# Internet monitor problem and question

## tel

Here's my problem and my idea, but I'm not sure how to implement it.

My ISP caps our usage to 250 GB/month.  With many computers in the house (not to mention guests), I'd like to keep tabs on traffic in and out of the internet long before this becomes an issue.

My current router (Linksys E3000) provides wireless and wired access, but doesn't have the software to keep track of the traffic.

Here's my idea:  I have a DreamPlug, which has two ethernet ports.  Can I physically connect the DreamPlug inline between the router and the cable modem to "catch" the traffic and monitor it?  If so, how does the DreamPlug have to be configured?  Is it technically a router?  A DHCP server?  Will I have to make changes to the E3000 for this to work?

I'd prefer not to mess with the E3000 firmware or change any of its settings.

Thanks for any suggestions!

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## eccerr0r

Technically you could make the "dreamplug" device into a bridge and have it count bytes, but it really couldn't do very much else.

You could make it non-transparent and have it self become a NAT router to one device (the E3000) but then you'd have even more issues of connecting incoming ports and connections.  This way you can even have it mangle packets and/or count packets by destination.

Really the "best" way is to muck with the E3000 router (or completely do away with it, and make your own router), it has all the data available, there's really no reason to burn more power with a separate device.  This way you can even meter/count by source so you can go complain to the culprit, can even set up your own caps per device.

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## tel

Wow!  Thanks for the explanation (so much I don't know!)

Makes good sense.

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## Jaglover

If you have an old computer with 2 network cards you can use ready to use solutions, see http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/How_can_I_monitor_bandwidth_usage%3F

or you can do the same thing by hand using your favorite OS.

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