Additional information covers how to locate your routers IP address.
Youre going to need to find out your routers IP address.
For most routers its192.168.1.1, unless someone changed it.
If your not sure, open a command prompt, and runipconfig.
On Mac and Linux, runip r. On Windows, youll find your routers IP listed as theGateway.
On Linux, itll be next todefault via.
Open your web web client and enter the routers IP address in the address bar.
This is exactly like browsing to a website, so pressEnterafter you enter the IP address.
If you didnt set them yourself, your ISP probably did when the set it up.
Look for any documentation they may have provided to sign in.
Every router is different, and so are their interfaces.
When you first sign in to most, youll arrive at a basic status page.
Itll show you information about your router and your internet that may be useful, but not too in-depth.
give a shot to find aDevice Listlink to see which devices are connected to the internet.
Your routers equipment list will show you the IP addresses of the devices connected to the web connection.
It may even provide a bit of information about what they are.
You will usually see a computers name next to the IP, if one was set.
Have a look around for aStatussection on your router.
You might be lucky enough to even have a specificBandwidthorNetwork Monitoringsection.
Youll see transmission rates and other useful stats.
Youll also be able to see if anyones weaseled their way onto your connection when they shouldnt be there.
Wireshark
Wiresharkis an open-source tool for packet filtering.
That said, it can absolutely get the job done.
Plus, its free and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
If youre on Linux, Wireshark is probably in your distributions repositories.
Ubuntu and Debian users should install Wireshark with:
fire off the Wireshark installer.
Everything should be straightforward, and the default options will work in almost every case.
Open up Wireshark
If Wireshark looks confusing at first, dont worry.
You dont need to know much about it for the basics.
SelectEditandPreferencesin the top menu to set one option that youll need.
A new window will open up.
LocateCapturein the left side list and select it.
The body of the window will shift to display the capture options.
see to it thatCapture packets in promiscuous modeis checked.
Using Wireshark in promiscuous mode on a online grid that you dont own isnot legal.
Be sure to only do this on your own data pipe.
Back on the main Wireshark window, there are two icons that youll need in the main menu.
The blueShark Finicon starts the Wireshark capture process that records connection activity.
The redSquarestops the capture.
Youll be able to review and even save the data after the capture.
Let the capture run for a bit.
After youre satisfied with the amount of info you collected, press the redSquareto stop the capture.
Take a look at the results.
In the top section of the window, youll see the different packets collected by Wireshark.
Each one will have an IP address that sent the packet and one that received it.
Youll also see the connection protocol of each.
When you select one, youll be able to sift through the packet data in the box below.
The lowest option on the list generally contains the most human readable portion of information.
If the packet was encrypted, though, you wont see much.
have a go at use the timestamps to locate the exact moment that your problem occurred.
Hopefully, there will be relevant information available.
If you want to know more about Wireshark, check out thecomplete Wireshark tutorial.
Why Monitor Your data pipe?
Youll uncover exactly which devices, or even specific programs, are hogging your bandwidth.
Then, youll be able to correct any problems and make better use of your connection.
