Internet Useage/softwear to limit

[Yukon_Sassy]

Hello fellow hosts,
I am just setting up my lower level in Whitehorse, Yukon. I have a separate internet for the guest, however , I am looking to find out how others control the useage of guests. The basic cost and overage fees are crazy here.

Any suggestions?

[Cindy_Turner_Dodd]

Hmm… I don’t know of any software but maybe don’t advertise as an amenity but have it available for an additional cost of $XX to cover your usage? Not sure how that would go over but worth a try.

[Brian_R170]

Have a look at this thread for some suggestions

What if I don't have internet for my guests?

I’m in a rural location so my internet is broadband with limited data. I caution guests that they cannot stream music or videos because I will incur expensive overage charges yet they do it anyway. Lately I’ve been thinking why should I supply wireless when people can just use their phones? I am set up so guests cannot stay more than 4 nights, most are only here for the weekend. I do have Dish TV and supply many board games. By and large my guests are here to wine taste and dine out. Do th…

[KenH]

I suppose you (or an electrician anyway) can always install a timer setup on the router powerline (hide the router when guests can’t access it). Then you can say

“Internet access from 8-9AM and 8-9PM only. If you need more access, please use your cellular service”.

There’s not enough time to stream movies or much music, but plenty of time to check email and a handful of their favorite sites like Farcebook or Airbnb.com

[Militaryhorsegal]

Many routers allow you to create parental controls and time limits. Use one that does. Be sure to indicate the limits in your listing.

[Mexican]

There’s routers that can limit bandwidth. There’s even ways you can reflash old Linksys WRTG54G routers with a Linux firmware.
https://www.wirelesshack.org/how-to-flash-a-linksys-wrt54g-router-with-dd-wrt.html

I did that 10 years ago when I was working at a job site in the desert and we had a work crew of 18 sharing one low bandwidth satellite connection. I put that DD-WRT firmware on the WRT54G router and configured it to limit the speed of each connection. There’s a burst speed, guaranteed speed and continuous speed setting for both upload and download.

All of the speed limiting concepts will be essentially the same even if you buy a new $300 router. The WRT54G is limited to of course to 54 Mbps but lets be honest, thats probably faster than your connection right? You can get these routers at thrift stores all the time. They’re everywhere.

My current router is a fancy Asus RT-AC52U one I got for $20 and it has all the bells and whistles. It has a GUI to limit the bandwidth but in my experience, it doesn’t work at all. This router is like 600 Mbps or something but the Ethernet port on it is still a 100 Mbps Ethernet port so guess how fast its limited to for Internet? Yes, just 100 Mbps which isn’t a big improvement vs the 16 year old design of the WRT54G! Plus the point here is limiting the speed.