Previously I’ve shown you how to monitor your bandwidth using applications you install on your PC/Mac (Windows | OS X). The method I outline in this very brief tutorial uses the DD-WRT firmware. Instead of capturing your uploads and downloads on each computer, which works very well if you live in a single-computer household, this method monitors your usage at the router level. So there’s no need to install software on each PC/Mac and then walk around with a calculator to add it all up.
- First up, install the DD-WRT firmware. Make sure you have a supported device. Then check to see if there’s a tutorial that explains how to install DD-WRT on your device. If you have a Linksys WRT54G v8, I’ve created a very detailed tutorial with screenshots for every step.
- Once you have the DD-WRT firmware installed, visit the control panel and select Status -> WAN.
- Scroll down to the Traffic by Month section. Here you’ll find the total incoming (download) and outgoing (upload) bandwidth, by month.
- That’s it!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Does this work on v23? I’ve not installed v24 yet.
This is all traffic not just coming in and out of the WAN Port, is it? I think this is bandwidth on all ports so kinda useless.
I’m using v24 beta for Fonera (08/03/07), and don’t have this feature.
If you don’t see the above mentioned traffic by month section, go into the services menu and enable the “WAN traffic counter”
@someone -
WAN only. Doesn’t count local network traffic, which would indeed make it pointless.
The Supported Devices link is dead. Can you please check it?
@ nipponzen:
Might want to try it again - it works perfectly (?).
It does, thank you!
Your instructions say to click on WLAN, that would be wireless only- wouldn’t it?
@hcabsar - WAN as in Wide Area Network. Which in “home router” terms, means “Internet”. So it covers wireless and wired, but not local (across your own network) transfers.
I’ve been looking for something exactly like this for my mother. She has satellite internet with bandwidth caps. Is there a way to get DD-WRT to show WAN traffic per computer? We are trying to track what exactly has been causing her to go over her cap.
Worked like a charm. I flashed my stock WRT54GL to the v24 mini. After comparing the mini load to the standard, I felt the mini would do just fine. But I don’t see where there’s any way to track individual computers. If you want to do that, use the previous posts:
How to monitor your Internet bandwidth usage in OS X, redux
How to monitor your Internet bandwidth usage in Windows
Now I can see what kind of damage I’m doing to Comcast’s network :>
DD-WRT works well, but if your router gets reset, it resets your bandwidth counter for that day. Not a big deal, but does anyone know if Tomato works the same way? (i.e. you lose that day’s count if you reset your router)
Thanks!
From my experience tomato loses all of the bandwidth data, unless previously backed up.
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