How Do I Limit Other People's Bandwidth on the Same Network?

Use your router to enforce fair network usage.

Most Internet services providers (ISPs) allot a specific amount of data that can be carried from one point to another over a period of time. Online gaming, streaming video, peer-to-peer file sharing and other activities can eat away at the amount of bandwidth available, causing other Internet services to slow down to a crawl. The problem can be exacerbated if there are other users on your network that are monopolizing the available bandwidth. You can use your router's "Quality of Service" feature to limit the amount of bandwidth available to other users.

Instructions

1. Open your Web browser and log in to your router's configuration page. Enter the administrative username and password when prompted.

2. Navigate to the section containing your router's "QoS" settings. The exact navigational paths can vary between manufacturers.

3. Click "Enable" to activate the "QoS" feature, if necessary. Select your application from the available list and select the amount of bandwidth to be restricted for that application. If your desired application is not in the list, or if there's no list available, add the TCP and/or UDP port numbers used by the application, then select the amount of bandwidth to be restricted for the application. Click "Save" or "Apply" to save your settings.

Tips & Warnings

• Your router's IP address can be found on the brand model sticker underneath the router or within the router's user guide. The default administrative username and password can also be found in these areas.

References

• Cisco CCNA Bootcamp: Setup Quality of Service on Linksys Routers
• Belkin: Setting Up QoS (Quality of Service) Rules on Your Belkin Router (Play, Play Max)