said by JTRockville:
... I decided to stick with the 1605-R...
Just in case you decide to configure the Cisco, because, after all, it IS a Cisco...: Setting Up SNMP on Cisco Router for Monitoring Network Traffic:
Below is the router configuration for a Cisco using IOS version 12.2(13)ZH2, to configure an internal network in the IP address range 10.10.10.0 to 10.10.10.255, with access to the SNMP for the computer with an IP address of 10.10.10.6. If you have an earlier software version, some commands may be slightly different. If you were to attempt to configure the Cisco and you wanted to restore the original config, simply turn off the router and turn it back on (and wait a few minutes for it to reload) it would restore a backup configuration.
Connecting the Console Cable
connect light blue console cord from pc's serial port to the light blue port on the cisco router
Creating the hyperterminal in windows XP
start\programs\accessories\communications\choose the hyperterminal icon (not the hyperterminal folder)\enter the name Cisco, choose an icon, click ok\
area code: (put your area code here), connect using: (select your com port here, ex COM2 or COM1), ok\bits per sec: 9600, data bits: 8, parity: none, stop bits: 1, flow control: none, apply, ok\
click the X at the upper right, say ok to exit, when it says do you want to save the connection SAY YES.
Seeing the New Hyperterminal Icon
start\programs\accessories\communications\hyperterminal folder\if you dont see the hyperterminal icon reboot the computer and you will see it
Opening the Hyperterminal
To open:
start\programs\accessories\communications\hyperterminal folder\click the just made cisco.ht icon (reboot computer if the newly made cisco.ht icon is missing). A hyperterminal screen will open, tap the enter key a few time and you will see "Router>" or a something similar prompt
CONFIGURE THE ROUTER FOR SNMP
(Below is the router configuration for a Cisco using IOS version 12.2(13)ZH2, to configure an internal network in the IP address range 10.10.10.0 to 10.10.10.255, with access to the SNMP for the computer with an IP address of 10.10.10.6)
Open a hyperterminal session
Press enter a few times, will see Router>
Type in enable, then press enter
Enter a password if prompted and press enter, if no password required, you will just see Router#
At the Router# prompt, type configure terminal, then press enter
Will see Router(config)# prompt. Enter the following four lines to configure the router (assuming a LAN with an IP address range of 10.10.10.0 10.10.10.255 (change the IP address range as needed) If any of the commands werent recognized, the IOS version you have doesnt recognize the commands and if stuck simply reboot the router to restore the original config)
Router (config)#snmp-server community not-public ro 1
Router (config)#snmp-server community highly-secure rw 2
Router (config)#access-list 1 permit 10.10.10.0 0.0.0.255
Router (config)# access-list 2 permit 10.10.10.6
To exit, put exit and press enter, (you may need to use the exit command again) until you come back to Router>
With these four lines you are done configuring the router! If you get this far, I can explain how to configure Paessler.You will also need to configure one computer with a static IP address (in my example IP address 10.10.10.6) to access the SNMP config besides configuring Paessler.
quote:
The problem is: I'm scared to touch it.
Agreed my method above is scary, but you can restore the original config if you want by just turning the router off and on.
quote:
It appears that many Comcast subscribers don't have a reasonable way of monitoring their usage, unless
you could, if you want, try DU meter on each computer and add up the usage for each one.
quote:
and it appears there are security risks associated with SNMP
Not really, for the Cisco if you configured it the way I instructed, only allowing SNMP access from the local network.
Yes configuring a Cisco seems daunting note however, that for all the above you are only entering four (4) lines of code into the router.