Monitoring Network Software

Just a quick question. Is there any software free/paid that can monitor each computer on my home network. When I say monitor I mean just see how much each PC is downloading/uploading. Preferably without having to install it on each PC. If I had to put it on all computers it wouldn't be an issue but i'd rather just be able to put it on my laptop or desktop and be able to monitor from there.

There are 5 computers on the network normally, but this sometimes goes up to 6. The router is a netgear DG834GT. 2 of the computers are running vista, 2 xp, and an XBOX 360.

 

MS' Network Monitor 3.2 is a pretty decent network monitoring app that you can run from one system - it provides a fire-hose worth of information, so I believe that you could set a series of filters that would track packets sent by each system on the local network and then summarize the usage for each system.

 

How good of a router/switch are you using?

 

I'm using the netgear DG834GT. I've never had any real issues with it, but i'm not that knowledgeable on wireless routers, so whether it is a "Good" router I wouldn't know.

 

Cisco just came out with a program called Network Magic - not only can you setup and monitor a network, it'll tell you where any data loss is coming from if you have any. There's a trial version of it that lasts about a week. The program runs about $50.

You can get it at this link: http://tinyurl.com/59zydf

 

snmp switches and routers are your friend

 

That isn't anything like the old Network Magic published by Pure Networks, Inc., is it?

 

Cheers guys, i've downloaded the microsft program, i'll have a detailed look later, then i'll give the cisco one a shot. Seee which one comes up trumps!!!