How can I monitor internet usage in my network?

networking internet bandwidth

166,825

Solution 1

If you want to graphically display your local network connections, you may be interested in etherape. Free and cross platform. The thickness of the connection is an indicator of traffic volume.

Solution 2

At the router level would be the easiest as it wouldn't involve installing software on each machine separately. Tomato Firmware is great and automatically monitors bandwidth in the logs section, you can use it along with IPTables (Linux) for a complete traffic monitoring solution. Since you are probably on Windows, you can use it in a VM as well.

For a software solution for each computer, take a look at the freeware tool NetLimiter, the bandwidth monitor is free:

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Solution 3

The Windows Resource Monitor on 7 (and Vista?) has grown quite advanced in what it shows under "network".

Resource Monitor

Solution 4

You can use DU Meter + dumeter.net to monitor Internet bandwidth usage on your network:

dumeter.net displays bandwidth usage of all your computers connected to your account. Your Internet provider can show only the overall totals, which are of course useless if you have several computers in your house and would like to know how much bandwidth each of them used.

DU Meter is not free, however dumeter.net is currently free for all DU Meter 6.x users.

Disclaimer: I'm the author of DU Meter software.

Solution 5

TCPView allows you to see the connections. Process Monitor can help you filter on actual data transfer.

Wireshark goes to the level showing you the packets in detail. Fiddler2 is in specific for HTTP transfer.

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166,825

Abdul Hameed

I am Evil

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Abdul Hameed over 1 year

I need to know which computer is consuming my bandwidth. Is there a tool to do this?
- Jared Harley over 14 years
  
  What operating systems are you using on your network - Windows, OS X, Linux, or a mixture?
- John T over 14 years
  
  I took a peek at his other questions / answers on the site. Seems like windows to me.
- Kamyar over 12 years
  
  @thecie007: You're right in a way. But the problem is, I don't use any. I'm going to choose one and I know only the two I mentioned in my question.
Abdul Hameed over 14 years

I'll try installing the tomato firmware then reply.. thanks!!!
John T over 14 years

Make sure it is compatible with your router before installing! You will also need IPTables to see per-computer statistics. good luck :)
John T over 14 years

interesting name for software.
Abdul Hameed over 14 years

ok this is interesting, but, how can I compile it for Windows...
DaveParillo over 14 years

Sorry, I ddin't see the windows reference. If it was me, I probably wouldn't bother - because I'm lazy. It has too many dependencies (Gnome, etc). I would install it inside a virtual machine running a nice simple linux distro. For example, use VirtualBox on your Windows host and Ubuntu as the guest OS. That's a lot for 1 application, but still easier than compiling etherape IMHO.
davr over 13 years

@John T: EtherApe is one of those unfortunate names like expertsExchange or penIsland
Kamyar over 12 years

Wow! how didn't I notice that...
Simon Sheehan over 12 years

@Kamyar It can be SLIGHTLY hidden in a way...great thing built in though!
Dmytro Ovdiienko over 8 years

I'm going to test application on Network Hub (repeater). If it works, then you do not need L2 switch. And it will be more cheaper solution.
Dmytro Ovdiienko about 8 years

Did not find cheap repeater. Looks like there is no sense to buy it. Unless you have it already.
Asme Just over 7 years

I guess the OP means which software use my bandwidth and not which computer is consuming my bandwidth
looooongname about 7 years

Unfortunately this requires an installation on each PC and may not account for mobiles and tablets etc.