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[HTPC4ME]

we have over 12 devices in our home all constantly accessing the net, dropbox, storage, cloud, jriver, heavy youtube usage, netflix etc... well we got a notice today from century link stating we downloaded 980gb in sept, and uploaded 136gb. There cap in fine print of policy that they linked me to via there high usage notice is 250GB.

i did some googling and found this... they mention a lady in ireland with a 250GB cap as well, and offer a solution... http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/43561/ask-how-to-geek-how-can-i-monitor-my-bandwidth-usage/

You guys heard of the software (Networx or any of the other programs mentioned in comments)? is there something better to look into? easier? hardware based be safer (ANOTHER router with monitoring capabilities)?

Thanks for any help

[MrC]

What are you trying to accomplish?  Simply monitor network hogs?  Or are you looking for something to do web caching to reduce downloads?  Ultimately you may have to change your network habits.

[HTPC4ME]

good questions, i've thought about both

like a throttle maybe? when the house devices/home network get to say 225Gb's then speeds slow way down.

or an alert system, where it would monitor all devices, then alert the main system (my pc) so that i can see where most of the traffic is coming from, then deal with that pc/person. Then perhaps throttle that pc/device permanently if possible?

This is all new to me, Ive never monitored traffic, nor thought i needed to. But personally one ISP notice is beyond enough for me to change what needs to be changed once i know best route to take (software/hardware to use).
Thanks MrC

[HTPC4ME]

for arguments sake/neat test if possible... take just facebook. 12 devices with all browsers always open, feeds constantly updating. this would be interesting to see the downloads/uploads bandwidth used. But It's tough to search google for these things when one doesn't know what program offers all these options, or what is even possible in todays technology for monitoring/throttling.

Another example take something like jriver/5 person household, all grabbing vids, music via gizmo/myplayer on Phones, and Tablets. what would that use?
or all devices checking emails every few minutes?
In our case 3 of the 12 devices sending graphics/print files to online storages dropbox, uploading to ftp for website. etc...

[HTPC4ME]

the more i ponder 250Gb and howtogeek's comment on "250GB isn’t much to split among 5 people, it would be pretty easy to burn that up in this age of streaming HD video, large iTunes downloads, and more. " 250GB is really minimal.. average household everyone has pc, tablet, phones. 250 COULD add up quick.

I mentioned this to century link in live chat.. and he replied back with "one of the devices must be doing file sharing. because if they were all just streaming. it would be far less." from the few things i've mentioned on how i can come up with why the bandwidth is so high, do you guys concur with the Century Link Reps statement?

[HTPC4ME]

ohh and what i really find ironic is Century link has no problem sending you upgrade notices every 6 months when they upgrade the lines. We just recently upgraded from 12 to 40meg. but no where did it mention (that i noticed) this 250 cap... let your customers get to 250gb quicker then send them notices... you sit and wait for internet pages/data = lower bandwidth.. feed them internet pages/data instantly=higher usages...

"CenturyLink's download guidelines are designed to support today's download usage patterns. Our updated plans include the following download usage limits:

    1.5Mbps plans - 150 Gigabytes
    Plans greater than 1.5Mbps - 250 Gigabytes
"
1.5Mbps to 40Mbps is the same size bandwidth total!?
http://qwest.centurylink.com/internethelp/eup.html

[MrC]

Build yourself a Smoothwall Express appliance out of an old PC with a couple of Ethernet cards.  You'll be able to monitor, throttle, traffic shape, web proxy/cache, sash server, and loads more.  It is really easy to setup, and quite customizable.  I ran one for many years.

[HTPC4ME]

wow... streaming eats it up! 2 seasons streamed from netflix to one pc 32GB?
http://ask.metafilter.com/177347/What-size-is-the-average-movie-download-in-gb


MrC i was afraid hardware was going to be your reply... i have so many boxes already to maintain.

[rick.ca]

I mentioned this to century link in live chat.. and he replied back with "one of the devices must be doing file sharing. because if they were all just streaming. it would be far less." from the few things i've mentioned on how i can come up with why the bandwidth is so high, do you guys concur with the Century Link Reps statement?

Yes, streaming HD video will put a dent in a 250 Gb quota. But it would take all 5 of your people streaming different video 3 hours a day every day to get up to 980 Gb. Also, it's difficult to imagine what you would be uploading that would total 136 Gb for a month. But it makes perfect sense if a large portion of the 980 Gb downloaded was from file sharing. So, no matter what the truth is, the rep knows you're an evil-doer.

My quota is also 250 Gb, and I watch HD video if it's available (and, of course, it is for everything current). I've never gone over, but I've been close enough to consider it necessary to keep an eye on my account. But I'm just one person. That suggests to me you'll likely have to curtail your usage and upgrade to a plan with a higher quota.

I have not idea what might be better, but NetWorx looks good for my needs. Thanks for the reference.

[Daydream]

As a theoretical case (but not totally impossible), if you leave your 40Mbit/s connection going on (read downloading/uploading) at all times, you gonna eat up 250GB in ~14 hours not 1 month. For all they care you could upload/download everything and the kitchen sink off Crashplan or whatever. Those caps are insane.

As for filesharing... If you have to UL 136GB to get 980 GB for file sharing you don't know what you're doing. Stop torrenting that's not the best source. As an aside does it say anywhere in the contract you cannot do filesharing?? Or that you can do only certain things with the internet connection you pay for? Are they outlined all those things from 1 to 1 million? Do they really wanna have a guessing game and try to prove it that you do I don't know what traffic if, say, you put an encrypted VPN on top of everything?

Otherwise, yeah, certain routers do have traffic meters, including notification blinking lights and shutting the connection down entirely when it reaches a limit. My Netgear N900 has these (and I stumble on them by mistake, never in my mind have have I thought to turn on something like that).

Hopefully Google and their fiber are gonna eat all these providers up . Has anybody considered moving to Kansas City, MO?

[HTPC4ME]

for time being, ive instructed everyone, watch less you tube in hd, less streaming. i'd like to stay away from adding more hardware if possible, maybe i'll give networx a shot, and see what transpires.
if google does come to down, or i hit the lottery...i will leave Century link for sure.

[bob]

Like rick.ca said, I also find it difficult to see what could be pushing 136GB outbound other than outbound torrents or one of your PC's have been captured and is part of a spambot.

[MrC]

for time being, ive instructed everyone, watch less you tube in hd, less streaming. i'd like to stay away from adding more hardware if possible, maybe i'll give networx a shot, and see what transpires.
if google does come to down, or i hit the lottery...i will leave Century link for sure.

In that case, since you seem to have some cash to spare, get a better network appliance (i.e. firewall/router), that supports logging of inbound/outbound network traffic at the IP and port level.  This way, you can start to identify which systems and services need hitting with a stick.  If it has various IP shaping tools, and schedules, you can control centrally the bandwidth behavior of your rogue roomies.

I suggested Smoothwall because the software is free and easy, installs in minutes, old PCs are cheap/easy to find, and is far cheaper than the cheapest business-class router/firewall (those used to be REALLY expensive).  I used old P2 and P3 class machines - plenty fast enough, and cheap to run.

[MrC]

Like rick.ca said, I also find it difficult to see what could be pushing 136GB outbound other than outbound torrents or one of your PC's have been captured and is part of a spambot.

Or various cloud-based backup services, such as Mozy, CrashPlan, etc.

[HTPC4ME]

been doing lots of reading found this article - http://lifehacker.com/5917367/how-can-i-find-out-how-much-bandwidth-im-using-at-home
want to thank you all for your input... i know i've decided to go hardware based. MrC's suggestions or router over software. i think it would be easier to monitor Visitor usage while they are on my network, then having to say excuse me, may i add monitoring software before i give you my wireless key.

[hottysummer]

there are 4 desktops and laptops in my family, my kids like surf the Internet lots. So I have to choose home network monitoring software LAN Desktop Spy Monitor http://www.dtspy.com/monitor-network-traffic.htm to monitor and control network and computer, and it works perfectly.