Download Restrictions
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So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
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So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Isn't that supported Natively in Windows vista and higher?
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
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So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
You could use software, but depending on how savvy your daughter is, it's easy to circumvent. You might want to think about investing in a more capable router/firewall appliance. The stuff your ISP gives you simply isn't up to the task (afterall, they want you to exceed your bandwidth limits). This is a bit overkill, but you could build your own firewall system and put very capable (and free) firewall software on it that will allow you to set quotas based on IP address. You may even be able to get functionality like this by using one of the Linksys WRT routers and replacing its firmware with more capable (and free) open-source firmware images. Lots of options, but it's like the say in auto racing... Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Wouldn't it just be easier to get an unlimited broadband account?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Isn't that supported Natively in Windows vista and higher?
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
It may well be, I think your referring to Parental Controls. The only problem is, her computer uses XP. I realise that I could probably download/buy some software that would achieve the result I'm after, however, I'd like to write the software myself. Thinking about it a bit deeper, I could probably get the info from the performance counters.
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
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Wouldn't it just be easier to get an unlimited broadband account?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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It would, however, if you read any UK ISP's 'Fair usage policy' its nowhere near unlimited!
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Mine is fairly unlimited, I have never received any fair usage warnings.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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You could use software, but depending on how savvy your daughter is, it's easy to circumvent. You might want to think about investing in a more capable router/firewall appliance. The stuff your ISP gives you simply isn't up to the task (afterall, they want you to exceed your bandwidth limits). This is a bit overkill, but you could build your own firewall system and put very capable (and free) firewall software on it that will allow you to set quotas based on IP address. You may even be able to get functionality like this by using one of the Linksys WRT routers and replacing its firmware with more capable (and free) open-source firmware images. Lots of options, but it's like the say in auto racing... Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
This is a bit overkill, but you could build your own firewall system and put very capable (and free) firewall software on it that will allow you to set quotas based on IP address. You may even be able to get functionality like this by using one of the Linksys WRT routers and replacing its firmware with more capable (and free) open-source firmware images.
Hmmm, that is not a bad idea. I already have the main ADSL router's firewall locked down to only allow the necessary ports and to block certain sites. Do you know if its possible to change the firmware of a TP-Link router to open source firmware? Note: The TP-Link is used as just a router, I have a seperate ADSL router which 'feeds' the TP-Link.
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
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Mine is fairly unlimited, I have never received any fair usage warnings.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Who is your ISP if you don't mind me asking?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Virgin
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Virgin
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Cheers, I'll have a look into it, we keep getting advertising blurb from them telling us that the street has fibre optic cables installed. Whats the service like? reliable?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
This is a bit overkill, but you could build your own firewall system and put very capable (and free) firewall software on it that will allow you to set quotas based on IP address. You may even be able to get functionality like this by using one of the Linksys WRT routers and replacing its firmware with more capable (and free) open-source firmware images.
Hmmm, that is not a bad idea. I already have the main ADSL router's firewall locked down to only allow the necessary ports and to block certain sites. Do you know if its possible to change the firmware of a TP-Link router to open source firmware? Note: The TP-Link is used as just a router, I have a seperate ADSL router which 'feeds' the TP-Link.
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
I have my DSL modem in bridge mode and connect it to a homemade firewall box (a PC running pfSense). While I don't need to limit bandwidth (my wife and I don't stream anything beyond the occasional youtube video), it is possible to achieve through creative use of the traffic shaper in pfSense. I don't know anything about the TPLink stuff, but at the price range I found them for, i would classify them as "consumer-grade", and therefore probably not capable of performing bandwith capping. Heck, my Zyxel2 doesn't even let me do it (and that's a $190 router). Have you considered actually blocking p2p traffic at the router? Can it do that? You could also put an appropriate hosts file on her machine that will block sites you specify (I have one that's a few megabytes big for blocking ad sites), and she'll probably be none the wiser about it.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
There may be some custom firmware you could install on your router that has this.
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Cheers, I'll have a look into it, we keep getting advertising blurb from them telling us that the street has fibre optic cables installed. Whats the service like? reliable?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
You should still think about implementing more stringent firewall rules, and teach your daughter about fair use.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
Cheers, I'll have a look into it, we keep getting advertising blurb from them telling us that the street has fibre optic cables installed. Whats the service like? reliable?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Absolutely, 20mb spped and I cannot remember the last time I had a service outage.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
-
You should still think about implementing more stringent firewall rules, and teach your daughter about fair use.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
You should still think about implementing more stringent firewall rules, and teach your daughter about fair use.
Hence my original post. I'd like to show her that Internet usage is a privilege and not a right and that it's also a resource that has to be managed. For example, if I allow her a daily allowance of say 100 Mbytes within the time frame that she's allowed access (the router connects and disconnects her at set set times giving a 4 hour window) then once that 100 MB is used, tough, no more access until tomorrow. I'm curious, do any of you think that's harsh?
I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image. Stephen Hawking
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So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Check if your router is supported by DD-WRT, which allows a lot of control for this kind of thing. Controlling this on the OS may be noneffective if you have more than one computer.
I see dead pixels Yes, even I am blogging now!
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I have my DSL modem in bridge mode and connect it to a homemade firewall box (a PC running pfSense). While I don't need to limit bandwidth (my wife and I don't stream anything beyond the occasional youtube video), it is possible to achieve through creative use of the traffic shaper in pfSense. I don't know anything about the TPLink stuff, but at the price range I found them for, i would classify them as "consumer-grade", and therefore probably not capable of performing bandwith capping. Heck, my Zyxel2 doesn't even let me do it (and that's a $190 router). Have you considered actually blocking p2p traffic at the router? Can it do that? You could also put an appropriate hosts file on her machine that will block sites you specify (I have one that's a few megabytes big for blocking ad sites), and she'll probably be none the wiser about it.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Have you considered actually blocking p2p traffic at the router?
That fails in two ways 0) It's possible and even easy to use a lot of bandwidth without p2p (youtube? normal downloads?) 1) It would block a heck of a lot more than just huge torrent downloads (Skype, World of Warcraft updater, a couple of "rare" games such as GunZ The Duel)
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So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
Todd Smith
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So, there I am lecturing my daughter on Internet usage once again because of the emails from the ISP saying we're over our download limit yet again, when it occurs to me what I need is something to turn her connection off after a predetermined download limit has been reached. Unfortunately, the router doesn't have this option :( I'd like to set a daily limit that resets every 24 hrs rather than turn it off completely for the remainder of the week/month. So, as this is Codeproject, I'd like to write some software which would achieve this. What would be the best way to capture & count all the bytes that her computer receives? Thinking about it, it sounds like I would need to hook into the NIC driver or find out where the local area connection status window gets its activity information from. Any ideas?
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
"Traffic Shaper XP is a free bandwidth limiter for Windows 2000, XP and 2003 Server" [^]
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
