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My Account details

WILT
Grafter
Posts: 81
Registered: ‎04-03-2008

My Account details

I have not long returned from a trip to Cornwall and whilst away there was no one in the house and the computer was turned off during 23 -26 May and yet there is activity on my account . I don't know if I,m reading things wrongly or there an accounting error or God forbid someone is stealing my time but I have no nearby neighbours  within range of my wireless server ? and anyway the main computer was off   
20 REPLIES 20
Neilski
Grafter
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎24-05-2009

Re: My Account details

Do you have a wireless router?  If so the main PC doesn't need to be on (just the router).
And if so, is it secured with WEP?  If so, that may be your problem (WEP is now cracked so badly a few minutes will get a hacker in).
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: My Account details

how much activity.
As long as the router is switched on there will be some traffic - usually not much more than 500 kB per day
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: My Account details

That seems a bit high to me Jim. I get around 60kB midnight-800am and about 130K 800am-midnight, so no more than 200K over 24hrs.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
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Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: My Account details

It depends on whether you have been using P2P such as bit torrent which will keep trying for some time after you switch of your computer.
I agree mine is of the same order of magnitude as yours but I was trying to allow for it being a bit higher as I have seen numerous reports of values up to and indeed exceeding the figure I quoted.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: My Account details

Hi Wilt,
Really this is nothing to worry about.
The amount of usage that you're referring to is so small, that it's ging to be what we call background traffic.
maranello
Pro
Posts: 1,267
Thanks: 200
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: My Account details

Quote from: Oldjim
usually not much more than 500 kB per day

My background traffic is around twice that amount (not that I'm bragging  ::)). It may vary dependant on your make of router, as some transmit to the exchange more frequently than others. If you don't need it, you can disable P2P in Connection Settings, although I did this and it didn't appear to make a lot of difference.
My other car isn't a Ferrari
WILT
Grafter
Posts: 81
Registered: ‎04-03-2008

Re: My Account details

Thanks everyone ,
  I am still slightly confused though ,your replies seem to indicate that even if I am not using the computer external forces could end up with me paying a penalty on my 2gb 8.00 - 1200 limit . If this is so can I stop this by setting up my WEP security features .I have never bothered because
we are reasonably isolated and I did not think anyone could access the wireless server without being physically close. Naivety ?
Neilski
Grafter
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎24-05-2009

Re: My Account details

Howdy.
Well, there are two aspects to this.
Firstly, the "normal" few packets here and there, totalled over a month, will still be massively less than your peak-time quota (probably much less than 1% in a normal situation).  (You didn't mention your actual byte-count, but James hinted that it is in the normal "tick over" range.)
Thus, unless someone launches a denial of service style attack on you, you needn't worry about hitting the quota just by leaving the router on.
Secondly, WEP is dreadful.  But you're right that the probability of an attack is small if you are isolated, as an attacker would indeed need to be "fairly" close (depending on the antenna type).  (With a normal antenna on open ground, maybe several tens of metres depending on your house's walls, maybe even hundreds of metres.  With a directional antenna, perhaps a few times as far, or even more.)
But why not switch to WPA or WPA2 if your kit supports it?
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: My Account details

WILT - We're talking about 100-200 Kilobytes of traffic on your account.
There are 1000 Kilobytes in a Megabyte and 1000 Megabytes in a Gigabyte.
It would take you 10,000 days to run up 2GB of traffic on that basis.
Anotherone
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: My Account details

How much usage did you actually have Wilt?
And if you don't use the wireless then turn it off after you've set the encryption, and don't forget to redo it if ever you do a factory reset.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: My Account details

Quote from: Anotherone
How much usage did you actually have Wilt?

James refers honourable gentleman to his post above.
Neilski
Grafter
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎24-05-2009

Re: My Account details

Quote from: Jameseh
There are 1000 Kilobytes in a Megabyte and 1000 Megabytes in a Gigabyte.
OMG.  Does PN bill by the decimal GB or the binary one?  Smiley
dvorak
Moderator
Moderator
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: My Account details

From the VMBU page
Quote
How we measure data:
1000 Kilobytes = 1MB (Megabyte), 1000 MB = 1 GB (Gigabyte)
Customer / Moderator
If it helped click the thumb
If it fixed it click 'This fixed my problem'
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: My Account details

was that a game of snap?