Usage Examples
Basic examples
Example 1: You have a network connected to the Internet through a Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 based server. Users access the Internet through the server with ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) or NAT (Network Address Translation). You would like to limit internet access speed for some or all users.
Install the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager service on the Windows based server and create rules via the GUI. For example, if your network IP address range is 192.168.0.x and the server address is 192.168.0.1, your rules might look something like this:
Rule #1:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: 192.168.0.2
- Destination: Any IP Address
- Interface: LAN
Rule #2:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: 192.168.0.3
- Destination: Any IP Address
- Interface: LAN
Rule #3:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: 192.168.0.4
- Destination: Any IP Address
- Interface: LAN
In this case, a rule has been defined for three specific users and each rule would have an appropriate data rate limit. LAN is the network interface connected to the local network (not to the Internet). Any other network users not covered by the rules would have Internet access with no speed limit. If you need to restrict internet access speed for larger numbers of users it might be more convenient to use rules that apply to source address ranges.
This set of rules applies to any connection from selected network users to any IP address. If users access the Internet through a proxy server then example 2 applies.
Example 2: You have a network connected to the Internet through a Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 based server. Users access the Internet through the proxy server. You would like to limit internet access speed for some or all users.
Install SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager service on the Windows based server and create rules via the GUI. If your network IP address range is 192.168.0.x, your rules might look something like this:
Rule #1:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: 192.168.0.2
- Destination: local host : proxy server port
- Interface: LAN
Rule #2:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: 192.168.0.3
- Destination: local host : proxy server port
- Interface: LAN
Rule #3:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: 192.168.0.4
- Destination: local host : proxy server port
- Interface: LAN
This set of rules applies to any connection from selected network users to the proxy server port. LAN is the network interface connected to the local network (not to the Internet). For access to the Internet through the server with ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) or NAT (Network Address Translation) example 1 applies.
Example 3: You have a network connected to the Internet through a hardware router or a DSL modem. You would like to limit internet access speed for some or all users but you do not need to limit traffic within your LAN.
In this case you need to install the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager service on each network computer on which you would like to set an internet speed limit. Only the system service needs to be installed on each network computer. You will be able to configure the system services remotely via the GUI application installed on a single workstation. If your network IP address range is 192.168.0.x, your rules might be as follows:
Rule #1:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: Unlimited
- Source: Range 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.0.255
- Destination: Range 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.0.255.
Rule #2:
- Protocol: TCP/UDP
- Direction: Both
- Rate: 10 KB/s
- Source: local host
- Destination: Any IP address.
The first rule permits unlimited access to the LAN while the second sets an internet access speed limit. Alternatively, instead of making the first rule, enable the
Ignore LAN traffic option in the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager settings. This will reduce the CPU's load and result in faster local file transfers.
If you do not want to install the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager on each PC, there is also a solution. In this case you may need to place an additional PC with two Ethernet cards and Windows 2000/XP/2003 between the local network and the uplink (modem, satellite, router). On this PC install the bandwidth manager and configure it to use the
internal bridging or a third-party NAT solution. After that, create your rules as per example 1.
Advanced examples
The examples below involve quotas and a new feature introduced in version 2.9: suspended rules. When you define a quota, in addition to a flat transfer rate or 'Blocked' you can also specify 'Suspended'. In this case when the quota is used up, the rule will be suspended, which means it will be ignored until the quota is reset back. This feature has two useful applications as described below.
Multilevel quotas
For example, you could make possible the following scenario: 80 MB download at full rate, then 10 MB at a reduced rate, and after another 5 MB at even lower rate and finally block the user completely. This can be done by defining three quotas and three rules as follows:
- Quota 1: Initial Rate: Unlimited, Reduced Rate: Suspended, Volume: 80 MB
- Quota 2: Initial Rate: 100 KB/s, Reduced Rate: Suspended; Volume: 10 MB
- Quota 3: Initial Rate: 10 KB/s, Reduced Rate: Blocked; Volume: 5 MB
- Rule 1: Source and Destination as needed, the rule is linked to Quota 1
- Rule 2: Source and Destination as needed, the rule is linked to Quota 2
- Rule 3: Source and Destination as needed, the rule is linked to Quota 3
In this case, provided that the rules are the same but linked with quotas 1, 2 and 3, these rules will come into effect sequentially. That is, Rule 1 will handle first 80 MB, Rule 2 will handle next 10 MB, and finally Rule 3 will let remaining 5 MB and then block the user.
You have exceeded your quota message
This might be useful for those who sell Internet access services to wired or wireless users and would like them to see a message (web-page) if they have used up their allocated quota. To do so define a quota, such as Initial Rate: 100 KB/s, Reduced Rate: Suspended. This will cause the software to skip the rule once the quota has been exceeded. Knowing this, you may define a ruleset as follows:
Rule 1. Normal rule linked with a quota to be consumed, which will later turn into the 'Suspended' state.
Rule 2. Redirect anyone to a web-page with a rule linked to a mapping. So if the first rule gets suspended, the user will be redirected to a web-page of your choice. If the the quota is reset later, Rule 1 will come into effect again and the user can continue using the Internet.