How To Identify the Process Eating Up Your Bandwidth in Ubuntu

In this article, we will delve into how to identify the process that is consuming your bandwidth in Ubuntu. This is a common issue that many Ubuntu users face, and it can significantly slow down your network speed. Fortunately, there are several tools and commands available to help you pinpoint the culprit.

Using nethogs

nethogs is a small ‘net top’ tool that shows the real-time network usage on a per-process basis. To install nethogs, use the following command:

sudo apt-get install nethogs

Once installed, you can run nethogs using the command:

sudo nethogs

This will display the current network usage by each process. If you want to check the cumulative sum of bandwidth consumed since you opened nethogs, use the following command:

sudo nethogs -v 3

Here, -v 3 indicates that you want to view the cumulative sum.

Using iftop

iftop is another useful tool that shows a real-time updated list of network usage. You can use it to locate the TCP or UDP port on your machine that is receiving the most traffic.

To install iftop, use the command:

sudo apt-get install iftop

Once installed, you can run iftop using the command:

sudo iftop

After identifying the port with the most traffic, you can use the netstat command to locate the process “owning” that port:

sudo netstat -tup

Here, -tup stands for TCP, UDP, and program respectively.

Using ntop

ntop is a high-performance, low-resource tool that provides a wealth of information about network usage. It’s a bit more complex than the previous two options, but it’s also more powerful.

To install ntop, use the command:

sudo apt-get install ntop

Once installed, you can run ntop using the command:

sudo ntop

Using dstat

dstat is a versatile tool that can monitor different system statistics. It’s useful for identifying the most expensive I/O process in terms of network usage.

To install dstat, use the command:

sudo apt install dstat

Once installed, you can run dstat using the command:

dstat --net --top-io-adv

Here, --net tells dstat to monitor network statistics, and --top-io-adv tells it to display the most expensive I/O process.

Using iptraf

iptraf is another alternative that provides information about bandwidth usage by connection. However, it does not show the PID of the process.

To install iptraf, use the command:

sudo apt-get install iptraf

Once installed, you can run iptraf using the command:

sudo iptraf

Using tcpdump

If none of the above methods work, you can use tcpdump to capture network packets and analyze them to identify the process causing high network usage. This requires some knowledge of packet analysis.

To install tcpdump, use the command:

sudo apt-get install tcpdump

Once installed, you can run tcpdump using the command:

sudo tcpdump

Remember to run these commands with root privileges (sudo) to get accurate results. Additionally, make sure to check for any known bugs or issues related to the tools you are using.

In conclusion, there are several tools available to help you identify the process eating up your bandwidth in Ubuntu. By using these tools, you can take control of your network usage and improve your overall system performance.