6 Internet Traffic Shaping Methods via Network Router and Software QoS

Updated:

One of the many problems when it comes to sharing broadband connection is the distribution of bandwidth among your friends. Some of your housemates may consume more than others, this will be problematic if the internet subscription comes with limited bandwidth.

We are facing the same problem, thus we’ve done research on how to set up traffic shaping, also known as bandwidth quota for each computer or user. There are 3 solutions, software, firmware upgrade and hardware. In this article, we will be discussing.

• How to set the bandwidth quota for a user, limited by the amount of MB allowed per day or per user.
• We will not be covering on how to reduce the internet speed per user from 10mbps to 1mbps.

↓ 01 – MyHotspot (Software)

MyHotspot is a wireless-LAN for Hotels and Cafés! MyHotspot is a professional Wireless LAN software solution for providing internet access to your customers. Customers will be redirected to your login page to authenticate with a user account or a prepaid-code before getting Internet access. The PayPal payment option allows your customers to start a session with any amount and pay for it directly.

The software controls download, upload, data transfer, time usage, and visited pages. MyHotSpot Billing software runs on your Windows PC, controls unlimited user or prepaid-code accounts, and displays data to customers on your self-branded pages.

MyHotspot billing software is the definitive tool for managing your public WIFI-HotSpot in internet cafes, schools, hotels, bistros or gaming cafe / game centers.

↓ 02 – Microsolut Hotspot (Software)

Microsolut Hotspot Software has a huge array of functions and incorporates a full hotspot billing system if you want to go down that route. Making your hotspot system support several users browsing at the same time.

Software feature:

• A captive portal / Login Screen that users are redirected to for authentication and payment, the hotspot software.
• A payment option using credit card, PayPal, BOZII, iPass, or other payment service
• A walled garden feature that allows free access to certain sites

↓ 03 – Gargoyle (Firmware + Router)

Gargoyle is a free firmware upgrade for your wireless router, it replaces your manufacturer’s router’s firmware with theirs. The Gargoyle router management utility provides many features and one of them is the much sought after traffic shaping. This allows you to limit the amount of bandwidth a user can consume.

There are a lot of routers out there and manufacturers are always changing their product lines so it is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of routers that Gargoyle will run on. List of supported Broadcom and Atheros chip routers.

• Linksys WRT160NL
• Planex MZK-W04NU
• TP-Link TL-WR741ND
• TP-Link TL-WR841N
• TP-Link TL-WR841ND
• TP-Link TL-WR841ND
• TP-Link TL-WR941ND
• TP-Link TL-WR941ND
• TP-Link TL-WR941ND
• TP-Link TL-WR1043ND
• TP-Link TL-WDR3600
• Ubiquiti NanoSt Loco M2
• Ubiquiti Routerstation
• Ubiquiti Routerstation Pro
• Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH
• Buffalo WZR-600DHP
• D-Link DIR-825
• Netgear WNDR3700
• Linksys WRT54GL
• Linksys WRT54G-TM
• Asus WL500G Premium
• Linksys WRTSL54GS
• Linksys WRT54GS
• Linksys WRT54GS
• Rosewill RNX-GX4
• Netcore NW618
• Motorola WR850G
• Motorola WE800G
• Buffalo WBR2-G54

↓ 04 – HotspotSystem (DD-WRT Firmware + Router)

The Free Hotspot Basic allows you to set up your own Hotspot with DD-WRT firmware. The Basic package is free, comes with an advertisement in the login page when your customer signs in and is limited to 500 sessions per month. The setup is really simple:

• 1. Download DD-WRT
• 2. Replace firmware with DD-WRT
• 3. Hotspot System Setup

Stop Network Abuse / Bandwidth Quota and Limit – Every user has a limited bandwidth and you can also define traffic or time limits. This way you can avoid the overload of your network which often happens in a completely open, free hotspot. Users can also be blacklisted so you have full control. When the limit expires you can offer pay-per-use packages or you can just block access for those users for a time period you specify.

↓ 05 – pfSense (Linux Software Enterprise Level)

The pfSense project is a free network firewall distribution, based on the FreeBSD operating system with a custom kernel and including third party free software packages for additional functionality. Through this package system pfSense software is able to provide most of the functionality of common commercial firewalls, and many times more.

It has successfully replaced every big name commercial firewall you can imagine in numerous installations around the world, including Check Point, QOS, Packet, Cisco PIX, Cisco ASA, Juniper, Sonicwall, Netgear, Watchguard, Astaro, and more.

This screencast demonstrates the use of a pfSense device for traffic shaping on a typical home network, with the goals of minimizing latency and maximizing throughput. In particular, we use a three-tier queue configuration where a parent speedboost queue on each interface contains leaf queues that catch all the traffic.

The speed boost queues use HFSC’s nonlinear service curve to match the behavior of the comcast speed boost. The leaf queues are configured to partition the available bandwidth, and automatically allow ‘borrowing’ when there is no contention.

↓ 06 – Draytek Routers (Hardware)

If you dislike upgrading your firmware, you can purchase a Draytek router. Draytek’s routers are cheaper and they come packed with lots of features that can never be found in D-link or Linksys routers. Try the Live Web Admin Interface demo, you’ll be amazed.

Distributing and sharing broadband internet connection has never been so easy, the best part is these routers has the ability to assign each person a login ID and password, allowing you to keep track on their surfing habits. Big brother is watching you.