Capping Download limit on a wireless network

flagpole

I have 3 pcs connect via wireless to a linksys router. There are 3 of us using bb in the house and i would like to assign a 4 gb limit to each person (rather than havig 1 person using up the entire 12gb). can anyone recommend a software product that will enable me to do this?

ntlbell

flagpole wrote:

I have 3 pcs connect via wireless to a linksys router. There are 3 of us using bb in the house and i would like to assign a 4 gb limit to each person (rather than havig 1 person using up the entire 12gb). can anyone recommend a software product that will enable me to do this?

If you had an aul 486 or something similar knocking around you could do it with a FreeBSD/Linux based firewall and some tweaks.

is there no tools built into the router for bandwith managment?

flagpole

no , not that i could see, there are some nifty security features but that doesnt seem to be one of them. i can limit the time a person spends on line etc but not how much they download

crawler

flagpole wrote:

I have 3 pcs connect via wireless to a linksys router. There are 3 of us using bb in the house and i would like to assign a 4 gb limit to each person (rather than havig 1 person using up the entire 12gb). can anyone recommend a software product that will enable me to do this?

This should help

http://www.winglink.com/conntroll/index2.php

Very cheap for what you get.

You could proxy them all through one PC to ensure proper control etc....never used it but friends tell me it works well.

flagpole

thanks crawler, this looks really promising. ill try the trial version and see how it goes.

ntlbell

does it work with wireless tho?

no mention of it

flagpole

your right , there isnt. it also dawned on me that i may have to install this on all the pcs on the network..that wont work as id have no control over it (the person could just uninstall the monitoring software).
the problem is that 1 of the owners of the 3 pcs on the network (family network) is using up a savage amount of our download limit, we have a 12 gb limit and this guy has used 4.5 gbs in 4 days.
the router (linksys) doesnt give me the ability to cap individual users downloads so i think I may be stumped.

Bogger77

You could use the QOS function built into the linksys, kill his connection for a week or so.

TimTim

Ever wonder how ISP's do it?

Have a look to see if your router supports RADIUS with accounting. There is some very powerful free *nix based RADIUS packages around.

Disclaimer: Well, thats what I'd think the ISP's would use anyway.

jimmycrackcorm

Get an old pentium pc (cheaper than buying a new router) and install smoothwall.

you need two nics - one for your Access point/ router and one for the BB.

And smoothwall (open source version) is free.

flagpole

thanks very much for the suggestions folks. one question about downloads etc. when you connect to online games such as counter strike etc is there any possiblity that they add to you donnlaod quota. I appreciate it may when you are downloding upgrades etc but what about general play?

secret_squirrel

Is the router one of the linksys ones with Open Sourced firmware? (WRT45G and its derivatives)

If so one of the third party firmwares might have better user control options.

alternatively tell the offending user that you will start charging them by the amount of stuff they download.

Lister1

when you connect to online games such as counter strike etc is there any possiblity that they add to you donnload quota

Playing online games will add to the amount you download. It's really insignificant unless playing on servers where you have to download alot of new maps etc....