Example 1: You have a network connected to the Internet through a Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 based server. Users access the Internet through the server with ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) or NAT (Network Address Translation). You would like to limit internet access speed for some or all users.
Install the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager service on the Windows based server and create rules via the GUI. For example, if your network IP address range is 192.168.0.x and the server address is 192.168.0.1, your rules might look something like this:
In this case, a rule has been defined for three specific users and each rule would have an appropriate data rate limit. LAN is the network interface connected to the local network (not to the Internet). Any other network users not covered by the rules would have Internet access with no speed limit. If you need to restrict internet access speed for larger numbers of users it might be more convenient to use rules that apply to source address ranges.
This set of rules applies to any connection from selected network users to any IP address. If users access the Internet through a proxy server then example 2 applies.
Example 2: You have a network connected to the Internet through a Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 based server. Users access the Internet through the proxy server. You would like to limit internet access speed for some or all users.
Install SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager service on the Windows based server and create rules via the GUI. If your network IP address range is 192.168.0.x, your rules might look something like this:
This set of rules applies to any connection from selected network users to the proxy server port. LAN is the network interface connected to the local network (not to the Internet). For access to the Internet through the server with ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) or NAT (Network Address Translation) example 1 applies.
Example 3: You have a network connected to the Internet through a hardware router or a DSL modem. You would like to limit internet access speed for some or all users but you do not need to limit traffic within your LAN.
In this case you need to install the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager service on each network computer on which you would like to set an internet speed limit. Only the system service needs to be installed on each network computer. You will be able to configure the system services remotely via the GUI application installed on a single workstation. If your network IP address range is 192.168.0.x, your rules might be as follows:
The first rule permits unlimited access to the LAN while the second sets an internet access speed limit.
If you do not want to install the SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager on each PC, there is also a solution. In this case you may need to place an additional PC with two Ethernet cards and Windows 2000/XP/2003 between the local network and the uplink (modem, satellite, router). On this PC install the bandwidth manager and configure it to use internal bridging. After that, create your rules as per example 1.
If you have a network management problem and you are unsure how SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager can help, then please feel free to send us a message describing your network configuration and the problem. To send us an email, click here.