How do I keep 1 computer on a lan from steeling the others bandwidth?

[wezal]

I have 5 computers hooked to a hub to a router to a 256k/sec services. My questions is, if computer X is downloading a large file, using every bit of the 256k bandwidth, what happens when computer Y wants to go onto the internet? Does computer Y have to fight for bandwidth? Does the request automatically drop computer X to 128, and give computer Y 128?? Can I set up the router to control this, or is there some logic or prioritizing that is done elsewhere? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[-Worm-]

It depends, if the site can only feed 80K/sec then that will be all that the client PC will get, the other PC's will get the rest. I believe MS Proxy Server 2.0 allows throttling of bandwidth. FTP server's can also limit bandwidth. I haven't seen a router that will limit bandwidth but, I'm sure they exist. Gozilla will also allow bandwidth throttling, not very practical though.
It should work on a FIFO basis (first in first out)based on demand.

 

[bigshooter]

The computers on the network can't all send requests at once. They need to take turns otherwise you get collisions. This in itself should allow both users to have adequate bandwidth. I think some switches allow you to specify the bandwidth to each port but not sure.