Internet shared between 3 people. How to monitor bandwidth?

[sharksfin]

Three people will share one internet service. Their internet service is not unlimited. It is metered and pricey.
Albert will have just one laptop.
Bob will have a laptop and smartphone.
Charlie will have a Linux Mint desktop, a Linux Mint laptop, an Android tablet and an Android phone.

Most likely, all will be connecting via WiFi (as opposed to ethernet cable).


What do we need to see how much each person has used per month?

Ideally, each person has their own login username and password.
Ideally, each person can check their own usage for the month by going to some IP address to see their current usage. (The admin would have access to everyone’s bandwidth/network info.)
It would also be nice if there was a way to cap usage for a certain person, or when the group hits X gigabytes. (Because there may be overage fees.)

UPDATE: We will not game, netflix, torrent.

 

[VirtualLarry]

pfSense, or similar UTM distro, combined with a RADIUS server? That kind of low-level accounting isn't exactly simple - see how difficult it is for commercial ISPs to get "bandwidth meters" correct for paying customers.

Which account do unsolicited incoming internet packets get accounted to? (You know, "internet background noise"?)

 

[sharksfin]

pfSense, or similar UTM distro, combined with a RADIUS server? That kind of low-level accounting isn't exactly simple - see how difficult it is for commercial ISPs to get "bandwidth meters" correct for paying customers.

Thanks for your reply, Larry. I'm not a really techie. i'm now leaning towards getting a basic router that can do WRT. is that bad?

Which account do unsolicited incoming internet packets get accounted to? (You know, "internet background noise"?)

Hmmm... wasn't even aware of this phenomenon. I thought every bit or byte is linked to some device. Didn't know there was such a thing as unaccounted packets.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I know that Tomato has bandwidth over time graphs, but I don't know how granular they are - whether they can break them down by IP or MAC address.

And as for unsolicited packets, there's always a stream of packets trying to get into your public IP address from somewhere on the internet. Normally, the NAT router / firewall will drop these packets, if they are truly unsolicited (unless you've opened ports on the router), but your ISP will see these as traffic to your public IP and bill for them, if you truly have a metered connection.

IOW, if the ISP bills for traffic, and then you bill your roomates for their traffic, according to the ISP prices, then the ISP bill will be greater than the sum-total of your roommates traffic bills, because of this "internet background noise".

 

[JackMDS]

There is No way to measure the Bandwidth consumed by each Client unless they get the Signal for a Server that designed to do so (like what Larry mentioned above).

AFAIK - None of the Consumers Wireless Routers can to it.

 

[Genx87]

Meraki will do this. If that is too expensive then get something like Pfsense or Sophos UTM and packet shape based on the month for each user.

 

[sharksfin]

Meraki will do this. If that is too expensive then get something like Pfsense or Sophos UTM and packet shape based on the month for each user.

I just bought a router that can do openwrt or lede. I was told openwrt or lede can do what I'm asking for. i hope that's true.

 

[sharksfin]

AFAIK - None of the Consumers Wireless Routers can to it.

even with a consumer wireless router that has OpenWRT or Lede?

 

[jlee]

Meraki will do this. If that is too expensive then get something like Pfsense or Sophos UTM and packet shape based on the month for each user.

That was my first thought as well. You can also set up multiple unique and isolated SSIDs.

 

[JackMDS]

If no one is doing serious gaming, and the general use is so that the Double NAT is not an issue.

You can install two additional Wireless Routers for the two of the users (connect WAN to a LAN port on the main Router).

That will result that each one Bandwidth (of the two) would be measured by his own Router.

Than subtract the sum of the two from the General Bandwidth as measured by the main Router and you would get the number for the third person.

If the two that are put on the personal Router do not need any thing special something like this would do.
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-3-In-1-...88757663&sr=8-5&keywords=asus+wireless+router

Or this if you need Dual band - https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC...8757663&sr=8-10&keywords=asus+wireless+router

The principle of such connection is described here - http://www.ezlan.net/shield.html (in this page it described as a security measure, but basically you can do the same thing for your purpose).

 

[freeskier93]

You could look into some of the Ubiquiti routers, which have Deep Packet Inspection, but it's IP based so if IP happens to change it could make things more difficult.

 

[Rifter]

pfsense and RADIUS would be my suggestion as well.

 

[XavierMace]

I'd go the Meraki route. Very simple to setup, easy to use interface, nice clear usage graphs/info.

 

[sharksfin]

That was my first thought as well. You can also set up multiple unique and isolated SSIDs.

On an OpenWRT- or Lede-running router?

 

[sharksfin]

I'd go the Meraki route. Very simple to setup, easy to use interface, nice clear usage graphs/info.

I've just bought another router, one that can run OpenWRT or Lede. Hope it's easy to set-up and easy to use and has clear graphs for the other people sharing the internet.

 

[sharksfin]

If no one is doing serious gaming, and the general use is so that the Double NAT is not an issue.

No one is gaming, netflixing, or torrenting.

You can install two additional Wireless Routers for the two of the users (connect WAN to a LAN port on the main Router).

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the number of routers necessary is one less than the number of users. If you have 5 users, you'd need 4 routers. If there's 10 users, you'd need 9 routers. Yikes! I wanted to save money. I thought that what I'm looking for can be accomplished by one router.
By the way, we have a D Link DI-524 router and have just bought a WD My Net N750 router. This WD router can do OpenWRT or Lede.

 

[jlee]

On an OpenWRT- or Lede-running router?

No, with a Meraki access point.

 

[sharksfin]

No, with a Meraki access point.

Sorry, Meraki is way above my budget. The cheapest I saw on the Meraki Cisco site is over $500.

 

[JackMDS]

Quote: "If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the number of routers necessary is one less than the number of users. If you have 5 users, you'd need 4 routers. If there's 10 users, you'd need 9 routers. Yikes!".

Yeah, that it correct each user need a Router to measure the Bandwidth consumed.

 

[mxnerd]

Seems ASUS Router flashed with ASUSWRT Melrin firware will be able to monitor individual devices.

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/...ge-over-network-for-each-individual-computer/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji8nKCAFGgM

 

[Antonyz]

I'd go the

Seems ASUS Router 192.168.o.1 flashed with ASUSWRT Melrin firware will be able to monitor individual devices.

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/...ge-over-network-for-each-individual-computer/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji8nKCAFGgM

router. Very simple to setup, easy to use interface, nice clear usage graphs/info.

Thanks for your info.