Berserk87 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I've moved into a new place and don't have internet setup yet, so ive been using my phone tethered to my computer. I'm curious if there is an easy way to limit my network to only a couple choice applications to minimize lag and use less of my data. Or a way to improve my latency with my tethered phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 +BudMan MVC Posted January 7, 2012 MVC Share Posted January 7, 2012 "limit my network to only a couple choice applications" What?? Yeah don't run them if you don't want them to be using the network... What do you think would be sucking up your bandwidth if you were not actively running it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 ____ Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 If you're using Windows Vista or higher you can do this with the built in firewall. Start -> Run wf.msc Click on "Windows Firewall Properties" Under Private and Public Network tabs set Outbound Connections to Block Now add rules for only the programs that you want to have internet access. Unfortunately the nice popup notifications that happen for inbound connections are not available for outbound blocking so you have to create the rules manually, if you want something that notifies you every time a program attempts an outbound connection and lets you create a rule you'll need a third party software firewall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Berserk87 Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 "limit my network to only a couple choice applications" What?? Yeah don't run them if you don't want them to be using the network... What do you think would be sucking up your bandwidth if you were not actively running it? Because there are a lot of stupid update checkers and other things that run in the background so I wanted to limit them. It's a non issue now since ive been able to connect to wifi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 +BudMan MVC Posted January 8, 2012 MVC Share Posted January 8, 2012 "Because there are a lot of stupid update checkers" Really you were worried about the 12 packets that java would send to check an update once a week? Or worse case when you launched the program. Firefox for example does not check for update in the background, to be honest not too many use any sort of service or other application running to check. Java for example does -- just turn that off if you worried about the 2Kbtes ;) You do understand that 1 ad you load on some website is prob more traffic then every single program you have on your box checking for update. If you were worried about update checking -- turn off them in the program, disable the background service that might be running. If anything the ones that would be causing traffic, minor that it is in the background would be things like dropbox and evernote, etc. But again those are Running in your foreground, not in the background if you don't wan tthem using bandwidth, like I said don't run them ;) What you should do is fire up wireshark, and then close all the programs your not using like dropbox, evernote, etc. And then just see how much traffic there is -- there shouldn't be any is my point! Your box should not be talking to the internet when your not doing something. Except for say windows update -- that is once a day.. And even other things that might update, they are going to be on some daily or weekly/monthly schedule -- not hourly or anything. Glad you got on your wifi, but you were looking in the wrong direction for bandwidth savings ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Rohdekill Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 "limit my network to only a couple choice applications" What?? Yeah don't run them if you don't want them to be using the network... What do you think would be sucking up your bandwidth if you were not actively running it? lol. It's sad, but sometimes people just need to hear the obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 BetaAddict Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Alternatively, go to msconfig or use CCleaner to remove any startup items that you don't need. You can get rid of a lot of update checkers with this method. Will reduce your memory load slightly and speed up startup times as well. I don't mind an updater checker running, but I'd rather have it start the checker process when I actually open the application rather than running it all the time in the background and many applications don't give you the option to turn it off. I simply don't see the need to have something like quicktime updater running in the background when I use quicktime like once every 3 months. But yeah, disabling updaters is more about limiting the use of system resources and maintaining performance rather than preserving bandwidth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 +BudMan MVC Posted January 8, 2012 MVC Share Posted January 8, 2012 "You can get rid of a lot of update checkers with this method." Can you give some examples of a lot here? I can only think of 2-3 off the top of my head, java and quicktime that does this -- maybe itunes? Would have to double check on itunes to be sure. And no I would not suggest just removing these settings from your startup, since they can just be put back. If you really do not want them running their background services then you really need to go into the software and turn it off the correct way, not just removing stuff from your startup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Berserk87
I've moved into a new place and don't have internet setup yet, so ive been using my phone tethered to my computer.
I'm curious if there is an easy way to limit my network to only a couple choice applications to minimize lag and use less of my data.
Or a way to improve my latency with my tethered phone.
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