Monitoring Broadband Usage

The Black Oil

Hi,

Is there any recommended tool for monitoring your broadband usage on Mac? Preferably something that can show a bit of detail, not only how much is being used, but where, if possible. We have a few devices connected to our broadband so that might explain some of the usage. I look at the Eircom stats through their site, but I'm a bit concerned and wondering if some outside party is hogging some of our bandwidth. Thanks.

coylemj

Have you set a a password on your Wi-Fi?

The Black Oil

I presume that is separate from the encryption key which is a jumble of letters and numbers?

I'm looking at 192.168.1.254 which I presume is where a password can be changed? It says user is eircom@eircom.net and seems to have a password there, but I don't know what the password is. Unless it's broadband1 or something default like that, if memory serves. That stuff is under 'connection'. Then there's another section for router password which is blank. Might that make a difference? If I set one, will I have to tell each computer to reconnect to the system through the same encryption key? Apologies, this is probably in the wrong forum now.

barryj

The Black Oil wrote: »

I presume that is separate from the encryption key which is a jumble of letters and numbers?

I'm looking at 192.168.1.254 which I presume is where a password can be changed? It says user is eircom@eircom.net and seems to have a password there, but I don't know what the password is. Unless it's broadband1 or something default like that, if memory serves. That stuff is under 'connection'. Then there's another section for router password which is blank. Might that make a difference? If I set one, will I have to tell each computer to reconnect to the system through the same encryption key? Apologies, this is probably in the wrong forum now.

The encryption key is the most important one. Basically, there are two ways connect to your router:

1) Ethernet cable - requires you have a physical cable between the router and a computer, so you need to have physical access to the router. The encryption key is not needed for this method.

2) Via wireless. One of the controls for this is the encryption key. If anyone else has the key or guesses it, then they have access to use your connection. The key can be any string of characters.

A few years back, Eircom used an easily calculated method of generating this encryption key, which meant it was easy for other people to connect to nearby routers that never had the key changed, which very few people do. Typically, Eircom print the key on the bottom of the router, for convenience - but you can change this to whatever you wish. When you do so, you will have to change the key on any other devices that use your router. You should use a reasonably long string of letters and numbers and not just a simple or name. It would be a good idea to change this, especially if you've had the router for a few years.

Once connected by either of the above two methods, then you need the admin password details to make changes - I've no idea what Eircom set this to, but it's probably printed on whatever paperwork you got from Eircom.

As regards an application to monitor traffic, be aware that anything you run on your mac will only be able to figure out traffic to/from the Mac, not any other machine on the network. You can google for such apps. The built-in activity monitor will show you bandwidth used since last reboot.

- barry

The Black Oil

Appreciate that. We had another router before the current one, but age may be an issue, as you suggest. The current one doesn't have a key written on it. I've noticed that the one in a friend's house does, however...it's a more recent model. If I change our key, I presume it's then a case of entering it into the other computers - or do I need to restart them and the router? Should be simple enough, I just want to do it correctly to make sure everything syncs properly. Even if this works, the usage levels may still continue.

Now it's saying 10% has been used and OK some of what's mine, but we're only at the start of May, so it's a bit ridiculous.

barryj

The Black Oil wrote: »

If I change our key, I presume it's then a case of entering it into the other computers - or do I need to restart them and the router? Should be simple enough, I just want to do it correctly to make sure everything syncs properly.

Yes you need to change it on all devices. You shouldn't need to restart anything. Be aware, that if you change the key when connected wirelessly, you'll be disconnected straight away - you'll have to put the new key on the computer, before you can reconnect. It's often handier when making changes to connect with an ethernet cable. But if you don't have one it should still work.

The Black Oil wrote: »

Now it's saying 10% has been used and OK some of what's mine, but we're only at the start of May, so it's a bit ridiculous.

.

I don't know what your quota is, but one thing to look out for is any P2P file sharing software installed on any of your computers - typically, if you leave these running, other people will be downloading from your machine, using your bandwidth.

- barry

The Black Oil

Thanks again. Have an ethernet cable around somewhere, so I'll try with a laptop. Aye, there may be some P2P stuff going on, but it's not going most of the time.

Edit, I presume the likes of Dropbox and Sugarsync being opening all the time may not affect it much or..?

barryj

The Black Oil wrote: »

I presume the likes of Dropbox and Sugarsync being opening all the time may not affect it much or..?

They may or may not be hugely significant. Add up the content of the folders you have synced with the services. You'll have at least a once off cost of uploading all the data, followed by any changes you make. Add to that potentially syncing it with other machines in your house - if they don't sync locally, then you'll have additional downloads to the other machines.

If the contents of the folders you have synced either have a lot of data or have data that changes a lot, it could be a large chunk of your bandwidth.

- barry

Talisman

You should change the password for the router from the default "broadband1".

vincent coffey

The Black Oil wrote: »

Hi,

Is there any recommended tool for monitoring your broadband usage on Mac? Preferably something that can show a bit of detail, not only how much is being used, but where, if possible. We have a few devices connected to our broadband so that might explain some of the usage. I look at the Eircom stats through their site, but I'm a bit concerned and wondering if some outside party is hogging some of our bandwidth. Thanks.

try surplus meter
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/20884/surplusmeter

this I had to get after running 840 gigs in one month (250 gig cap on UPC)

Also get little snitch so you can see what kind of calls your machine is making to teh outside world

ZENER

Talisman wrote: »

You should change the password for the router from the default "broadband1".

I doubt that's the "router" password, more likely the users password to access eircom.

Older Eircom routers used a WEP key for wireless devices to access the router, there are a few sites and apps about that will give the default key to enable anyone with enough knowledge to use your connection though usually within a couple of houses from yours. If you live in an apartment then there could be any number of possible thieves !

Best thing to do is to change the encryption key to WPA/WPA2 PSK, far more secure than WEP. As mentioned above you will need to be hardwired to the router to do this. Once done then your Mac will ask you for the WPA key to access the network when you remove the cable and resume a wifi connection. Enter the key exactly as you entered it in the router control window and that should be it ! Do likewise for any other devices and that should eliminate that threat. Anyone who may have been stealing your bandwidth should now be disconnected.

You could also observe the lights on the router with all your own devices powered off, if the lights are still flashing then there's a possibility someone is connected to your router.

Ken

The Black Oil

Thanks for that.

I did change the 26 character key, kept it at WEP level, mind, so I'm up for trying WPA/WPA2 PSK instead. I do check 192.168.1.24, go into Expert Mode, Statistics and LAN. It shows what devices are connected when they're on and they're all from within the house. If someone was logging on from elsewhere wouldn't it be obvious from this page?

I'll try your suggestion of having everything off and observing the router lights.

ZENER

It's relatively easy to crack a WEP code with the right software. I've done in myself as an experiment on my own system. It took less than 10 minutes with an old Pentium 3 laptop and only one other computer on the target network. The tools are readily available for free on the net !! By tools I mean a single Linux based bootable CD and a few pages of documentation. A quick check in Google should give you an idea.

It's also possible to mimic the hardware address (MAC) of another network card that is really connected to your system making it appear like a "friendly" device. Once connected it's easy to get the names of the computers on your network and the workgroup name making it easy to mask the rogue computer !

It's been a while now but at the time WPA was un-crackable. Although I'm sure they've progressed somewhat in this endeavor, WPA is still more secure if you choose a long key with random characters and symbols avoiding dictionary words or names. Most of the attacks on WPA encryption are dictionary based - at least when I was experimenting they were anyway

Hope this has been useful !

Ken

Stainless_Steel

Download this utility:

http://download.cnet.com/IP-Scanner/3000-2648_4-50848.html

It scans your network and lists all the devices connected. Ensure only your mac is turned on and set it to scan passively so it doesn't pick up sleeping machines.

You should be able to see if any unauthorised clients are connected to your network if you check regularly. Then learn how to hack and bring them down

The Black Oil

Thanks again for the feedback.

Well, the problem has sort of been solved now. Eircom have gone and changed the limit to unlimited (taking it with a grain of salt), there's a thread in the Broadband forum about it. Will still go ahead and implement WPA, though.