Limitting Bandwidth

[dlunamticsx]

Hey,

I was hoping that someone here could lead me in the right direction.

I have a problem with a roommate using up all of our bandwidth to the point that I can hardly ever play online games. I pay for our internet connection entirely and paid half for our router. At the time it didn't seem like a bad idea, but I let him use the router in his room since he doesn't have wireless and I do. I have asked him to stop downloading while I'm using the internet on multiple occasions and he usually just says he isn't downloading. I have went and looked to see if this was true a couple times. Both times he had a whole slew of things downloading.

I need to know if there is anyway for me to limit his use to a reasonable bandwidth or am I just going to have to force him to stop? He has started locking his door so I don't really have physical access to his computer or our router.

Thanks!

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

What make/model router?
Many current generation routers have a "QoS" setting, which allows you to prioritize certain types of traffic.

But honestly..."home grade" routers do this sorta..almost.."OK". If he's cranking his warez/p2p/torrent crap...he'll pound any home grade router to the ground no matter what you have for QoS.

You can do better with building your own *nix router..they're superior with QoS/traffic shaping, but honestly....

..."Time for him to get his own internet".

 

[DeChache]

Look to see if your router supports QoS (Quality of Service) Using that you should be able to slice the Bandwidth in half or limit him in anyway that you would like.\



Edit: Beat to the punch but YeOld is right.

 

[lgestle]

If you have a recent router, you can utilize QOS. It will not reduce his speeds, but you could assign a lower priority to the ports his apps are using.

However, if he has the router in the room he most likely knows how to re-configure it and really most file transfer utilities have settings you can set max download and upload speeds during the installation or on the fly. That would solve most of your problems, but he probably knows what he's doing. Especially since you mentioned the few times you checked he was downloading multiple when he said he was not.

Since your paying the broadband bill, I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to keep the router in your room (especially if you need to purchase a router with QOS) and have him purchase a wireless card if he wants free broadband. That way you can control the router through QOS, and if still gets out of hand enable ACL to prevent those ports at certain times or indefinitely.

Many recent home routers have QOS and ACL. I know the one I use, DIR-655 does.

Personally I would be more concerned with my name on the bill. I could only assume he is torrenting who knows what.

 

[dlunamticsx]

Thanks for the responses. So I can't access it to use QoS without being the one hooked to the router?

 

[00PS]

Usually you can log into the admin console using a web browser of some sort. If its a common brand the IP is usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 by default.

 

[DeChache]

Thanks for the responses. So I can't access it to use QoS without being the one hooked to the router?

The router as stated above should have a web interface that you can log into assuming he hasn't changed the password.


The model of your router will help us help you.

 

[dlunamticsx]

I am not the most educated person when it comes to networking as you can tell.. but I was able to get into the router and put counter-strike as a high priority... that is about all I knew how to do. I'm not sure how to make his torrent lower priority, I don't even know the name of it actually.

Thanks for the help though. Getting my most played game to be prioritized over his dls is something for sure, unless the router isn't good enough like one of you said earlier.

 

[DeChache]

I am not the most educated person when it comes to networking as you can tell.. but I was able to get into the router and put counter-strike as a high priority... that is about all I knew how to do. I'm not sure how to make his torrent lower priority, I don't even know the name of it actually.

Thanks for the help though. Getting my most played game to be prioritized over his dls is something for sure, unless the router isn't good enough like one of you said earlier.

Well the problem stems from the fact that consumer grade routers cannot handle the traffic that bit torrent generates and just brings everything to a crawl.

 

[svjustin]

If you've got a linksys router you could load ddwrt. It does about everything. Heck you could disable the physical ports all together over your wireless connection. Been awhile since i've used ddwrt but im pretty sure it even has bandwidth throttling. So you could give him a certain amount to use.

 

[awesomo]

To get true QOS. Build a pfSense, m0n0wall, etc... box. If you think your roommate is crafty, a layer7 firewalling solution such as untangle, can detect the type of packets being sent no matter the port. Encrypting torrents is another story.... Bit torrent can be a bitch to filter/block.

 

[hoeding]

Well the problem stems from the fact that consumer grade routers cannot handle the traffic that bit torrent generates and just brings everything to a crawl.

It's not generally the traffic that will kill a router, but the number of current tcp sessions eating up cpu time/memory usage (mostly memory in a cheap router). I can't recommend pfsense enough for what you are looking to do.

 

[ben chi(f4)]

I'll point you to search for "throttling"

 

[kevinzak]

If you pay for the Internet, tell him you can see in the router logs that he is downloading and if he wants to keep using the service YOU pay for, he can stop (or at least set up a schedule) or you'll take it away. Seems pretty simple to me.