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The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => Routers / COVR => DGL-4500 => Topic started by: SuperW2 on July 01, 2009, 05:26:37 PM

Title: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: SuperW2 on July 01, 2009, 05:26:37 PM
I got the call from Comcast last month that said I used too much bandwidth and I'd be shut off if I went over again.

I have 5 PC's on my home network that share the connection coming thru my DGL-4500.  I know some of the custom firmware's for other devices have this and it doesn't seem it would be that hard to implement... I just need a running monthly total of how much WAN Internet traffic up and down, nothing fancy, no graphs or charts, just a # (and a email when a threshold is reached would be nice too)
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: NKYadav on July 02, 2009, 11:55:30 PM
Hmmm - I'm with Cox, and I haven't gotten that call (yet!) - and I have used well over 100 Gb in a month before....

Of course, I am on their top residential tier, so, that may make a difference....

But I'll still vote +1 for WAN BW usage monitoring....
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: SuperW2 on July 03, 2009, 09:30:55 AM
Hmmm - I'm with Cox, and I haven't gotten that call (yet!) - and I have used well over 100 Gb in a month before....

Of course, I am on their top residential tier, so, that may make a difference....

But I'll still vote +1 for WAN BW usage monitoring....

Comcast gives you 250gb/mth before the first warning and you don't get a second one, just turned off for 12 months.  They claimed I was at something like 700GB for a month (which I find hard to believe), and they don't give you a way to self monitor your usage.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: NKYadav on July 03, 2009, 01:21:01 PM
You'd have to be viewing a *lot* of videos and downloading a *lot* of stuff for usage like that lol.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Fatman on July 06, 2009, 11:18:28 AM
That is not nearly as much as it sounds like.  It really just depends what you do online.

The aggrevatingly nitpicking portion of my brain would look at your contract and see if a limit is specified (I have never heard of there actually being one) and then intentionally go over (preferably by downloading and seeding every variation of my favourite distro 24/7 so they can't claim copyright violations are implicit) so I can call them threaten to sue and get my net turned back on with a few months free (though I am good at yelling, YMMV).  Unless you agreed to such limits (in your contract) imposing them is at the very least questionable.  That said I would already have another provider lined up if I got as much as a warning from my ISP about such hijinx.

That said, good luck getting this feature, it is one that makes a whole lot more sense than a lot of requests I see.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: anon on July 06, 2009, 09:48:06 PM
You can get some software that can do something similar, but it would have to be put on all PCs. This way you could get a sense of where you're at.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Lufercian on July 07, 2009, 10:59:48 PM
There is a 250GB a month limitation.
http://www.comcast.net/terms/network/amendment/ (http://www.comcast.net/terms/network/amendment/)
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Fatman on July 08, 2009, 08:24:50 AM
well that makes it pretty clear.  Thanks Lufercian.

P.S. I read Luciferian several times, it was only when I went to make sure I had spelled your name right I realized it wasn't based on the morning star at all.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Lycan on July 08, 2009, 08:36:47 AM
I'd boycott thier service. I'd use DSL before I'd ever let a ISP tell me what I can and can't do with the internet connection I pay for.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Fatman on July 08, 2009, 08:50:06 AM
Well I am right there with you Lycan, however unless we can get millions to jump ship with us we are kinda not going to make much of a wave.  Good thing I have a TW business account at home.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: FrostyWolf on July 08, 2009, 11:20:43 PM
I've said this once on this forum and I'll say it again, its really sad this modem does not have this feature yet.  Allmost all broadband companies have bandwidth restictions now.  Aircards, DSL, cable, you name it.  Even if you don't think your current ISP has one, check again, they probably do.  Banwidth is a almost impossible thing to montior properly on a multi PC network.  Theres software you can install, but it would have to go on every computer.  On top of that, all the software I have seen counts LAN traffic also with its numbers, so if you transfer 20 gigs between PC's, well, there goes your total, and on top of THAT, if your streaming netflics or running anything else to a device that doesnt have windows or osx or whatever on it, like a 360, your cant even install the software.  Having this feature on the router is the best way to watch your banwidth.  I still can't get over its not on the router with the 200 dollar price tag.   I am still waiting for it to be added.  I have a network with 4 PC's, one laptop, 360, wii, ps3 and misc other wireless devices (like at DS/PSP) and have people come over on a weekly basis for lans.  I tear thru banwidth like wet toliet paper.  This NEEDS to get added.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: anon on July 09, 2009, 12:23:35 AM
Ask for a higher tier. Yes, it is that simple. If you’re blowing through the cap now, having a monitor won’t do a thing. On the other hand if you’re just slightly going over it then I can understand that.

Shouldn’t it be requested from the provider (the ones who set the cap) to issue some form of a monitoring feature?

I don’t understand why a $200 router not being able to show you the bandwidth being used is news to you. Show me one that does now… and I’ll show you your new router.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: swears on July 09, 2009, 08:09:27 AM
I'm all for bandwidth monitoring as I noted here:

http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=5975.msg35733#msg35733
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Lycan on July 09, 2009, 08:17:22 AM
I've said this once on this forum and I'll say it again, its really sad this modem does not have this feature yet.  Allmost all broadband companies have bandwidth restictions now.  Aircards, DSL, cable, you name it.  Even if you don't think your current ISP has one, check again, they probably do.  Banwidth is a almost impossible thing to montior properly on a multi PC network.  Theres software you can install, but it would have to go on every computer.  On top of that, all the software I have seen counts LAN traffic also with its numbers, so if you transfer 20 gigs between PC's, well, there goes your total, and on top of THAT, if your streaming netflics or running anything else to a device that doesnt have windows or osx or whatever on it, like a 360, your cant even install the software.  Having this feature on the router is the best way to watch your banwidth.  I still can't get over its not on the router with the 200 dollar price tag.   I am still waiting for it to be added.  I have a network with 4 PC's, one laptop, 360, wii, ps3 and misc other wireless devices (like at DS/PSP) and have people come over on a weekly basis for lans.  I tear thru banwidth like wet toliet paper.  This NEEDS to get added.

This will probably not happen. Unless Comcast makes it a requirement for routers that are on their network to offer this feature. I can ask if you like but the odds of something like this being added are slim.
 As for caps on bandwidth, it only usually happens by large cable networks where they know they are the only venue for that pipe size in town. For instance in Huntington Beach, Ca Time Warner is doing battle with Verizon for customers. Neither would dream of capping download, as it would create a flow of customers to the other ISP.

Caps in general are wrong, changing our hardware to allow ISP's to be greedy is wrong. As I previously stated, I'd go with a slower DSL connection before I ever let an ISP tell me what to do with my bandwidth.

Lastly if an ISP is going to make a cap on their network, then THEY should provide you with a way to monitor the account via a web portal or at the modem itself, thats like having a bank account and not being able to check the balance. Expecting 3rd party vendors that have nothing to do with the ISP to handle this for you is kinda silly. If the ISP can see your monthly download, then they need to make that available to you. Not doing so and busting you for it seems like entrapment to me.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Fatman on July 09, 2009, 09:00:19 AM
So the solution is to move to Huntington Beach, CA?
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: anon on July 09, 2009, 12:33:18 PM
This will probably not happen. Unless Comcast makes it a requirement for routers that are on their network to offer this feature. I can ask if you like but the odds of something like this being added are slim.
 As for caps on bandwidth, it only usually happens by large cable networks where they know they are the only venue for that pipe size in town. For instance in Huntington Beach, Ca Time Warner is doing battle with Verizon for customers. Neither would dream of capping download, as it would create a flow of customers to the other ISP.

Caps in general are wrong, changing our hardware to allow ISP's to be greedy is wrong. As I previously stated, I'd go with a slower DSL connection before I ever let an ISP tell me what to do with my bandwidth.

Lastly if an ISP is going to make a cap on their network, then THEY should provide you with a way to monitor the account via a web portal or at the modem itself, thats like having a bank account and not being able to check the balance. Expecting 3rd party vendors that have nothing to do with the ISP to handle this for you is kinda silly. If the ISP can see your monthly download, then they need to make that available to you. Not doing so and busting you for it seems like entrapment to me.

So true...
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: swears on July 09, 2009, 04:24:48 PM

Lastly if an ISP is going to make a cap on their network, then THEY should provide you with a way to monitor the account via a web portal or at the modem itself, thats like having a bank account and not being able to check the balance. Expecting 3rd party vendors that have nothing to do with the ISP to handle this for you is kinda silly. If the ISP can see your monthly download, then they need to make that available to you. Not doing so and busting you for it seems like entrapment to me.


Lycan, I totally agree w/ you that they shouldn't cap you, and if they do, should at least provide you with the means to monitor your usage. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of one ISP, nor have I ever had one, which provides this. Additionally, many ISPS won't even tell you what the maximum upload/download amount is, just that you went over it. Therefore, it would be extremely nice to have this feature.

I don't see it being that hard to implement. Currently, I am using 'BitMeter' which is a great little tool that tells you your statistics daily/monthly, even by the hour. The problem is, when I have my roomates coming in during the fall, I'm sure they are not going to want to install this and send me their stats every day, along w/ everyone else in the house. So, I'm sure you can understand the desire for this feature.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Lycan on July 09, 2009, 04:29:51 PM
I DO understand. Trust me. However it's not possible. There's not enough flash for that. I'm sorry guys.
For those of you dealing with CAPS, I suggest contacting the given ISP and voicing your complaints there.

They capped you, they need to allow you to monitor yourself. What if you didn't even have a router, how would you monitor it then? A 3rd party app? Thats ridiculous. A bank doesn't require you to use a 3rd party app to monitor your back account. That bandwidth is the same as your money, you pay for a certain amount of it within a month, they are responsible for informing you of your useage BEFORE disciplinary action is needed, not giving you enough rope to hang yourself with and then pointing fingers.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Fatman on July 09, 2009, 04:37:20 PM
Maybe if we pulled Shareport, SecureSpot, and WPS we would have space on the device.

How about a router that ONLY does (static and dynamic) routing and NAT, and keeps accurate counters.  DHCP, DNS Relay, IEEE802.11, QoS, and other silliness can hide somewhere else.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Lycan on July 09, 2009, 04:43:07 PM
1) Seriously?
2) Seriously, like for serious?

You know I'm against both those "features" however the likelyhood of those being removed to facilitate a feature only useful to specific number of users is unlikely. However the same argument could be made about the features in question.

Because Fatman makes a valid point I'll ask at the PM meeting if this is a possibility, but don't get your hopes up.

****Spellchecked with spellchecker for spellcheckyness.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Fatman on July 09, 2009, 04:46:15 PM
I never knew you hated DHCP and IEEE 802.11 too!

Good Riddance!
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: SkyOwl on July 09, 2009, 11:33:09 PM
Isnt the feature already in the unit?  There is a WAN status metric giving packets sent/received between stats clear and you can clear it whenever you want...like monthly.  You have to do a little math since packet size cab vary but is normally around 1 to 1.5 kbits.  Maybe Dlink could modify the units of this metric to be cumulative Gbits instead of packets

Somrthing wrong with using this metric?
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Coreburner on July 18, 2009, 08:47:09 AM
Here in phoenix az I got a call from cox a month ago about bandwidth usage, while not limited to any amount here, they noticed a huge jump in usage.  I download ISO's all the time so hitting 200 400 gigs a month is normal for me but the noticed that I was average almost  13TB last month.  While I was on the phone i explained that was not even remotely possible with my cable speeds I ran CMsniff and found three cloned (uncapped) modem on my side of the CMTS node. Personaly I think internet speeds/prices are not propotional to what they need to be and I don't care either way about useing Capped-uncapped modems but if you going to, don't be greedy. 

Anyways download the app and looked for cloned modems that match yours cuz theyr'e out thier and extreamly easy to make.  I'm not sure why cox doesn't scan the node for these before they start accusing people of hogging bandwidth.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Lycan on July 20, 2009, 08:50:42 AM
I've made the request to have the feature added.
We'll see if it can be done.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: cedric205 on July 20, 2009, 10:21:47 AM
I've made the request to have the feature added.
We'll see if it can be done.
GOOD JOB Lycan
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: swears on July 25, 2009, 07:11:08 AM
Thanks Lycan. Hopefully this gets implemented.

In the meantime, I've stumbled upon a workaround for people who have an extra router that can run DD-WRT. It involves adding it between the modem and your current router.

Here is a link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/BWlog
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51278&sid=a0ac20f7cdc35939c4d4a6224d2d9b4a

Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: SuperW2 on July 25, 2009, 09:17:56 PM
Thanks Lycan. Hopefully this gets implemented.

In the meantime, I've stumbled upon a workaround for people who have an extra router that can run DD-WRT. It involves adding it between the modem and your current router.

Here is a link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/BWlog
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51278&sid=a0ac20f7cdc35939c4d4a6224d2d9b4a



I have another router (in a drawer) that does run DD-WRT and they have a very nice WAN Bandwidth montior...the DLink router just does everything else much better....so do I use a router with inferior WiFi and LAN performance but kick butt monitoring, or one that for the most part is solid in WiFi and LAN, but doesn't let me count the number of packets per month I'm sending or receiving...maybe I need to use both...

Sw2
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: steve2551 on September 10, 2009, 01:54:53 PM
I've made the request to have the feature added.
We'll see if it can be done.

I have a DGL-4100 and was wondering if there were any status updates on the addition of bandwidth monitoring on the GamerLounge series routers.  I received the dreaded call from comcast 2 days ago (managed 1.576tb in the first 24 days of service with them) and I'm looking for a way to monitor my bandwidth so I can stay under the 250gb/month limit...
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Smith on September 11, 2009, 06:40:13 AM
 ??? what comcast calls you if you use to much of the internet they call me i tell them to f*ck off how is this true
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Puffnstuff on September 11, 2009, 07:19:35 AM
Yes if you read the revised terms of service policy you'll see that they will warn you then cut you off.  Before my oldest son moved out I know that we blew out the cap repeatedly and they never called me.  I have noticed that they have throttled my connection several times and its noticable.
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: alien on September 08, 2010, 07:00:23 AM
you can monitor you bandwidth using ProteMac Meter http://www.protemac.com/Meter/ (http://www.protemac.com/Meter/)
.In my opinion it’s really good tool try)

i think some guys need to buy a mac to, if you want this to work :o
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Trikein on September 08, 2010, 08:09:24 AM
That is not nearly as much as it sounds like.  It really just depends what you do online.

The aggrevatingly nitpicking portion of my brain would look at your contract and see if a limit is specified (I have never heard of there actually being one) and then intentionally go over (preferably by downloading and seeding every variation of my favourite distro 24/7 so they can't claim copyright violations are implicit) so I can call them threaten to sue and get my net turned back on with a few months free (though I am good at yelling, YMMV).  Unless you agreed to such limits (in your contract) imposing them is at the very least questionable.  That said I would already have another provider lined up if I got as much as a warning from my ISP about such hijinx.

That said, good luck getting this feature, it is one that makes a whole lot more sense than a lot of requests I see.

Hmmmm, the thing is, I very might doabt he IS downloading Linux distro. And I am sure they put a "we can change network practices anytime we want" in the contract. As for Cox, they DO give you a bandwidth monitor, and I think Comcast does too. This is really about bandwidth use and what the average person uses for lawful practices. Theres a set amount of bandwidth to go around, and the more you use, the less there are for others. Setting caps is common place in other countries and common here with cell phone data plans and such. Alot of people are having knee jerk reactions about about this because their being caught with their pants down because....all of a sudden someone is telling them "No, you really cant Seed 1000+ people 24/7 on bittorrent". Times are a change, instead of thinking lawsuit, you may want to actually look at your usage practices. :-)
Title: Re: REALLY REALLY need WAN Bandwidth Monitoring...
Post by: Trikein on September 08, 2010, 08:20:42 AM
You guys need to Google before going insane here.

 Frequently Asked Questions about Excessive Use  (http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?seoid=Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Excessive-Use#getmeter)

How do I get the data usage meter and do I have to download it?

You do not need to download anything to access the data usage meter. Simply go to Comcast.net and log into “My Account” using your Primary or Self-Managed Secondary account with billing access. Click on the “Users and Settings” tab. There, you will see a link to “View Details” in the “My Devices” section (located toward the upper right hand of the screen) that will take you to your data usage details page. From there, you will see details of your monthly data usage.

As for Cox, you should be able to go to https://idm.east.cox.net/coxlogin/ui/internettools and sign in with your primary and view your usage as well.

Try this on PCs too:
http://codebox.org.uk/pages/bitmeter2 (http://codebox.org.uk/pages/bitmeter2)