How can I figure out where bandwidth problem is?

[wvmustangs]

I just received a notice from my cable company that says they have flagged me for using an excessive amount of bandwidth. How would this community recommend I resolve this?

I have a wifi network using a Linksys G router. In my home, we have 5 computers, 6 mobile devices, a wifi printer, an XBOX 360 wifi and a blu-ray player that can download movies from Blockbuster and Netflix.

I may be using too much bandwidth, but I would really like to know for sure. I REALLY do not want to pay for the Solarwinds $1795 application to solve this.

Thank you.

 

[Guest]

Downloading movies, music ? 14 devices attached to the router ?

I suspect you have answered your own question.

 

[wvmustangs]

Perhaps, but I didn't need you to tell me that. Am I correct in assuming that is your advice? Just pay whatever they tell me to?

 

[Guest]

Obviously you're a good customer so if you contact them and suggest that their limits are forcing you to look around at alternative ISPs you may find they come up with some attractive offers.

A friend complained to his ISP that he'd quit because he thought it was too expensive and overheard the sales person being told by (probably) her supervisor to the effect "give him what he's asking for we've got quotas to meet this month".

 

[wvmustangs]

Actually, they are not saying they will bill me more. They are saying that my disproportionate use share "may degrade the online experience of other customers". I fear they may actually be taking about dropping me. That being said, negotiations would be useless. I need some answers to make an informed decision. perhaps I need DSL and Cable, and split my home into two subnets. Perhaps a server with bandwidth throttles and limitations for times of day on my router.

What I really need is to know how I can see what places are using bandwidth and when. Seems like I set up a cisco 2600 router to do SNMP polls to a server once, but that was longgggg ago.

Is there an easy way???

 

[wvmustangs]

I signed an agreement, and the print was tiny. Don't even know where that OLD document is.

 

[wvmustangs]

I don't use Bit Torrent or Limewire, and I don't believe in freely sharing stuff people work hard to make to earn a living. If that is what they think, they will find I am just a household which uses the internet a lot. Personally I used to run a 5 line dial up BBS. Our email was fidonet.

 

[Kewlx25]

if bandwidth usage continues to be a problem, you could probably upgrade to one of their business accounts.

I know my ISP charges about about 2.5 times as much for a business account, but you get business class support and unmetered bandwidth.

Otherwise, you could ask them if there is some way to upgrade you account.

 

[aaron88_7]

I may be using too much bandwidth, but I would really like to know for sure. I REALLY do not want to pay for the Solarwinds $1795 application to solve this.

Who told you you needed Solarwinds? That is only a network monitoring program, it will not solve your bandwidth usage, it will only monitor it. Even if you want to monitor your network usage all you need is a router that supports firmware upgrades such as dd-wrt, Tomato, or others. These all have network monitoring functions, though I haven't used them myself, I'd imagine they would allow you to figure out which machines are using the most amount of data.

You said you have 5 computers so I must assume you have multiple people in your house. While you might not be downloading torrents I'd be willing to bet someone in your house surely is. Or perhaps your ISP just has a very low cap on their data allowance. In this case you're best bet is to just do as others have said and shop around for another ISP. I'd imagine if your internet usage is indeed legitimate your ISP would be willing to keep you. But if someone is downloading a ton of torrents then that would explain the letter they sent you.

 

[wvmustangs]

Nobody told me to use Solarwinds. I did a search for bandwidth monitoring and thier product came up everywhere.

I never knew there were different firmwares available for everyday routers. You have answered my question, and deserve an A++. I am going to look at all the opensource firmwares that support my router, and see which of them will support bandwidth monitoring. If I have a torrent junky on my little net, I will know quickly.

Well done aaron 88!

Thank you everybody.

I wonder how much bandwidth movies are taking. Perhaps I will post a follow up thread.