Hardware based network monitor for home use

[anxious_ant]

Just wondering if there is one, as Googling seem to only come up with software network monitors.
I've installed a trial of PRTG and whilst I'm impressed with the reporting capabilities, it's hard to configure it to show the information I want.

Basically I am looking for something that allows me to see a live view of bandwidth consumption by device or IP.

I used to have an Asus modem router which has similiar functionality, but I've sold it now.
Could consider replacing my Smart Hub 2 (which is a router only as I have a small white FTTP modem) but that would also mean my BT WiFI mesh discs (version which only works with BT SH2) would need to be binned.

Perhaps if there is a router solution (with mesh discs) that covers this and also have parental controls built in at a decent price I will be interested

[anxious_ant]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Good shout! Wonder if I can just get the USG and plug it into my existing network.

[page3]

I wouldn’t recommend the UniFi stuff, and in particular the USG. It’s old, underpowered, buggy and surprisingly feature lite once you get past the flashy graphics.

[bangerhoarder]

Not sure if it’s exactly what you need, but a dual NIC box with Pfsense and Ntopng has great capabilities. That’s what I use at work to work out why everything’s at a crawl, only to find someone has dumped 45GB of wedding photos onto a DFS-R volume.

Edited by bangerhoarder on Saturday 6th March 11:53

[anxious_ant]

bangerhoarder said:

Not sure if it’s exactly what you need, but a dual NIC box with Pfsense and Ntopng has great capabilities. That’s what I use at work to work out why everything’s at a crawl, only to find someone has dumped 45GB of wedsing photos onto a DFS-R volume.

hmm, aren't Pfsense and Ntopng software monitors? Kind of like PRTG? I have it installed on a NUC at the moment (it comes with full fat trial key) and whilst it looks good I can't get the sensors to work. It either requires SNMP on devices (not all devices on my network will support that i.e. Roku, Chromecast) or they other option seems to be packet sniffer which is resource intensive doesn't seem to work that well.

Perhaps I am missing something here...

[anxious_ant]

page3 said:

I wouldn’t recommend the UniFi stuff, and in particular the USG. It’s old, underpowered, buggy and surprisingly feature lite once you get past the flashy graphics.

Just had a chat with a mate who uses a USG at work and apparently it doesn't handle gig broadband well.

[xeny]

anxious_ant said:

Just had a chat with a mate who uses a USG at work and apparently it doesn't handle gig broadband well.

USG hasn't got enough grunt for gig broadband.

Any "hardware" monitor is ultimately running monitoring software. Typically there's a premium for a hardware monitor over something comparable installed on a Pi.

If you're mainly interested in traffic between the outside world and internal devices, or do you want to monitor device - device traffic also?

Part of me is wondering, if you've got gigabit broadband why is monitoring heavy users worth worrying about?

[TonyRPH]

Take a look at "The Dude" from Mikrotik.

However - to get the best 'whole view' of your network monitoring, ideally you either need SNMP enabled devices - or you need to monitor your traffic on your main egress point (usually your router).

There are some (expensive!) apps that will monitor a switch and build a picture of your network flows (Sflow) - there are some examples here.

I've found the best option is to use a Linux based firewall, with NTOP or Darkstat (not as detailed as ntop)

If you can't use a Linux firewall, then the next best thing is a managed switch in front of the firewall, and you can monitor traffic flows from the switch (you will need a managed switch to enable a monitor port). But you are then restricted by available (free) software to monitor the switch.

[xeny]

Doesn't The Dude require a Microtik router to run the server?

I remember when it was all Windows based (V 3.6 or so) and it was very useful and trivial to set up.

[bitchstewie]

PRTG isn't the problem the hardware you have is the problem.

To be able to monitor bandwidth you need something that is usually SNMP capable or which has an "integration" (usually SNMP but not always) with the device you're trying to monitor.

Pretty sure you're not going to get there with a £30 home router.

[anxious_ant]

Thanks all for the input.
Managed switch is another great idea, I can put this between the FTTP and the BT router.

I've read somewhere that someone setup a Pi device to handle firewall, DHCP/DNS and network monitoring too.

[anxious_ant]

bhstewie said:

PRTG isn't the problem the hardware you have is the problem.

To be able to monitor bandwidth you need something that is usually SNMP capable or which has an "integration" (usually SNMP but not always) with the device you're trying to monitor.

Pretty sure you're not going to get there with a £30 home router.

Yes, unfortunately for home devices it's not always possible to ensure all devices are SNMP capable.

Thinking about it, the 2 BT mesh discs are now hardwired anyway. I suppose I could try an sell the BT SH2 and the 2 mesh discs and get myself a decent router plus perhaps 2 Unifi APs.

[TonyRPH]

xeny said:

Doesn't The Dude require a Microtik router to run the server?

I remember when it was all Windows based (V 3.6 or so) and it was very useful and trivial to set up.

It's been a while since I used it - but the last time I did use it (about 3 - 4years ago), no Mikrotik device was required.

Just a Windows box with sufficient resources.