# is there anyway to control the bandwidth allocation a user uses on a wireless router? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-control-the-bandwidth-allocation-a-user-uses-on-a-wireless-router/428428 "2007-12-01T05:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SweetHomeColorado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d26b3c/32.png) [@SweetHomeColorado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetHomeColorado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-control-the-bandwidth-allocation-a-user-uses-on-a-wireless-router/428428/1 "2007-12-01T05:55:09Z")
My roomate has a problem… he’s an obsessive movie downloader. this certainly doesnt help when im researching for my term paper. I have another roomate and lord knows what he looks up… nonetheless… they hog the bandwidth. I haven’t stumbled across any documentation of how to do this and I really hope there is a way. Are there any programs that can be used to regulate users on the same wireless connection? What are the limitations? ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-control-the-bandwidth-allocation-a-user-uses-on-a-wireless-router/428428/2 "2007-12-01T07:22:30Z")
I think that this is going to depend on the features of the specific router you have. On my Linksys, the feature you’re looking for is called Quality of Service (QoS.) Here’s the help text: > [@Linksys](#): > > The WRT54G offers two types of Quality of Service features, Application-based and Port-based. Choose the appropriate offering for your needs. > > Application-based Qos: You may control your bandwidth with respect to the application that is consuming bandwidth. There are several pre-configured applications. You may also customize up to three applications by entering the port number they use. > > Port-based QoS: You may control your bandwidth according to which physical LAN port your device is plugged into. You may assign High or Low priority to devices connected on LAN ports 1 through 4. Although the help text doesn’t mention it, this device also permits you to prioritize by MAC address, which would seem to be the equivalent of their “port based” control for wireless hosts. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-control-the-bandwidth-allocation-a-user-uses-on-a-wireless-router/428428/3 "2007-12-01T08:05:17Z")
Do your roommates know that they are hogging the bandwidth? Are they willing to help you solve the problem? If they are, then probably the easiest way to do it is to have them download using a download manager like FlashGet or LeechGet (there are plenty of others out there too). These download managers generally have a setting where you can control your bandwidth and leave some free for other users, or for other programs on your own computer. I sometimes download large movie files from [archive.org](http://archive.org). If i do this when my wife is also trying to use the internet, or when i also want to browse, i use a download manager or an ftp client and set it to use only half of our bandwidth, leaving the other half free for regular surfing. Of course, as i suggested earlier, this will only work if your roomies are willing to help you out, because they wold have to load the download managers on their own computer. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-control-the-bandwidth-allocation-a-user-uses-on-a-wireless-router/428428/4 "2007-12-01T20:00:32Z")
Here’s an article about QoS: [Ensure a Fast Internet Connection When You Need It](http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/ensure-a-fast-internet-connection-when-you-need-it-326543.php) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-control-the-bandwidth-allocation-a-user-uses-on-a-wireless-router/428428/5 "2007-12-01T20:04:48Z")
[QUOTE=SweetHomeColorado] My roomate has a problem… he’s an obsessive movie downloader. this certainly doesnt help when im researching for my term paper. I have another roomate and lord knows what he looks up… nonetheless… they hog the bandwidth. I haven’t stumbled across any documentation of how to do this and I really hope there is a way. Are there any programs that can be used to regulate users on the same wireless connection? What are the limitations? [/QUOTE] Another thing to consider, some routers can block certain types of requests during specified time periods. In this way he could que up downloads but they would not move until after midnight or while everyone is at work.