OS level network speed restriction program for Win 8.1

[smirny4u]

Hi,

I'm looking for a program to limit the network (downstream specifically) speed of any program that is currently running. My scenario:

We're a student household of three and I'm probably the one which uses the internet the most. Both other guys use it mainly for streaming (tv series, etc.) or Skype calls and I don't want to block the whole bandwith for them if possible. We have a 4 MBit line (~480 kb/s) and most servers deliver more than this nowadays so if I start a download it will hit this limit, making it almost impossible for the other guys to use the internet in a proper way. I know JDownloader can do this, but there are some scenarios where it doesn't work (e.g. doesn't recognize download URL or I download something through another program or inside a Windows 8 app).

Is there a program that sits at the OS level that allows me to restrict the speed to 100kb/s or something else? It would be awesome if this would be a simple on/off switch like JDownloader has.

Thanks for any replies

 

[Alabalcho]

When downloading, the server sends the data as fast as it can. By the time the data reaches your computer (or router) and you start filtering, your ISP line will be already taken, so you can't do much but drop the data (if you decide to limit download rate) and it will be too late

Your only route is to talk to your room-mates to set their watching / download experiences to lower settings.

 

[Ijack]

It depends upon your router. If it supports QOS filtering then you can give certain traffic a higher priority than others. The explanation in the previous post is not correct in this respect.

 

[smirny4u]

I also don't think that this wouldn't work, since the JDownloader approach of limiting to 100kb/s seems to free up the band with for something else.

How can I find out whether my router supports QOS? I sadly don't think so, because it is a dumbed down router directly from my ISP

 

[Ijack]

If you post the make and model of the router then someone could tell you but I agree that an ISP-supplied router it probably doesn't.

It's best to approach this sort of problem at the router level as it is aware of all traffic on the network and can prioritize it to individual machines. It works, as dows JDownloader, because IP transfers aren't just an open pipe down which servers pour all the packets they can. There is two-way communication and the server will only send data when the client is ready to receive it. It would be horrendously inefficient if a server had to keep resending packets because the client couldn't keep up with it.

 

[smirny4u]

Allright, after talking to my house mates, our solution was to upgrade to 100MBit. I hope I don't need anything now