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Might be a simple question, but keeps bothering me:

The university we live at has a limited traffic of 20GB per month. Some of us use more, some less. Is it possible to somehow "connect" several clients to share their traffic?

We are connected via LAN, so it could be possible, or am I wrong? By the way, every client receives a static IP. so would that be a proxy i'm looking for? LAN traffic is free.

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Yes, a proxy server would allow you to use another machine's bandwidth. Basically, the proxy server makes web requests on behalf of your computer, and then relays the results. However, you are then limited to the types of traffic your proxy server can handle... usually HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS.

How are they tracking different machines? Typically this is done by MAC address. That being the case, if you change your MAC address (using Macshift or some other utility), it should get you back up and running. If you have to register your computers on the network somehow, it will show up as another computer for your account. If no registration is necessary, you could simply script macshift to run every time you reboot, seamlessly getting around the limit..

Another option would be to fire up VMWare or some other virtualization software and build a machine with 20 virtual bridged NICs or so. Install routing software to load balance among all of them. Then, set up you and your friends to use it as a gateway on a different subnet altogether. This is probably overkill.

Your best option? Talk to your IT department. Bandwidth is limited for a reason, but if you have a reason to go over that limit, see what your options are. I'm willing to bet that they will make an exception for you, provided you aren't pirating your DVD collection.

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Every client gets a static ip, thats how they keep tracking you. If you chose a different ip, you are blocked for an hour. So, how do I set up such an proxy? Btw, it would be nice if every user could specify the amount of traffic to give to the public. So it would be like a traffic-pool... – Urinprobe May 31 '11 at 22:21
You get a static IP? So, they give you a specific IP address and you have to set your device up to use that? Are you sure these aren't just static IPs assigned automatically by DHCP? – Brad Jun 1 '11 at 0:06
Yup, I'm sure. I had to config my network device to use that specific IP. – Urinprobe Jun 1 '11 at 3:49
Wow, what school is this? That sounds like an awful lot of work your IT department is going through. The easiest proxy software I know of is AnalogX's (analogx.com/contents/download/Network/proxy/Freeware.htm). I've been using it for 10 years or so. There are many others available with more options, if needed. – Brad Jun 1 '11 at 13:45
AnalogX is what I found, too. Do you know a tool that allows the specify the amount of traffic to share? And which chooses the proxy offering the most traffic automatically? It would be great if the programm would support setting the proxy automatically, and if it would include client AND server in one programm... – Urinprobe Jun 1 '11 at 16:09
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