How do I change the bandwidth used by file-sharing software?

Q I want to control the bandwidth available to the other users on my home wireless network so we all have access to the internet without one or two people hogging all the download speed. In some situations I cannot get on the web.

Is there a way to provide everyone with equal bandwidth?
Jimmy Plant

A We are not aware of any products that are designed for regulating how people use a network in this way. If the situation is caused by file-sharing programs using the Bittorrent technology it should be possible to change their settings to use less bandwidth . Your downloads will take longer but it will free up bandwidth for other users.

A portable version of Utorrent is available that can be set to limit the amount of bandwidth it uses. Click on Options menu and then Preferences. Click on the Bandwidth option on the left. Set the upload speed to 1Kbit/sec and the download to 100Kbits/sec. Strange as it may seem, the upload speed is just as important. Web browsing is a two-way process and browsing will slow down if your web browser cannot send its requests for web pages.

Most routers can also prioritise network usage. This will not help with the problem of browsing the internet because this kind of traffic is considered relatively low priority but it will help if there are problems with Skype or other internet telephone systems cutting out because of other users on the network. This technology is called Quality of Service or QoS for short.

The method to use varies from router to router, but as an example there is an option called QoS Engine in the Advanced section of the setup interface of D-Link routers. Select the option Enable StreamEngine and apply the change.

Baffled by jargon? See our free online Jargon Buster.