Limiting Bandwidth Hogs on Public Wireless Nets?

arglesnaf asks: "I'm a consultant and spend a lot of time on public wireless networks at client sites (mostly hospitals / universities), coffee shops, and hotels. Quite often, the problem is that some person is running BitTorrent and eating 100% of the bandwidth. The result is that I can't get email during the day or play World of Warcraft in the hotel. I have considered sniffing and spoofing TCP resets to free up some bandwidth but need an automated way to handle new BitTorrent connections. Does anybody have any ideas on how to automate the sniff and reset strategy, or other ways to carve out a little bandwidth from hogs on public wireless?"

Comments

That's not the question

[Kadin2048]

I think there's an assumption here that he doesn't control the WL router.

E.g., it's a public router, like in a coffeeshop or hotel, but which doesn't have any QoS set up on it, so it's being abused.

He wants a way of essentially chiseling out some room on the commons, when the other guy is already over-grazing his sheep there.

Short answer: No.

[Stavr0]

I'm a consultant and spend a lot of time on public wireless networks at client sites (mostly hospitals / universities)

Get yourself an EVDO cellular modem. You can deduct it as a business expense. And stop trying to disrupt other peoples's connection.

If you have a problem with bandwidth hogs, complain to the WiFi service provider. Don't take the matter into your own hands. You are not the bandwith police, what you are doing is probably illegal.

Re:Short answer: No.

[Chanc_Gorkon]

Exactly what I was going to say. A free wifi network is NOT your network. Just because someone else is being a asshat doesn't mean you need to be one as well.

Re:Short answer: No.

[Primis]

Then again *still*, whether he can play WoW or not in a hotel is a rather stupid, frivilous issue and one not even worth commenting on. That alone speaks to the original question poster's mentality, right there, that it is somehow a "priority" over everyone else's traffic...

Re:Short answer: No.

[Vellmont]

Exactly what I was going to say. A free wifi network is NOT your network. Just because someone else is being a asshat doesn't mean you need to be one as well.

Well, my argument would be it's not the bandwidth hogs network either. If someone were blasting really loud music in a public space, would anyone but the music blaster complain if you were able to send sound cancelling noise to block the loud music (and do it in a perfect way that only stopped the loud music)?

In this case the guy isn't being an "asshat" at all since he's also making the network useable for everyone. I'd be more worried about legal implications of doing this than someones strange morality of being against inteferring with other peoples breaking of a network.

Re:Short answer: No.

[CXI]

I have considered sniffing and spoofing TCP resets to free up some bandwidth but need an automated way to handle new BitTorrent connections. Does anybody have any ideas on how to automate the sniff and reset strategy, or other ways to carve out a little bandwidth from hogs on public wireless?"

When you want to know about the correct way to do it, you ask about QoS and other bandwidth limiting methods. You do NOT, as you've done, talk about TCP resets and "automated sniff and reset strategy".

Spoof some ARP packets

[haydenth]

We used to have this problem when I lived in a house where 10-15 people shared a wireless connection and none of us had admin access to the router. We couldn't play XBOX live or anything because some asshat was downloading porn on bittorrent constantly. I used to just spoof ARP packets and have all of the traffic route through me, whereby I'd summarily kill all of his traffic and mess up his routing tables.

Okay...

[LWATCDR]

Isn't WOW a bandwidth hog?
Sort of seems like you are asking how can I kick off OTHER bandwidth hogs?
Or how do I control a free open network I don't own?

Okay...

Sounds like that's the solution.

[Kadin2048]

This seems like the closest thing to a solution I've yet seen in the thread. (I was hoping for "Stab People In The Face Wireless Protocol" but apparently it still hasn't been implemented.)

I wonder if running it slows down your own connection though, since you're constantly injecting packets into the other guy's connection.

Might he have to get another computer in order to run tcpnice, and then do his normal internet activities from another machine?

Is it just me...

[Samurai Cat!]

...or does this fellow complaining about BitTorrent users eating up bandwidth preventing him from eating up that same bandwidth playing WoW just seem... kinda... ironic? :/

If story poster were on MY wireless network...

[Khyber]

...and I caught him fucking with connections, especially MINE, I'd walk the 800+ foot radius from my router, circle around the router at that distance, find this bastard and BEAT HIS ASS.

This is not your network, pal. Quit trying to fuck it up. First come, FIRST FUCKING SERVE.

*WHIIIINE* I Can't play my life-sucking WoW because of the Pir8s on BT!!!11one.

Gimme a fucking break.