Can I stop P2P programs working on my broadband connection?

[rikadik]

Hi,

After huge amounts of usage my broadband provider has said we will be limited during peak hours, which is very annoying since I can notice the difference.

I've told my fat supid housemate to stop using P2P, but he wont. I close it down, he puts it back on. Im in a 12 month contract with Toucan for the broadband so cant get out of it, but its extremely cheap and I knew of the 'fair usage policy' when I signed up.

Annnyway my router has lots and lots of options for restricting this and setting that which I dont really understand... Is there something I can do which will stop P2P programs working? (I'm the only one who knows the admin password for the router - and its going to stay that way!)

Cheers guys

 

[CrispyFried]

block the ports the p2p proggie uses. or foreward them to a non existant ip.

 

[Brainonska511]

Couldn't you use quality of service to limit the amount of bandwidth (or at least the priority that their stuff gets when traversing through the router) provided to the machine using P2P programs?

 

[nweaver]

kick said roomate off the network

 

[ndruw]

Option A: Block the ports for P2P on router
Option B: Punch him in the kidneys until he stops it

 

[Fardringle]

Option C: Block the MAC address on his PC completely from the router until he signs a written contract stating that if he runs P2P programs on the connection again he has to pay ALL of the bills in the house for the next six months, or you can freely kick him in the nads with steel-toed boots for 30 minutes (you get to pick whether he pays the bills or gets kicked).

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Fardringle
Option C: Block the MAC address on his PC completely from the router until he signs a written contract stating that if he runs P2P programs on the connection again he has to pay ALL of the bills in the house for the next six months, or you can freely kick him in the nads with steel-toed boots for 30 minutes (you get to pick whether he pays the bills or gets kicked).

Option C.5: You could take option C, but split it - You get the joy of kicking him in the nads (for about 15 minutes instead) and then the roommate pays half the bill.

 

[yukichigai]

Most P2P programs require forwarded ports to work properly. I suspect that he uses some program which dynamically acquires ports using UPnP. Most routers will let you disable UPnP somewhere in the router settings. Do so and at the very least your roommate's download speeds will drop to 56k speeds at best.

 

[ForumMaster]

wat router do u have? u could, as Fardringle said, simply block his MAC address and force him to pay for seperate internet.

 

[blemoine]

Option C.5: You could take option C, but split it - You get the joy of kicking him in the nads (for about 15 minutes instead) and then the roommate pays half the bill

Problem with Option C.5 wouldn't the roommate be paying half the bills anyway? you can't cut stupid people slack.

What ISP are yall using?

 

[eDRoaCH]

everyones got great ideas, but heres the quick summary. From 'die you leech' to 'i still need his half of the rent money'

1. unplug the bastard- you own your side of the cable.
2. block his mac address on the router. most routhers only have this for wireless.
3. use QOS settings (Quality Of Service) to prioritize
A. your computer (or port on hub)
B. internet, email, etc ports individually

I dont really see blocking the p2p ports because simply him changing the port would fix that AND he may not have them open anyway since he doesnt admin the router.

Also: be sure to change the admin password, its really easy to find the default one on the net

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: eDRoaCH
I dont really see blocking the p2p ports because simply him changing the port would fix that AND he may not have them open anyway since he doesnt admin the router.

Also: be sure to change the admin password, its really easy to find the default one on the net

This is why I suspect they're being dynamically allocated via UPnP. Most BT clients worth their salt use UPnP, and others are set up such that they'll invoke XP's built-in UPnP client. Whatever P2P software he's using could be the same. Anybody who has access to the network would be able to allocate ports if UPnP is enabled. Hence, disable it and see what happens.

 

[imported_sling]

I think a kick in the nuts is definately in order. Does he know what he's doing? Go change the settings on his client to only download at like 1000 bytes per second. If it's diplayed like this he may think he's getting 1000kbytes per second. Or he'll just think it's broke. Either way, enjoy your freed up connection.