Score:1

How to monitor outbound bandwidth usage in Linux?

us flag

Currently I use vnstat to monitor my bandwidth usage. What I want to achieve is to get data for making the decision whether to stay in a more expensive but unlimited cable based plan, or to switch to a cheaper, mobile based and limited data plan.

So what I really want to know is not the total traffic going through my network interface(s), since I have a small LAN with a NAS and other stuff, but the traffic going outbound of my LAN, basically everything except traffic going to/from 10.0.0.0 - 10.0.0.255.

I can't figure out how to do that with vnstat or if that is even possible. I'd be willing to use any other tool as well, but I didn't find anything better than vnstat yet. Any ideas?

Score:2
st flag

The usual way to do it is by enabling SNMP monitoring on your router and configuring an MRTG monitoring tool (on your computer or any other internal server) to monitor the router's outgoing interface.

How to monitor SNMP traffic on Ubuntu for free with MRTG

us flag
That sounds like the way to go, unfortunately, my router has no option for SNMP monitoring...
Score:1
cn flag

have you ever tried iptraf?

test it from console, just install via apt o yum and launch it by typping iptraf.

You can select "Lan Station monitor" and the network card to monitor the traffic on device.

Greetings!

us flag
Thanks. Just did. It seems to be a great tool for live network monitoring, like some others I tried. But it lacks the accumulated traffic statistics over a longer time period (and over system reboots). There is a filtering system though that could do what I want. But without the acculumated data over weeks/months, it's not really what I am looking for.
Score:0
us flag

So, I haven't yet had time to test these two programs, but it looks like they may be what I am looking for. In case anyone looks for something similar, check out:

https://github.com/rafalfr/smarttrafficmeter

and

https://codebox.net/pages/bitmeteros

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.