Is there a way to limit Internet bandwidth on Wi-Fi on a per-user basis?

windows-7 bandwidth

6,281

You should be able to install dd-wrt on that router, from there you should be able to easily limit bandwidth through setting priority to users or limiting specific services.

6,281

Umer Farooq

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Umer Farooq almost 2 years

I am on Windows 7 and I have a D-Link Wi-Fi router. I become very helpless when my cousins come over for weekend and suck up all the Internet bandwidth by streaming Netflix and YouTube. I just to limit Wi-Fi bandwidth for the guests. Is there a way to do this?
- dashboard about 11 years
  
  forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=14407.0 this should be your answer regarding using your router to do the work
- davidgo about 10 years
  
  You need to do this on the router, your version of Windows is almost irrelevant. You might want to post your router model if you are looking for serious answers rather then general background info.
Umer Farooq about 11 years

I also use those website, if I do this they won't open for me too .Is there any reliable Windows program for limiting bandwidth for other computers?
dashboard about 11 years

haven't used it but you could give this a shot netlimiter.com
Umer Farooq about 11 years

Doesn't work properly in my case. Any good working alternative
Umer Farooq about 11 years

How to set QOS on dlink router
David Schwartz over 10 years

QOS on your router won't help. By the time the packets have reached the router, the earliest that QOS on your router could do anything, it's already too late because the packets have already consumed your inbound bandwidth.
davidgo about 10 years

@DavidSchwartz I disagree with it - particularly for the given protocols. The router still controls the speed of the outbound connection, so it is quite practical to slow this down - and this slowdown will be mirrored by the constrained WAN link. I know Youtube uses TCP and I suspect Netflix does as well, making it ideally suited for shaping and QOS limiting.
David Schwartz about 10 years

@davidgo I don't understand what you disagree with. You are correct that it is possible in theory for a router to control inbound traffic by adjusting outbound traffic. However, that's not what QOS is.
davidgo about 10 years

@DavidSchwartz I think it may come down to semantics as to exactly how we see the scope of QoS - I see QoS as including dropping packets to reduce the speed of a link. Also, I'm asserting that dropping packets on the inbound link - which QoS can [sometimes] do between the router and client (which is, ofcourse, outbound from the routers POV) will slow down the transfer of the tcp stream and thus slow down the connection.
David Schwartz about 10 years

@davidgo You realize we're talking about a guy who has a SoHo DLink WiFi router, right? What high-end Enterprise stuff might be capable of isn't exactly relevant. (Also dropping inbound packets just makes things worse since those packets have to get sent again. Using a gradually increasing delay sometimes kind of works.)
davidgo about 10 years

@DavidSchwartz I only use SoHo equipment that works with OpenWRT and DD-WRT, so my expectations might be a bit unreasonable. I did not see you were talking about a "dlink router", which presumably was to be read as implying dlink router with default firmware. I agree that you are probably unlikely to be able to make a significant difference with QoS on something as limited as a dlink router running default firmware.
ganesh almost 8 years

On/off is a very primitive form of 'limiting'. Also, if they have any IT knowledge or if they can google then it is easy to work around it.