How to Monitor Bandwidth

Posted on September 14th, 2009 by Carmelia

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Internet servers are now beginning to charge users for any extra bandwidth they consume, but unfortunately they do not provide means for their users to actually monitor the bandwidth themselves. To prevent unseen charges from sneaking up on you, here’s how you can monitor bandwidth and save yourself some money.

Go to Download.com to download a free software that will monitor your bandwidth. You can choose a program based on your OS and further narrow down your choices based on the features, user ratings and reviews.
Once you’ve downloaded the program, install it. Once installed, you’ll see a new icon in your system tray.
Right-click on your bandwidth monitor’s icon and look for “ISP Restrictions” or anything similar.
A new window will pop up about that you will need to fill up to set the restrictions.
Look for the ISP Restrictions checkbox and click on the checkbox to enable it.
There should also be a window in the the ISP Restrictions window where you can fill in what the bandwidth limit. For example, if your internet provider limits you to 300GB and will charge you with anything beyond that, fill in 300 in the bandwidth limit.
You will also be asked to select to calculate the Download Traffic Only or the Total Traffic. If you want to play it safe, go for Total Traffic. If you’re using a high-speed internet connection, choose Download Traffic Only.
Close the windows and look for the Notifications Preference. This will give you an option on when the program will warn you when you’re near the bandwidth limit. Choose anywhere between 80%-90%.
Once you’re done, click on the Apply button. The bandwidth monitor will automatically minimize back into the icon. You can change your preferences any time you want.

Keep in mind that the program that you use to monitor the bandwidth of an individual computer is different from the program that you use to monitor a network’s bandwidth usage. Make sure that you get the appropriate program for network monitoring, but once launched, they function similarly and applications can be set similarly.