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Thread: Control bandwidth usage of staff

  1. #1
    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Control bandwidth usage of staff

    I have 6 staff members with some of them abusing my internet facility.
    ( Facebook, Surfing, emails to zillions of friends etc. ) And all this during work time !
    Does anybody know of a software program I can install that can monitor the situation and preferably something where I can give each person a quota.
    I have both a wireless ISP ( WiFi connection ) and an ADSL line so by just putting limits on the router ( If that can be done ! ) would not solve the problem.
    I would prefer a program I can install on my PC that can do the monitoring for the whole network and so I can set the limits. I do not want to install software on the staff PCs as they will find ways around that. ( All PCs connect directly to the net )

    I have googled but not sure if I see anything that would work for me.

    It would obviously have to be something that looks at the IP address of the PCs concerned and then monitor the usage and apply a quota.

    Come on.........put your thinking caps on !!!!!!!!!!!!
    Martin Coetzee
    Supplier of Stainless Steel Band and Buckle and various fastening systems. Steel, Plastic, Galvanized, PET and Poly woven.
    We solve your fastening problems.
    www.straptite.com

    You may never know what results will come from your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results... Rudy Malan 05/03/2011

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    Email problem daveob's Avatar
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    This private usage of your facilities is, in essence, THEFT !!

    They are stealing your bandwidth which you paid for, they are stealing your time that you pay them to do your company's work, and they are stealing the service levels that your clients are now not receiving.

    First thing I would do is to produce and distribute a Company Internet Usage Policy Document ( CIUPD ) which clearly states what can / can't be done on company time on the internet / PCs. It is difficult / unfair for you, currently, to punish someone for something if they don't fully know what the rules are.

    Next, ask your ISP to give you a summary of the e-mails for each e-mail address - find out who is abusing the system. Look at the incoming and outgoing mails, subject lines, etc. You'll quickly spot the personal mails.

    Are you allowed to do this ? I don't see why not. It's your mail server, your bandwidth, etc. And it is also specifically stated in the CIUPD.

    Next, make an example. Make sure that it is severe enough ( as defined by the CIUPD ) that it sends a strong enough message to everyone else in the company. Is the time on the net is worth more to them than the monthly pay cheque ?
    Watching the ships passing by.

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    Martinco (06-Jan-10)

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    The question is how much money you are willing to spend on a solution. I can think of 3 products “hardware base that completely eliminate and control your problem” within hours but they are a bit costly I will find out prices from my good friend this week and come back to you on that but you are looking at a heavy amount.

    Your second option is Mozilla Firefox. YES again a little trick that I do to keep people from eating internet. Look you have to admin your computers with some basic policies but this is really simple.

    You get and add-on called Leach-block and on it you can permanently block face-thingy and everything else. Or!! Well setup a proxy... look at these products, I do NOT recommend them but they will give you some idea what a good proxy server can do...


    http://www.youngzsoft.net/ccproxy/index.html
    http://www.papercut.com/products/ng/...nternet-usage/
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

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    Martinco (06-Jan-10)

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    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by daveob View Post


    First thing I would do is to produce and distribute a Company Internet Usage Policy Document ( CIUPD ) which clearly states what can / can't be done on company time on the internet / PCs. It is difficult / unfair for you, currently, to punish someone for something if they don't fully know what the rules are.

    Good idea Dave. I shall certainly do this so everybody knows where they are standing. Thanks !
    Martin Coetzee
    Supplier of Stainless Steel Band and Buckle and various fastening systems. Steel, Plastic, Galvanized, PET and Poly woven.
    We solve your fastening problems.
    www.straptite.com

    You may never know what results will come from your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results... Rudy Malan 05/03/2011

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    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tec0 View Post
    The question is how much money you are willing to spend on a solution. I can think of 3 products “hardware base that completely eliminate and control your problem” within hours but they are a bit costly I will find out prices from my good friend this week and come back to you on that but you are looking at a heavy amount.
    Well.....I think this is the problem....................am I throwing good money after bad ?

    The "Papercut" program looks promising but I just fall into the situation where the license fee is going to be USD 400+ ( 5 users = free )
    How do you think the program determines the number of users ?..........By simply looking at the IPs or PCs connected to the net ?, because I have 3 additional PCs on the LAN but not connected. ( Data server, and counter sales PCs. )
    Martin Coetzee
    Supplier of Stainless Steel Band and Buckle and various fastening systems. Steel, Plastic, Galvanized, PET and Poly woven.
    We solve your fastening problems.
    www.straptite.com

    You may never know what results will come from your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results... Rudy Malan 05/03/2011

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Right I used those two products as examples. I was NOT recommending them but I was hoping that you would Google a bit on the subject but ok here is one more thing for you to look at

    http://internet-security.suite101.co...ol_using_squid

    There are a few other free products on the net so I am not recommending this one it is just an example

    also google "WinProxy 5.0a"
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

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    Email problem daveob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martinco View Post
    Good idea Dave. I shall certainly do this so everybody knows where they are standing. Thanks !
    Recommended. How many times have you found yourself in the situation where you are getting uptight and stressed about something, and the person that is causing the problem / stress isn't even aware that there is a problem or doesn't think that their actions could cause problems ?

    Document and set the rules / guidelines so everyone knows what's allowed / expected, etc.
    Watching the ships passing by.

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    look at

    http://www.bestfreewaredownload.com/...-auyrzavz.html

    also at

    http://www.handycafe.com/en/

    See I hope you see what I am on about there are loads of software “freeware” that can do the trick I recommend you Google read and workout what will work for you FOR FREEEE!
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

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    Platinum Member SilverNodashi's Avatar
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    The only sure way to limit, and monitor who does what is to put a firewall inbetween the network and the PC's. Any software installed on the PC's themselves can be bypassed and won't help you much.

    There are some decent, affordable hardware based firewalls which you basically install-and-forget and then just monitor who does what. You can limit who goes to which website(s) thet visit, what they can / can't download, when ( i.e. only in lunch time / after hours, etc) they can access it, and even much bandwidth any user can use. You can also track / monitor / block stuff like Skype, Email, FTP, SSH, HTTPS ( which you otherwise can't block), torrents, etc, etc.
    Get superfast South African Hosting at WebHostingZone

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    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tec0 View Post
    Just a word of warning on the above software!!!

    I installed the server and client software on two PCs

    When one opens the client software, the monitor goes blank first and then brings up a screen with "HANDY CAFE" graphics which just keeps on repeating on and on and no way of getting out of this.
    Just a forced shutdown could stop this.

    After a restart all the desktop icons went missing !

    I had to restart and quickly open "Regcleaner" to uninstall client because the normal win control panel "remove programs" does not even see the client program.
    Lucky I have Zone Alarm installed which bought me some time to get to my Regcleaner program.

    Well..........all's well that ends well. PC running again.
    Martin Coetzee
    Supplier of Stainless Steel Band and Buckle and various fastening systems. Steel, Plastic, Galvanized, PET and Poly woven.
    We solve your fastening problems.
    www.straptite.com

    You may never know what results will come from your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results... Rudy Malan 05/03/2011

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