How do I prevent torrenting at the router level?

C

CaptainTrips

New Member
Hello,

I've been living with various roomates for about 3 years. I've asked them repeatedly to stop torrenting, but they continue to anyway. To date, I've received 5 warning letters from my ISP. Since the account is in my name, I don't especially want my ISP to decide to drop me, or receive any other any other backlash. I'm trying to get a place of my own, and it would suck to have the one major ISP in the area refuse to give me service because of what old roommates have done when I do get my own place.

Therefor I would like to disable their ability to torrent at the router level. Yes, I could just cut them off entirely, and have done so in the past. It works for the short term, but I do share the network with them, and they pay for their share as well. I'm pretty easy going, but I'm tired of it.

I understand this isn't an easy task such as blocking ports, because they can just choose new ones.

I have a Belkin F5D8236-4 v3. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can handle this mess? Thanks.
 
Last edited:
I'm debating on installing DD-WRT to assist me in tracking who is torrenting when so I can go and confront them. But in the meantime, the threat of canceling cable seems to have worked, at least for the short term.
 
My opinion only. I would block it, change the password and no access. its already a trail back to you. It isn't working, only for the fowl players. It would be a done deal.

Something else. Even if ya authorized mac address im sure if in court the person that did will not stand tall and say i did do it. Else sort them out with the people you know that are trustworthy. If it was illegal purpose it will be federal court if it happened. That will be your nightmare and money. Get'er done and over.
 
Last edited:
I laid down the law and told them the next time I even suspect they're pirating stuff, I would just block them completely and cancel cable, leaving just an Internet connection for me. I think it got though to them.

DD-WRT wasn't an option. I just had my router RMAed (I didn't want evidence of DD-WRT on it when I sent it back) so when I got the new one, I went to install it, but found out that DD-WRT isn't possible on my Belkin F5D8236-4 v3.

So it's pretty much my holding a big stick and having to be an asshole to my roomates, unless anyone else has any ideas that involve router tweaks.
 
If you dont mind going toward the extreme end....

You could set the router with a password only you have so only you can connect to it. Connect the router to your cable and use blue loctite (NOT THE RED!) on the cable connection threads and epoxy all other cable connection sockets you aren't using. Then hide the router in your attic. You have connection, they cant get to (or find!) the router to mess with it and go online.

Is that severe? Not as much as not being able to get service in the future because of stupid room-mates and their desire to torrent, eh!
 
gamblingman said:
You could set the router with a password only you have so only you can connect to it. Connect the router to your cable and use blue loctite (NOT THE RED!) on the cable connection threads and epoxy all other cable connection sockets you aren't using. Then hide the router in your attic. You have connection, they cant get to (or find!) the router to mess with it and go online.
Click to expand...

One thing I am lucky on is the coax for the cable modem comes in through the wall directly into my bedroom, so the router and modem sit right next to me. When I am not here, the door is locked. They wouldn't know what to do with the thing anyway.
 
I had a great idea, but it doesn't appear that I can do it with this router. I was going to setup redirects from popular torrent trackers to kids websites

thepiratebay.org --> disney.com
demonoid.me --> pbskids.com

etc

*sigh* Would have been a great "fix"

I'd do it with hosts files on their computers, but I don't have access to them and don't want to tamper with them anyway.
 
You could setup an enterprise grade firewall and have it flag users browsing torrent sites. Probably not the easiest thing to setup, but it will give you a good idea who’s doing what; and the firewall is much more useful than just tracking down torrenters. You could also monitor bandwidth and see who has the highest upload. Unless they’re posting tons of youtube videos, the amount of data uploaded should only be a fraction of their downloaded data. To give an example of what that uploaded-data number would be like: my computer has been on for 3 days. Over the course of 3 days, I’ve downloaded a few youtube videos, and visited many websites. I’ve uploaded only 30 Mb and downloaded 476 MB.

ClearOS is a nice enterprise grade firewall. It’s free, but like any other firewall of its class, it requires its own dedicated hardware (can be a PC with two network interfaces). Kerio WinRoute Firewall (I believe is now called Kerio Control) is a very nice firewall, but very expensive. It’s easier to install and maintain than ClearOS, but the $255 for 5 users license might not be so appealing. Last I tried-out Kerio’s firewall, it had P2P detection features. If I recall properly, it didn’t totally stop the torrent, but made it come to a screeching halt of about 0.01 KB/s download.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of installing this kind of firewall, you could just monitor data transmissions with a packet sniffer. Though this might be more difficult than just setting up the firewall...

Ultimately, if this activity continues, you need to disconnect them, or have the account in someone else’s name. YOU (or whoever’s name is on the account) are responsible for ALL activity on your network. Good luck convincing the judge/jury someone else did it. Personally, I’d rather kick my roommates from my network than face 5 years in federal prison + $250,000 in fines, per title pirated. (ie if 2 movies were pirated, that’d be upto 10 years in prison & upto $500,000 in fines)

Imagine those who have 100s (or even 1000s) of pirated movies...
 
Id personally talk to your isp about your situation maby you can get your roommates done for torrenting wouldn't that be fun =P
 
plutoniumman said:
You could setup an enterprise grade firewall and have it flag users browsing torrent sites. Probably not the easiest thing to setup, but it will give you a good idea who’s doing what; and the firewall is much more useful than just tracking down torrenters. You could also monitor bandwidth and see who has the highest upload. Unless they’re posting tons of youtube videos, the amount of data uploaded should only be a fraction of their downloaded data. To give an example of what that uploaded-data number would be like: my computer has been on for 3 days. Over the course of 3 days, I’ve downloaded a few youtube videos, and visited many websites. I’ve uploaded only 30 Mb and downloaded 476 MB.

ClearOS is a nice enterprise grade firewall. It’s free, but like any other firewall of its class, it requires its own dedicated hardware (can be a PC with two network interfaces). Kerio WinRoute Firewall (I believe is now called Kerio Control) is a very nice firewall, but very expensive. It’s easier to install and maintain than ClearOS, but the $255 for 5 users license might not be so appealing. Last I tried-out Kerio’s firewall, it had P2P detection features. If I recall properly, it didn’t totally stop the torrent, but made it come to a screeching halt of about 0.01 KB/s download.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of installing this kind of firewall, you could just monitor data transmissions with a packet sniffer. Though this might be more difficult than just setting up the firewall...

Ultimately, if this activity continues, you need to disconnect them, or have the account in someone else’s name. YOU (or whoever’s name is on the account) are responsible for ALL activity on your network. Good luck convincing the judge/jury someone else did it. Personally, I’d rather kick my roommates from my network than face 5 years in federal prison + $250,000 in fines, per title pirated. (ie if 2 movies were pirated, that’d be upto 10 years in prison & upto $500,000 in fines)

Imagine those who have 100s (or even 1000s) of pirated movies...
Click to expand...

Smoothwall Express is another free firewall operating system allowing you to build a firewall using an older computer. I've not used ClearOS, but I understand it is designed as both firewall and server, whereas Smoothwall is a dedicated firewall OS.

Smoothwall can be locked down so that the ports normally used for torrenting are blocked (I'm sure ClearOS can do that as well). It sounds like your roommates aren't smart enough to figure out how to get around that, anyway.
 
As far as I am aware it is against the forum Rules to discuss this issue under these sections.


  • The use of torrent trackers or p2p software to obtain copyrighted material. Any discussion of programs like Limewire, Frostwire, eMule, eDonkey, etc.. is not allowed, whether or not you believe or suggest it's for legal use.
  • The offer or solicitation of invitations to private torrent tracking websites, such as Demonoid. Public sites, like The Pirate Bay, cannot be discussed here.
If you want to stop these muppets then change the password on the router.
 
Last edited:
Wolfeymole said:
As far as I am aware it is against the forum Rules to discuss this issue under these sections.


  • The use of torrent trackers or p2p software to obtain copyrighted material. Any discussion of programs like Limewire, Frostwire, eMule, eDonkey, etc.. is not allowed, whether or not you believe or suggest it's for legal use.
  • The offer or solicitation of invitations to private torrent tracking websites, such as Demonoid. Public sites, like The Pirate Bay, cannot be discussed here.
If you want to stop these muppets then change the password on the router.
Click to expand...

They are not offereing help on how to torrent, they are trying to offer ways to help the user to block his roomates from torrenting on his network. No harm done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top