# DSL Data Usage Gauge Software: Suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Router\ **Created:** [September 8, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617 "2016-09-08T07:45:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![clwardgli](https://forum-assets.gl-inet.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@clwardgli](https://forum.gl-inet.com/u/clwardgli)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617/1 "2016-09-08T07:45:39Z")
Greetings: I am new to the AR 150, and OpenWrt routers in general. I thought one useful application might be a DSL (or broadband) usage meter; like many of us have on our smartphones. Does anyone have any good suggestions for a software package that accomplishes this, or one that could be used for this purpose? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![alzhao](https://forum-assets.gl-inet.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@alzhao](https://forum.gl-inet.com/u/alzhao)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617/2 "2016-09-08T23:41:03Z")
It should be one. From this post [Bandwidth Monitoring [Old OpenWrt Wiki]](https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/bwmon) there are a lot of tools to monitor bandwidth. I believe you can try some to monitor data usage as well. But I haven’t tried. ---
**Author:** ![clwardgli](https://forum-assets.gl-inet.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@clwardgli](https://forum.gl-inet.com/u/clwardgli)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617/3 "2016-09-09T09:58:21Z")
iftop seems like the network usage equivalent to the bwmon you suggested. Actually I should thank you for that page, since it seems to have a lot of useful tools. In fact it will take me some time to look them all over. vnstat looks promising. ---
**Author:** ![clwardgli](https://forum-assets.gl-inet.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@clwardgli](https://forum.gl-inet.com/u/clwardgli)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617/4 "2016-10-13T09:06:54Z")
vnstat was exactly what I was looking for: designed for purpose, runs on the AR 150 without a constant terminal connection (unlike iftop which required a constant dedicated terminal connection), fits well with the AR 150’s memory, easy to use, and well documented on the internet. Just install, and keep the AR 150 constantly powered for a month, and you’ll know exactly how much data you are using. This will be a big help to ISP users that are charged based on usage. It also proves that the washer and dryer pay for themselves. Especially when you consider the total cost of a boring Netflix day at the laundromat. ---
**Author:** ![alzhao](https://forum-assets.gl-inet.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@alzhao](https://forum.gl-inet.com/u/alzhao)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617/5 "2016-10-14T09:53:18Z")
@clwardgli, thanks for the sharing. It is worth to write a post about this. ---
**Author:** ![bruce](https://forum-assets.gl-inet.com/user_avatar/forum.gl-inet.com/bruce/32/35649_2.png) [@bruce](https://forum.gl-inet.com/u/bruce)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/dsl-data-usage-gauge-software-suggestions/1617/6 "2025-10-29T02:35:34Z")