How does an IT department detect if you're using up most of the internet bandwidth?

Question

I'm downloading at roughly 1mbit most of the times..and we have a T1 connection (1.544mb) shared amony say..600 computers..am I at risk of getting fired?

Answer 1

Almost all routers and switches have web-based (and/or shell-based) access to see where bandwidth is being used.  If one port uses 200mb of bandwidth in a day vs. everyone else using 5, it's easy to track where that resource is being used.

If there is any noticable decrease in speed to other computers, there's a good bet the network administrator is going to look for that cause.  Results could range anywhere from closing ports (if downloading via another program) to blocking websites to termination for abuse of Internet services.