said by McSummation:I've been using BWMeter for several months...
Thanks for making me (and others aware of BWMeter. Looks great, but it's also $30.
I've been using Networx (»
download.cnet.com/NetWor ··· 904.html) for about 6 months now (somone else on DSLR recommended (in the comments like this) once). I'm VERY happy with it. Just like with BWMeter, you can network other computers to get a better sense on your total network usage. BW Meter looks like it may be a bit more advanced, but for the price difference, I think many would be happy with Networx. If you are, you might consider throwing them a small bone, like we should for all great "free" software we use a lot to help support it.
Ideally, it is best to have this functionality on your router, but that's not always practical or convenient or cost effective. So this method is a second best way to get a read on your bandwidth usage. Of course, with all the individual non-pc devices being added to networks these days, this second pc by pc method will only give you a general read, but most non-pc devices also don't consume much bandwidth, so in most cases, this will be good enough.