Controling a shared internet connection

[omegaRED]

I week ago i finally got ADSL, and i`m quite enjoying it. I`ve got a PC and a laptop at home, and since i wanted to have internet at both computers, i got another NIC (the Ethernet ADSL modem is connected to the onboard NIC on the PC) and a crossover cable connecting the two computers. I`ve setup Internet Connection Sharing and it`s working properly. Now, i want to be able to control the upload/download speed on the laptop, if possible, from my PC. I`ve installed NetLimiter on it, but i need to access it locally to limit the speed. Is there a way to do this from my PC?

[UtwigMU]

The best thing to do would be by means of separate Linux router (separate PC with multiple NICs acting as router) and advanced QoS and packet scheduling/limiting.

Why would you want to limit bandwidth?

For general web surfing and gaming 2 PCs on single connection are enough. The only problem where problems may arise (quality of internet access degrades) are FTP servers and p2p filesharing apps.

Those support limiting of bandwidth for upload and download. For instance if you set them so that they use few concurent connections and use 5-15kB (5kB for surfing, 15kB for gaming) less upload and download then your ADSL can do, it's OK.

You can also use XP Remote desktop or similar tool (VNC...) to access the other computer and set net limiter and bandwidth of net-intensive apps.

Otherwise I recommend purchasing a cheap 4 or so port broadband router as your machines are behind NAT and thus more safe and also one box doesn't have to be online so that other can. If you need more features, it's better to use an old computer running Linux as router.

[omegaRED]

Nah, i`m not about to go to great lenghts to do that. Currently, i only want to ensure my parents dont use up too much of the bandwith on the laptop ( limit is 4GB/month, which my ISP _MIGHT_ decide to enforce in the future), so i want to be sure i wont be over the limit. Not so big a deal, just wanted to know whether i can limit the DL/UL coz i want a bigger share of it, hehe.

[Wombat]

4GB/mo? Ouch.

Well, make sure that they're kept virus and spyware free. One bad infection and there goes your bandwidth.

[omegaRED]

Yeah, i know. I spent the better part of the day making sure that AVG/adaware/Spybot are up to date and the laptop is clean even before i connected it to my PC. Currently the ISP is not limiting the bandwith, but they might start in the future... It sucks, but it`s way better than 33.6k :P