

 

[the_power99]

Ok thanks, i had a quick look around seems neither will work, so i guess my only option is to get a new router than, right?

 

[heavennevaeh]

Ok thanks, i had a quick look around seems neither will work, so i guess my only option is to get a new router than, right?

yeah, i would suggest a linksys wrt54g. they're pretty cheap, and easily customizable.
you won't get many options from any stock firmware on routers.

Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router WRT54G Wireless router - EN, Fast EN, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g

 

[the_power99]

Ok thanks, i will look into it