Windows 7: Internet usage meter

Hi, apologies if this question is in the wrong place on the forum, it didn't seem to fit into any of the other categories. My ISP is claiming I use more than my monthly allowance and wants to charge me for it however I have no way to prove otherwise and would like some way to measure my D/L usage. As I have several systems on a network is there any software that can reliably measure usage at the router as it would be a pain to have to monitor individual systems and keep a record ?

What kind of router do you have? Or combi of modem/router? Sometimes they are able to log data usage. Do you have only the one pc on it or do you have a WIFI that could be/is used by others?

Have a look here:--

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/tbbmeter.html

I've used this 1 for a long time and not had any problems.

iechyd da

Paul, what would you use if ibshaw has more that one pc/lt on a (wireless)lan? does this measure at the modem?
Thx,
Mark

Hi guys (gals?) thanks for replies - I use a basic home Netgear combined modem / router that is the interface between my broadband ISP and my network which consists of one wired and three wireless systems. So, ideally if there was some way of measuring usage at the router that would be preferable since I realise there are individual PC meters but in my situation installing on each and adding up usage would be impractical. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Have a type number for that netgear modem so I can check it's capabilities? Or have you already checked that?

I have a Netgear DG834GT (also have DG834 v 4 if that is any different), thanks.

One way to keep track that's safe and not super hard is to monthly jot down your received packets number that is loggen in the modem. For detail see pg 6-6 in this technical manual for your modem:

http://kbserver.netgear.com/pdf/dg834gt_manual.pdf

Advantage of this method is that you need nothing extra....
Let me know if that's sufficient and feasible. If not, we'll find something else.

Hi, thanks for reply - yes, that is feasible however it looks like it will only measure the amount of packets sent/received since the last power on, so if the modem is not on 24/7 you would need to check it every day ? Since it gets switched off each night, I guess I'd need some kind of text file like an error log over a period of time but I guess this is not something this modem would do.

Is there any reason you are switching the router off overnight? ADSL is designed to be an "always on" connection.

There are really no advantages and several disadvantages to switching the router off overnight unless you are experiencing a loss of sync in the evenings and are rebooting in the morning in order to get a higher speed.

As you are in the UK, it wouldn't be a huge leap of faith to assume that you obtain your internet connection via BT Wholesale, even if BT are not your ISP. (As you don't have a HomeHub I'm assuming that they are not) BT's network requires a stable sync of at least 3 days before it will stabilise your IP profile (which dictates your speed) in the event of a higher sync speed being obtained. Worse still, if you have ever had several loss of sync events in a short space of time, the DSLAM may well have raised your target SNR, which requires a stable connection for at least 14 days before returning to normal.

In other words, by switching it off overnight, your speeds can only go down.