Example embodiments allow a local network client to access information
about a shared gateway to determine its actual amount of bandwidth
consumption. The client can also obtain the total capacity of such shared
gateway. Using its knowledge of its own bandwidth consumption, it can
determine the other local network clients' usage of the shared gateway.
With all of this information, i.e., total capacity of the shared gateway,
the actual usage of the shared gateway, and the usage by other clients
within the local network, the client can adjust or throttle background
file transfers in order to keep the actual data transfers across the
shared gateway within a reasonable percentage of the total capacity
available. That is, a client will give priority to other local network
computing machines' usage of the shared gateway by adjusting data
transfers for its own background transfer system based on usage across a
shared gateway.