Monitoring internet bandwith via network

[jlr]

Hi Everyone

I have a network at my workplace, with 8 computers. I come in early in the morning and the internet is reasonably fast. As soon as the rest of the office staff comes in, the speed drops to a very large extent.

So somebody is taking a huge chunk of the bandwidth. Does anybody know of a program I can use to monitor the bandwidth going to each PC?

Thanks

 

[Chunkyfeather]

I need something like that also. Same happens here at our office, in fact same setup as you.

But i reckon in my case its just our slow internet connection that is fine for one user and then more come and BAM, slow down as more people, send/receive emails. Perhaps its even our servers that cant handle many connections. Who knows.

 

[Elvis007]

You can either load software on each pc to see how much they are using. (never done that myself, don't know what software)
Or best option is to setup a standalone pc/server as a proxy server/firewall. Many options but I usually just use MS ISA server for that, but there's linux servers as well that will do the same, and it's free, like smoothwall

 

[syntax]

You can either load software on each pc to see how much they are using. (never done that myself, don't know what software)
Or best option is to setup a standalone pc/server as a proxy server/firewall. Many options but I usually just use MS ISA server for that, but there's linux servers as well that will do the same, and it's free, like smoothwall

heathen.....i would rather use....nothing than an ISA box...

But you have some good points, on the free side there is a plathora of linux based systems and add-ons you can use for bandwidth monitoring
a quick google search will give you what you need...

in terms of paid solutions you can use things like websense express, webmarshall, bluecoat etc

 

[Jinx10]

dont want to hijack thread but i would also like to know but is it possible to determine usage as follows: I have 4mb ADSL and two people in my house also access the net via wireless connection to my modem. Im paying every month and would like to charge them for what they use. Is this possible, to determine how much they use even though the download via wireless connection?

 

[bin3]

It's a bit technical but I have found the best solution to be ...

Get an old machine and install a Linux distribution of your choice on it -- Gateway.

Install Squid and IPTables on the Gateway machine.

Configure IP Tables to forward all port 80 and 443 traffic via Squid.

Install Analog, and Mrtg and whatever else you would like on the Gateway.

Continue and enjoy.

With a bit of fiddling you can setup spam blockers and loads of other plugins on Squid.

As mentioned, this is a bit technical and might not be for every one.

It does work very well though.

I believe there are other 'packages' like smoothwall or the like that has this preconfigured, which can be a very good thing. I personally did not have a great experience with Smoothwall and prefer to manage the proxy and firewall myself.

Just my 2c.

Amendment:

Whatever you choice to use you have a few steps involved ...

You need to get a proxy running so everything in your networks run through that - squid or similar
You need to force all traffic to hit that proxy - iptables or similar
You then analyse the proxy and firewall for usage details

You might also want to install a DHCP server on your gateway just to make networking a bit easier.

 

[PallBearer]

go get a copy of Active Wall Monitor (Free Copy)

I have an ISA 2004 server and it don't help me much (unless i'm dum and cant use it )
the AWM software tells me realtime who is hogging all the bandwitdh at that point in time, and keeps counters as well.