Bandwidth Control with PRTG

Prioritize mission-critical network bandwidth without breaking a sweat (or your budget)

Enjoy seamless scalability – no superpowers required
Customize your dashboards because one size fits no one in IT
Automate routine tasks and reclaim your coffee breaks

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product overview

Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG

PRTG bandwidth control: What you will find on this page

Take control of your network bandwidth with PRTG
What bandwidth controlling looks like in PRTG
5 reasons to choose PRTG as your bandwidth controller tool
Explore our preconfigured PRTG sensors for bandwidth controlling
Bandwidth Control: FAQ

PRTG makes controlling bandwidth as easy as it gets

Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent bandwidth bottlenecks.

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PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Take control of your network bandwidth with PRTG

Keeping your network running smoothly is crucial for any business. Without good bandwidth management, your network might slow down to a crawl, causing delays, frustrating users, and overworking your IT team. But don't worry! With Paessler PRTG, you can take control of your bandwidth. It helps you manage network traffic, allocate bandwidth wisely, and stop bottlenecks before they become a problem, ensuring everything runs efficiently.

Monitor bandwidth usage and counter bottlenecks in real time

PRTG is your traffic radar that lets you zero in on the culprits sitting in the slow lane. It allows you to track your bandwidth usage in real time, providing up-to-the-second data on network performance and insights into which applications, IP addresses, and endpoints are consuming the most resources. Whether you're managing VoIP calls, VPN connections, or bustling Wi-Fi traffic, PRTG keeps your network running smoothly without a hitch.

Prevent traffic jams: keep your network flowing smoothly

Sudden traffic spikes, misbehaving devices, or hardware hiccups can cause network bottlenecks that slow everything to a crawl. But with PRTG's bandwidth monitoring and analysis tools, you can spot these issues before they wreak havoc on your network.

PRTG gives you the data you need to optimize performance and prevent slowdowns, whether you're tackling DNS quirks, router glitches, or WAN woes. By understanding where bottlenecks are brewing, you can make smart adjustments to keep your network flowing smoothly.

Implement quality of service (QoS) policies to prioritize traffic

Not all network traffic is equal; some applications are more critical and need extra bandwidth. With PRTG, you can implement QoS policies to ensure important services get priority over less essential traffic.

This means high-priority tasks like VoIP or video conferencing get the bandwidth they need, improving performance and minimizing delays – think of it as giving the fast lane on your network highway to the vehicles that really need to get through quickly.

Control bandwidth allocation across devices and applications

Ever had that one user or application that seems to hog all the bandwidth, leaving everyone else crawling along at a snail's pace? PRTG gives you full control over how bandwidth is allocated across your network to prevent this scenario; you can set bandwidth limits on specific IP addresses or applications, ensuring that no single endpoint or app consumes more than its fair share. This ability to throttle traffic where necessary keeps bandwidth hogs in check, maintaining peak efficiency across your network.

Simplify bandwidth management with automated alerts

In network management, being proactive beats being reactive any day; PRTG's real-time monitoring is backed by a robust, customizable alert system – if bandwidth usage spikes unexpectedly or an endpoint exceeds its bandwidth limit, PRTG notifies you instantly via email, SMS, or push notification.

This allows you to respond to issues before they impact network performance, reducing downtime, and preventing larger problems from arising; think of it as an early warning system that keeps you one step ahead of potential network disasters.

What bandwidth controlling looks like in PRTG

Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking the amount of bandwidth that flows through your network devices. Show bandwidth consumption by IP address, protocol, or port, and other key metrics in real time. Visualize monitoring data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot network performance issues.

Start monitoring bandwidth with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

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PRODUCT OVERVIEW

IT experts agree: Paessler PRTG is a great solution for IT infrastructure monitoring

“All-around winning
network monitor”

“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”

“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”

5 reasons to choose PRTG as your bandwidth controller tool

Real-time bandwidth monitoring

With PRTG, you get an up-to-the-second view of how your bandwidth is being used.

From individual IP addresses to applications and protocols, you'll always have a clear picture of where your bandwidth is going.

This level of detail allows for more precise control and analysis, ensuring that you're not left in the dark when it comes to network performance.

Comprehensive traffic analysis

PRTG's bandwidth analyzer doesn't just tell you how much bandwidth is being used – it breaks down network traffic and provides detailed reports that help you understand your network's bandwidth utilization in depth.

This comprehensive analysis allows you to make data-driven decisions for better bandwidth management, optimizing performance across the board.

Flexible QoS and throttling options

Not only can you implement QoS policies to prioritize critical traffic, but you can also throttle non-essential traffic to prevent congestion.

Whether you're managing Wi-Fi, VPN, or WAN traffic, PRTG gives you the tools to ensure network performance remains high. It's like having a customizable toolkit that adapts to your specific needs.

Easy-to-use bandwidth management tools

Let's be honest – no one wants to wrestle with a complicated interface when trying to manage their network. PRTG's intuitive interface makes it easy to set bandwidth limits, prioritize traffic, and monitor network performance.

With customizable dashboards and reports, you can keep an eye on your network's health at a glance. Plus, you can ensure that no resource is being over- or under-utilized, maximizing efficiency.

Scalable for networks of all sizes

Whether you're managing a small office network or a sprawling enterprise infrastructure, PRTG scales to meet your needs.

From monitoring network bandwidth across remote access connections to managing high-traffic WAN environments, PRTG adapts to any size or complexity of network.

It's a solution that grows with you, ensuring you're always equipped to handle your network challenges.

Explore our preconfigured PRTG sensors for bandwidth controlling

PRTG comes with more than 250 native sensor types for monitoring your entire on-premises, cloud, and hybrid cloud environment out of the box. Check out some examples below!

SNMP Traffic v2

The SNMP Traffic v2 sensor monitors bandwidth and traffic on a device. It can show the following:

Number of incoming and outgoing broadcast, multicast, unicast, and non-unicast packets
Number of incoming and outgoing discards and errors
Total, incoming, and outgoing traffic
Number of incoming, unknown protocols

Packet Sniffer

The Packet Sniffer sensor monitors the headers of data packets that pass a local network card using a built-in packet sniffer. You can choose from predefined channels. It can show the following and more:

Traffic from Citrix applications
Traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P) and various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
Traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
Internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
Traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, Virtual Network Computing (VNC))

NetFlow v9

The NetFlow v9 sensor receives traffic data from a NetFlow v9-compatible device and shows the traffic by type. This sensor has several filter options to divide traffic into different channels. It can show the following and more:

Traffic from Citrix applications
Traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P) and various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
Traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
Internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
Traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, Virtual Network Computing (VNC))

Windows Network Card

The Windows Network Card sensor monitors the bandwidth usage and traffic of a network interface via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows performance counters. It can show the following:

Number of incoming and outgoing discards, errors, and unicast and non-unicast packets
Total, incoming, and outgoing traffic
Number of packets total, sent, and received
Number of unknown protocols

See the PRTG Manual for a list of all available sensor types.

PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems

Find the root cause of the problem with our PRTG bandwidth monitoring solution

Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.

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PRODUCT OVERVIEW

“PRTG helps us to keep control of our IT by making issues visible immediately – and everywhere. We always have an eye on the performance and availability of our IT and can react in time if any failures occur. On a long-term perspective, the monitoring data helps us with capacity planning so that we can deliver the required resources for our own systems as well as for our customers, without wasting money on unwarranted redundancies.”

Stein Erik Høybakk, Senior Network Engineer

TAFJORD

“All our production and business processes depend on SAP. But, of course, IT and production systems also play a crucial role in securing these processes. By incorporating SAP, production, and IT into one centralized monitoring system, we can quickly detect critical drops in performance and identify the causes of these issues. In fact, thanks to PRTG and itesys, this couldn’t be any easier.”

Andreas Schmidt, Senior Systems Engineer

Truma

“Any downtime could be detrimental to our customers. We also strive to provide the best possible service to our customers. PRTG allows us to see the health and performance of the network. Using these measurements we can make decisions on how to repair a piece of equipment before it fails and causes a service interruption.”

James Ott Jr., Communications System Technician and IT Administrator

Federal Radio

Your bandwidth controller at a glance – even on the go

PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.

Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s IT partners

Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.

Rittal

IT that works constitutes a business-critical basis for a company's success. Availability and security must be defined for the respective purpose and closely monitored – by OT and IT alike.

NetBrain

Integrating monitoring results from PRTG into NetBrain maps makes the foundation for network automation.

ScriptRunner

With ScriptRunner Paessler integrates a powerful event automation platform into PRTG Network Monitor.

Paessler PRTG

Network Monitoring Software – Version 24.4.102.1351 (November 12th, 2024)

Hosting

Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available

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Monitor everything

Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more

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Bandwidth Control: FAQ

How does PRTG help manage network bandwidth?

PRTG helps manage network bandwidth by monitoring usage in real time and providing detailed insights into which applications, devices, or IP addresses are consuming the most bandwidth. It allows you to set limits, throttle traffic, and prioritize critical applications to ensure optimal network performance. With PRTG, you can visualize bandwidth usage patterns, identify potential issues, and make informed decisions to optimize your network.

Does PRTG support QoS policies?

Yes, PRTG fully supports quality of service (QoS) policies. It allows you to implement these policies to prioritize traffic for critical applications like VoIP or video conferencing. By doing so, you ensure that essential services always have the bandwidth they need to function smoothly, even during peak usage times. This prioritization is key to maintaining high-quality performance for your most important applications.

Can PRTG be used for WAN and VPN bandwidth monitoring?

Absolutely! PRTG is designed to handle all types of network connections, including WAN, VPN, and Wi-Fi. It provides detailed monitoring of traffic across these connections, helping you maintain control over bandwidth utilization in even the most complex network environments. Whether you're supporting remote workers via VPN or managing data flow across multiple sites with WAN, PRTG has you covered.

Does PRTG provide real-time alerts for bandwidth issues?

Yes, PRTG's customizable alert system notifies you immediately when bandwidth usage exceeds predefined thresholds. This proactive approach allows you to take corrective action before bandwidth issues lead to network slowdowns or outages. You can set up alerts to be delivered via email, SMS, or push notifications, ensuring you're always in the loop, no matter where you are.

Is it possible to monitor bandwidth on a per-device basis?

Yes, PRTG can monitor bandwidth at the device level, allowing you to track usage for individual IP addresses, endpoints, and network devices. This enables more precise control over network traffic and resource allocation. By understanding the bandwidth consumption of specific devices, you can identify and address issues like unauthorized usage or inefficient applications.

What is a sensor in PRTG?

In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.

We asked: would you recommend PRTG? Over 95% of our customers say yes!

Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.

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More than 500,000 sysadmins love PRTG

Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.

Monitor your entire IT infrastructure

Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.

Try Paessler PRTG for free

Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.

Start monitoring bandwidth with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

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PRODUCT OVERVIEW