How to monitor all internet traffic on my network?

[Vulgarreward108]

I was wondering if there was a legitimate way of monitoring my networks traffic.

For a month now in the evenings my connection has been at a constant 600 + Ping and It has become a real inconvenience.

I have a suspicion that my brother aged 14 is uploading youtube videos on a daily basis but I have no way to monitor his laptops internet traffic without actually having access to it.

I want to test this theory out by using some sort of program or tool to monitor internet traffic for my entire family network and just not 1 device, is this possible?


I understand netstat tells me what inbound and outbound connections there are on my device but is there a way I can see the entire network so I can see who is taking up all the bandwidth.

I would rather try this first before calling my ISP.

[Adrian]

Only a network device can see all users. That means your router. However, most home routers only show the most basic information, who is connected, and sometimes what IP they are connected to.

To do full network monitoring, without access to your brother's PC, you have to use some intelligent network device.. Your PC cannot see his network packets, only the router or "other" network device can.

Thus, the basic answer is you cannot do what you want. Only exception is to build a free Linux based firewall, one that can monitor all users and their traffic, and replace your existing router with it. Only other option is to buy some commercial equipment... Either way, it is hard to do.

[Krowten Nimda]

If your router can mirror traffic to a port, have it mirror all traffic to an open port. This will send a copy of all traffic out that port. Then just plug in a laptop and run a packet sniffer, like wireshark. Adrian's suggestion of a linux firewall would work, and honestly its not terribly hard to do. For a couple hundred dollars you could get a little beafier device that will do what you want. A Sonicwall TZ 205 is a wireless firewall which will do the packet sniff itself. I found some sites selling them for around $400.

[slin100]

Some consumer-based home routers can provide basic traffic statistics such as upstream and downstream traffic rates. That might provide an indication that your brother is doing "something".

Contrary to what Adrian posted, it is possible to snoop in on traffic to and from another PC. There are tools called network sniffers that can see all network packets. Wireshark is one such, software-based sniffing tool. It's free for download from http://www.wireshark.org.

Using Wireshark is not necessarily easy but there is a lot of documentation available for it online. Under the right circumstances, Wireshark will enable you to see exactly what is being sent to and from your brother's PC.

[gengw2004]

You can not do that unless you have manageable devices on your network. Most soho routers don't have this kind of support.

Or you can try WFilter Free internet filtering software to check network connections.

[Kasi]

try bandwidth monitoring apps like bandwidth manager:
http://www.monitoring-softwares.com/how-...usage.html

[Nancy]

Yes, a network sniffer can help you. It can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or part of a network. Among the free ones Wireshark is a little difficult for you, so I suggest that you can try to use Colasoft Capsa Free, which is easier.You can download it from their official website.http://www.colasoft.com/capsa-free/ Hope this helps.