As far as bandwidth goes. My ISP Account Page shows usage statistics so I know how much we have used. My ISP does not currently have a limit, although early on they tried to state that it was 250GB per month. With no Cable TV because the cable company is crooks with the pricing by splitting the channels you want to watch into all these different packages that lure people to have to pay for all the extra packages for example to have Nick, Disney, and Discovery Channel I pulled the plug on Cable TV and so we have been streaming for our TV watching needs through Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, and Youtube, as well as the many other sites like Fox etc that offers TV episodes to watch with occasional commercials or with ABP, no commercials..LOL
But we have been using about 120-150GB of traffic monthly, and me downloading Linux ISO's and Free to Play Video Games to check out can be 10 to 50GB of that per month.
As far as watching for bandwidth leaks... that is keeping an eye on my LAN, my Router is flashed with DD-WRT and it has a sweet utility in it that allows for you to graph over a period of time statistic info.
In addition to this I am still using gadgets with my Windows 7 systems even though Microsoft told everyone to stop using them. There is no security issue in keeping the same gadget that I have been using for 4 years flawlessly. The risk is in if your installing a new gadget that is a dirty one that then can open up a security hole in system. But this Network Monitor Gadget shows statistic info and a graph. I can also zero the statistics and while the computer is idle see when something is trying to upload or download between my computer and the internet.
I then use Wireshark to capture the traffic as to where it originated from and where it is going either to or from my computer.
This Windows 7 Desktop Gadget to monitor the network, and use of Wireshark when I saw unusual activity brought to light that a Free Game that I installed had installed Pando Media Booster. And so my computer was acting as a repository for bit torrent communications that I was not aware of as part of this free game installation. This peer-to-peer bit torrent was at times consuming bandwidth causing netflix to buffer etc for other users etc. More info on that at below link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(application)
I was able to rid my computer of Pando Media Booster without breaking the free to play game since I dont like programs that use my system as a bit torrent repository.
**** However to get game updates, I had to manually enable it to get a patch and then manually disable it after I was patched to be able to run the game.Pando Media Booster
Pando Media Booster (PMB) is an application by Pando Networks that is used by game and software publishers to ensure safe, complete and speedy downloads of large files. PMB is primarily used to download MMORPGs. Users of PMB participate in a secure, closed peer-to-peer network where users receive pieces of the download package from a Content Delivery Network (CDN) as well as other active users (peers). PMB is usually packaged and automatically uploaded to a PC without the knowledge of the user. Many times users experience drastically slower downloads of these MMORPGs while PMB is installed. Unlike Pando, PMB cannot be used to send files from the user's computer. PMB is only activated to deliver Pando-enabled downloads from commercial sources such as TV networks, software publishers and gaming companies
So Tools I use for monitoring network is:
- DD-WRT which has been flashed to my router. ( Watch entire network of all users both wired and wifi )
- Windows 7 Desktop Network Gadget ( Watch that specific computer for unexpected traffic. You can also track data upload/download stats for each computer that has this gadget installed to know who used more than others for bandwidth. )
- Wireshark ( Determine the nature of the traffic and know who/where is communicating with computers on my LAN.)
For usage statistics, I look at my ISP Account Page that shows past history as well as current data use for the month.
As far as this statement:
Unlike Pando, PMB cannot be used to send files from the user's computer. PMB is only activated to deliver Pando-enabled downloads from commercial sources such as TV networks, software publishers and gaming companies
I have experienced just the opposite with lots of upload traffic, and that upload traffic was my system sending game files to other users computers somewheres out there on the net.
And the large upload traffic also concurs with this statement in the same wiki:
Users of PMB participate in a secure, closed peer-to-peer network where users receive pieces of the download package from a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
as well as other active users (peers).As far as threats to exceeding peoples limited data plans or sluggish network performance yet there are no malware or virus's present.... They need to check to make sure they dont have any hidden file share torrents etc. Also if its a mobile device, my one friend in canada exceeded his data plan on his phone when he had all these apps installed that uploaded/downloaded info regularly. At first he was like how cool is this app and that app. But the draw backs were that battery life was lesser with these apps running and transmitting on frequent intervals, and in the end he claims that one of them was a bandwidth hog and put him over into penalty bandwidth usage fees.
