[SOLVED] How to monitor the internet usage of the whole house?

[HyperBeat]

Hello,

As the title say, How can I monitor the internet usage of the whole house?
My current router: Netis WF2409E

I've already logged into the 192.168.1.1, but haven't found something useful, expect this: https://prnt.sc/s0bp13

Thanks!

 

[bill001g]

Short answer is you generally can't do it without a lot of effort.
Slightly longer answer is that router is very basic and does not have any ability to display it. I am surprised it has even the screen you post.

First it depends on how fast your internet connection is. The CPU in router is very slow compared to say a PC. Running software that analyses the traffic will greatly reduce the speed the router can process. Modern routers use a feature that lets the traffic bypass the cpu to get fast speeds. If you turn this feature off you will drop to maybe 200-300mbps. That is just for turning the feature off the actual data collection slows it down more.

So if you have a smaller connection some tplink and asus routers have slightly better utilization option. You can load third part firmware like dd-wrt on some routers and get better reporting. You are not going to get long term usage data with these because they do not have anyplace to put the data.

If you need say usage reports and say wanted to run monthly quotas there is a firmware called gargoyle that runs on some router that has this ability. I have not looked at it in a long time so I do not know how current my information is.

 

[HyperBeat]

Short answer is you generally can't do it without a lot of effort.
Slightly longer answer is that router is very basic and does not have any ability to display it. I am surprised it has even the screen you post.

First it depends on how fast your internet connection is. The CPU in router is very slow compared to say a PC. Running software that analyses the traffic will greatly reduce the speed the router can process. Modern routers use a feature that lets the traffic bypass the cpu to get fast speeds. If you turn this feature off you will drop to maybe 200-300mbps. That is just for turning the feature off the actual data collection slows it down more.

So if you have a smaller connection some tplink and asus routers have slightly better utilization option. You can load third part firmware like dd-wrt on some routers and get better reporting. You are not going to get long term usage data with these because they do not have anyplace to put the data.

If you need say usage reports and say wanted to run monthly quotas there is a firmware called gargoyle that runs on some router that has this ability. I have not looked at it in a long time so I do not know how current my information is.

Is there any router you recommend for having the ability to load third part firmware? I know you already said Tp-link/asus but is there any model you recommend? I also saw people talking about turning there old PC or any PC laying around and not being used into router is it possible?

Thanks!

 

[bill001g]

You really want a pc with dual nics to run but there are many linux router/firewall images that will generate usage reports. Adding a second nic is fairly cheap and easy.

You will still need something in front to run the wifi a pc does not do a good job. A pc is always the best option if you want very detailed information. Used to be you could get very detailed usage of web sites and what was being done. Web traffic tends to be encrypted so it reduces the detail you can get now days.

Most tplink and asus routers run a single firmware image on their routers, there are some exceptions on the cheaper ones. You should be able to read the online manuals and decide if they look close enough. Some have online simulators so you can actually pretend to configure them. It really depends on what you are looking for some will attempt to say how much is game traffic and how much is web browsing.

First look though the third party firmware and see which you prefer. Many people like tomato over dd-wrt but it is not supported on the same routers. After that look though their list of supported routers to find a model that will work.

Be aware routers that have dsl or cable modem inside the router will not support third party firmware. You will need 2 boxes one to act as the modem and the second to act as the router.

 

[SamirD]

I also saw people talking about turning there old PC or any PC laying around and not being used into router is it possible?

Thanks!

You can run pfsense on an older pc or even sophos or untangle. I believe they would do what you want.