NetHogs 0.8.0

Overview

NetHogs is an extremely useful application for Linux that can be used to assess which programs are utilizing Internet bandwidth within your operating system. By doing this it gives you the ability to gain better control over bandwidth management, and discover applications that could be leeching off of your Internet connection causing decreased performance issues such as slow page loading/download times.

Installation

In order to install NetHogs successfully you'll need to have a recent version of Linux, and you'll also need to have libpcap and ncurses installed on your system. If you are running the Debian distribution of Linux, you can quickly install both of the aforementioned add-ons by typing the following into the command line “apt-get install libncurses5-dev libpcap0.8-dev.” Once you've ensured that you have the necessary prerequisites for the installation, the process is as simple as installing other basic Linux packages.

Interface

The user window in NetHogs is extremely simplistic, as it literally requires no input from the end-user being that it simply displays information. Using the software requires nothing more than simply launching it, after which you'll be shown the main window that displays the PID user, program name, and the amount of bandwidth being sent/received by each process in terms of kilobytes per second.

Pros

• Displays TCP download/upload speeds for each process

• Provides support for both PPP and Ethernet Internet connections, as well as IPv4 an IPv6

• Is not dependent on specific kernel modules, which makes it more reliable than similar bandwidth monitoring applications

• Makes it easy to identify which programs are hogging your bandwidth, hence the name "NetHogs"

• Monitors all Internet traffic that is being sent to and from your machine, on a per process basis

• Requires no advanced knowledge, no complicated setup, and no settings adjustments; simply run and view the displayed statistics

• Regularly updated and is completely free for permanent use

• The developers welcome useful suggestions for "ToDo" ideas to be used in future releases. Currently the developers are working on adding support for multiple IP addresses, the ability to display incoming UDP packets and monitor specific processes, and the ability to sort output based on values other than just network usage.

Cons

• Can only be used within Linux, and offers somewhat one-dimensional functionality. However, it is effective at performing its designated task.

Alternatives

Although there are other applications that monitor bandwidth usage on your computer, most of these focus on the type of bandwidth, rather than the amount of bandwidth being used by each process. Thus, NetHogs is a unique solution that gives you unparalleled bandwidth consumption supervision capabilities within the Linux operating system. Other tools that can help you analyze Internet usage within Linux include Nettop, Ettercap, Darkstat, Iftop, Ifstat, and BusyTasks (integrates with NetHogs to provide similar functionality).

Conclusion

If you're looking for an easy way to find out which programs are hogging all of your bandwidth, easily identify processes that have malfunctioned and are detrimentally affecting your Internet connection, or simply gain a better understanding of how bandwidth is distributed and allocated to various applications, NetHogs provides an ideal solution.