monitoring network

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D3x!

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Hi All,

I know this has most likely been asked a hundred times so i do apologise.

I want a way to monitor my network and see who or what is eating massive amounts of my bandwidth, i have spoken to the guys but nothing has changed.

is there a way i can monitor the network usage (i.e i dont need to know about the local network, only downloads etc on adsl)

i would prefer to not have to change settings on every pc

i currently have only a netgear adsl router in place going to a switch and the to the pc's, very simple network

ideas?
 
If you want proper stats then you are going to have to stick a firewall between the ADSL router and your LAN. There are a number of opensource shrink wrapped products: untangle, monowall, smoothwall, pfsense etc. Find one that has support for squid (proxy) and SARG (reports) and then force them through the proxy. There may also be other tools bundled in like ntop which will give you breakdowns on protocols.
 
I am afraid the only way si to install some layer 3 device between the network(switch) and the router.
The easiest would be a small micro computer running some opensource product Untangle, IPcop, pfsense.
Then to monitor the traffic you can use ntop or if it is only http traffic you could use squid and SARG.
Would be easier if we knew what type of router it was.
A router that could do netflow/netstream would be ideal for you.
See if you can get a router that runs OpenWRT or if you can update your firmware to OpenWRT and install fprobe in that distro.
You can then use manage engine's Netflow collector to get stats(free for 4 interfaces) .
 
it is a standard netgear router, fairly oldish, think it is a dg834 if i recall.
 
you could install netmeter on all the Pc's this will give you a indication whats happening on each Pc, but the totals can be reset if you have people who don't want to see their usages
 
http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/netgear/dg834.g/b

look there are no options here that aren't going to cost you money or time. As with any Networking / IT installation there is a small about of risk involved here so make sure you have a backup device ie router that you can install.
I would personally take this route but I also would rather spend R400 on a router than a night on the town, and then spend 4 hours trying to make it do stuff that it was not designed for.
This should be relatively straight forward. your other options are buying a small mini computer, reusing an old one or finally buying a relativity strong but flexible ruler, creeping up behind "offenders"(ie youtube watchers) and wacking them over the knuckles.
 
lol @ ruler

last month for example there was around 12-15GB more than average usage :wtf:

i am pretty sure there is torrenting going on.

i looked at that link, sorry what exactly does that do?
 
Well one of the options that I gave was replacing the firmware on the router with custom firmware.
With this firmware a whole lot of extra options become available, however it does become more technical.
You should then be able to install an addon on the router to add fprobe which is a netflow collector.
you then install a netflow analyser on your computer export the log from the probe to your computer and have graphical representation of traffic.

Another option however if you think it is torrents(although think torrents should be alot more than that, what line do you have?)
Just add QOS and make everything but for HTTP,HTTPS and SMTP really low bandwidth. Am sure your router supports it.
You can probably assign really low bandwidth to youtube sites too.
 
nah no QOS that i can see on this router, i know the newer ones have it.

hmmm perhaps i should consider changing the firmware. would it be possible to see the traffic by ip address then?

it is a 4mb line
 
OK options are:
1. Replace firmware with OpenWRT, pro cheap/free con technical skill and work required
2. Buy new router with QOS (have to be adsl2+ router)
3. Buy new router with OpenWRT maybe see TPLINK (http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=1_55_56&products_id=201)
try get discount for mybb members by messaging them. Place in line with current router.
4. Use old computer or buy microcomputer and install untangle, pfsense, IPCOP or similar inline or onlan implementations possible
but more technical work.

your choice bud
 
Thanks man you have been really helpful, either going with 1 or 3, will play around tomorrow
 
D3x! said:
i currently have only a netgear adsl router in place going to a switch and the to the pc's, very simple network

ideas?
Click to expand...
Another suggestion ...

Change the netgear into a modem (bridge) and buy a Mikrotik RB750/RB750G for the routing. It has a function called Torch which will show you exactly what IPs/ports/protocols are using what throughput (in real-time).

Bit of a learning curve if you're not techie inclined (still GUI based tho).
 
Wow that Rb750 is damn cheap R350 also MPLS and advanced routing, wow impressed. What a nice little SMB device.
I think the license for routerOS is more expensive...
Ya this could be another option, for sure also does netflow/Traffic flow pretty damn cool.
Think I want to VM that routerOS to check it out, what are your experiences with it?
 
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