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I am having internet problems and the ISP technicians suggested that something is using my bandwidth.

Is there a software to monitor which processes use how much bandwidth?

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Hi there - Can I ask that you also describe what your internet problems are - the assumption that the ISP tech support guy is right may be a red herring to get you off the phone ;) – stuffe Nov 8 '11 at 14:49
Internet became very slow. But not always. He did a test where I was connected not to the internet but only to the ISP, and the speed test was fine. – nute Nov 8 '11 at 15:11
Put Activity Monitor in your dock, and set the dock icon to "Show Network Usage"… that won't show you which application is using it, but it will alert you to when it is happening, which might be of some help. – TJ Luoma Nov 9 '11 at 9:17

5 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I believe that Rubbernet is exactly what you are looking for.

The only downside is that Rubbernet cannot distinguish between LAN traffic and WAN traffic. It sounds like you are looking at one computer, so that shouldn't be an issue.

There is a demo available on their website, or you can buy it from the Mac App Store for US$25, which seems to be a pretty good deal since they want € 29.99 (about US$42) for a single user copy or € 49.99 (almost $69) for a "family pack" if you buy through their website.

(Hat tip to Macworld.com for bringing it to my attention a few months ago.)

If you want something cheaper, NetUse Traffic Monitor might suit you too.

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up vote 3 down vote

Perhaps Little Snitch might fit your needs. It's a paid app though, so you can try it out using it's trial version.

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I have Little Snitch (paid for), but it only quickly shows some process list without really telling me if its just a ping or using 1MB of bandwidth - unless I'm not using it correctly – nute Nov 8 '11 at 15:10
+1, this is an awesome program. To see what processes are using the network, from the Little Snitch menu choose "Show Network Monitor". – Josh Nov 8 '11 at 15:24
up vote 2 down vote

First, most ISPs can tell you how much bandwidth you're using. It sounds like you had a technician that either didn't know much or was just trying to shoo you away.

Second, the only way to steal bandwidth is if you have a wireless network that isn't properly secured. This means you'll need to monitor bandwidth from your wireless router, not your laptop/desktop.

If you do have a wireless router, I would just change the SSID and secure it with a new (hard to guess) password. That will immediately cut-off anyone that could be leaching off your network. It's very simple to do compared to trying to monitor your bandwidth usage.

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This is not a wireless setup, it's an old-school PPPoE. If the technician is correct, it would be from my own computer. He ran speed tests by disconnecting me from the rest of the internet and having only the ISP in the DNS resolver, and it worked good. – nute Nov 8 '11 at 15:12
up vote 1 down vote

OsTrack (Mac App Store) tracks how much memory, cpu, and bandwidth each process is using. It may not be accurate to a very specific degree, but it works, has a nice UI, and is free so I suggest you give it a try.

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sounds interesting from the description. Will give it a try now. – nute Nov 8 '11 at 15:14
not sure i understand the metrics - it shows uTorrent using 6MB - that can't be, my connection is only 1.5Mbps ... and I'm downloading at 0.2KB/s – nute Nov 8 '11 at 15:17
up vote 0 down vote

This page list four options: http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/internet-roundup/4-ways-to-monitor-bandwidth-usage-on-your-mac/

The best two seem to be Surplus Meter (free) and Net Monitor($10)

There may also be linux tools available but I am not familar with them.

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