Limiting network speeds

[Fottiti]

Unfortunately I'm still stuck with a crappy 1mb connection due to where I live and recently another person I'm living with got a laptop. She is hogging up a load of the connection downloading stuff whereas everyone else respects the fact that during certain times of day its unacceptable.

Is there any form of firmware that will provide a means of limiting DL/UL speeds for a Belkin ADSL Router (Router code is: F5D9630-4)?

I'd assume there is no standalone program that would allow me to limit network speeds without actually installing it on that computer?

[Caiyuo]

well, firstly do you know what she's using to whore up your connection? Torrents specifically or just a mix of a lot of things? There's a possibility your router has QoS, though I haven't checked, and in that case you can set the majority of her traffic to a lower priority than the rest of your house/users which would allocate less bandwidth to her when overall usage is high amongst different sources.

[SephYuyX]

http://www.netlimiter.com/

[Killgannon]

likely since your modem/router is an all in one, theres no QoS or bandwidth throttling in that firmware, also since its an all in one, theres likely no firmware updates that would add that. your best bet would be an additional firewall box with any of the firewall linux distros out there (ipcop, pfsense, smoothwall, etc) that way you can limit her to like 1KB/s and be done with it, of course this way may run you money and you may not be experienced enough to do it... the other way (much easier) is the tough love way, i assume she's using wireless since she's on a laptop, so just change your WPA key and kick her off... or null route her MAC address with MAC filtering and cut her off til she learns

edit:

sephyuyx missed this apparently:

I'd assume there is no standalone program that would allow me to limit network speeds without actually installing it on that computer?

netlimiter would need to be on her pc

[SephYuyX]

I saw that part, it worked for me limiting a few PCs just from my own a few years ago. Unless they got rid of that feature.

[Killgannon]

theres no conceivable way it could work like that, ever. unless your computer was doing the routing

[SephYuyX]

*shrug* I was looking for a program that could limit net activity from one PC, did searches, saw netlimiter faq and said that was one of it's main features. Installed it, selected the pc I wanted to limit and options of what to limit, and it worked.

[Fottiti]

likely since your modem/router is an all in one, theres no QoS or bandwidth throttling in that firmware, also since its an all in one, theres likely no firmware updates that would add that. your best bet would be an additional firewall box with any of the firewall linux distros out there (ipcop, pfsense, smoothwall, etc) that way you can limit her to like 1KB/s and be done with it, of course this way may run you money and you may not be experienced enough to do it... the other way (much easier) is the tough love way, i assume she's using wireless since she's on a laptop, so just change your WPA key and kick her off... or null route her MAC address with MAC filtering and cut her off til she learns

I can't really kick her off due to part of the tenancy agreement, it wouldn't resolve anything and likely create a lot more issues.

I'm not 100% sure but my main guess would be a combination of torrents and youtube thats causing most of the traffic.


I don't want to cut her off completely but limiting her to 256kb is the aim, I guess I could always wait for an oppurtunity and install netlimiter while she is out (she only has very basic computer skills so installing it in a secluded place with icon on desktop/start bar she'd probably never know. Does the program send regular update prompts?

[SephYuyX]

All configurable. Can get rid of the status bar icon and any hint of it starting up to be completly stealth.

[Zosi]

I'm not sure where you live, but here in Wisconsin (and most other states, for what it's worth), installing software onto someone's PC without their knowledge and consent is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $10k fine and 9 months in jail. If you can't talk her into doing it herself and you don't have a router capable of inbound QoS, try buying a new router before committing a crime.

Edit: And tell your landlord to get a better tenancy agreement. Barring disruptive behavior that prevents other tenants from using a shared resource is pretty standard stuff...

[Fottiti]

Don't live in america at all and I would have already approached my landlord if I thought it was a worthwhile option. Only looking for workable solutions based on the question I asked.

[Zosi]

Don't live in america at all and I would have already approached my landlord if I thought it was a worthwhile option. Only looking for workable solutions based on the question I asked.

My advice was not specific to Americans, it's a crime in many other places as well. If that's not the case in your country, then I apologize, full steam ahead.