How to track network use

[bluntspoon]

Hello. Below is my network usage.



For the first time in the 15 years I've had broadband I'm hitting bandwidth caps. Maybe it's just because my kids are now older and spend a lot of time watching videos and playing online games, both on the PC and over wifi on tablets/phones. But I'd like some ideas on how to track use over various devices to see if I can nail things down. It's weird how big the jump has been in the last 2 months and I'm worried someone is in the network who should not be. Yes, my wifi is password protected. Suggestions on software/methods to track this stuff would be appreciated. Don't mind spending $50 or so if necessary but not much more.

I could always just ban the kids from their computers for a month other than for schoolwork and confiscate phones when they get home and see what happens.

[Flyte]

You could block all outside mac addresses and see if there's a change? If not, it's probably someone you know unless I'm mistaken. And no, do not confiscate your children's devices, I hate when my dad does that to me; life is so boring.

[Boss Llama]

Since that appears to be an instant jump of something like two thirds over your previous visible high, I'd wager something was installed or started being done that is using all that data.

Run virus and malware checks first, then make sure there aren't any peer to peer sharing programs on any of the computers. If one of the kids is seeding torrents or something, that would easily do it. Also, how about Netflix or one of its competitors. Is anybody streaming HD movies or episodes of a show or two starting then?

Depending on your router, you may be able to log in to it and see what's being used. I know on mine I can log in and through the admin system and see every device attached, pull up activity logs, see the number of packets sent over each LAN port and wifi frequency, track data usage and set limits, etc.

[bluntspoon]

I've changed the password for wifi and installed a little program called networx on all PC's. That should let me monitor usage. I have a TP-AC1750 router, I looked for monitoring type stuff and did not see anything obvious off the bat. Need to read the manual I guess.

My kids tend to find themselves with random toolbars installed from time to time, so it may be one of those churning away in the background. I'll dig into that tomorrow.

edit: found the stats page.

[belak]

That's a bit suspicious.

You can find current usage with the Resource Monitor (at least with Windows 7) and with Windows 8, I think there's something like this built into the task manager.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/241677/h ... nitor.html

[Soup Nazi]

Ask the kiddos what apps they use often. Some common programs (Such as Spotify and Skype) act as p2p programs or hog bandwidth even when not in use. Also hook them up on adblock and No-track plugins for their web browsers.

[Flash]

I'm a big fan of the Tomato (Toastman Mod) router firmware. It has a ton of features that allow you to track and limit usage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato_(firmware)

But since you're got a pretty new router I doubt you'd want to make a change.

[Tilgasse]

I use Tomato on my Work and home networks lets me view Useage by IP. Its really powerful.