High broadband usage figures

[#1]

Quote from: Chris

Hi Chris, You should just know that statements such as this will provke questions ... if a rouge router were on 20CN line would you be able to detect dual use of the username to the same level of confidence?

We can see which accounts a router is attributed to, so whether the same serial number exists across more than one account. We can also see if there are duplicate sessions ongoing at the same time, so there are a few ways to tell.

[#2]

It is a week now since I changed my password, and this does seem to have been a turning point. Since then, the usage figures in my account have been reasonable (see attached screencap).
In a comment that has since been deleted, Townman rightly pointed out that correlation is not causation, and wondered if the change of password had caused a session drop and reset. But the router is set to log out if idle for more than 99 minutes, so typically establishes three sessions a day. This suggests the correlation is more significant.
Over to the experts.   

[#3]

Another possibility that has come to light: even when users haven't requested the Windows 10 update, if people have automatic updates turned on it is downloading the 4GB Win 10 install files to a hidden folder to be ready for install if people do decide to upgrade.

[#4]

I am sorry to risk derailing this thread - but post 15 needs some explanation. We appear to have a post under the name of Townman, but signed off by Chris answering a question (In the sort of way that Chris answers questions)  -giving an answer to a quote stated to come from Chris but sounding much more like a Townman type question.
If I believed in conspiracy theories, I would now have an answer as to why Townman hates BTOR so robustly - however, is it just a problem with some over zealous moderating/editing?

[#5]

It would appear that someone has totally mucked up the post - the quote isn't a quote at all as what is supposedly quoted isn't in the original post
My guess - for what it is worth - is that Chris meant to hit the "quote" button and pressed the "modify" button instead which, because he didn't spot it in time totally mucked up the original post

[#6]

Quote from: EnglishMohican

I am sorry to risk derailing this thread - but post 15 needs some explanation. If I believed in conspiracy theories, I would now have an answer as to why Townman hates BTOR so robustly - however, is it just a problem with some over zealous moderating/editing?

Hi EM,
I concur with you on both the risk and explanation.  I've not been advised of the post having been moderated or having an issue.  CRT having difficulty with searching questions though would not surprise me.  Apparent coincidence can lead to conspiracy theories... which do not usually hold water, leading nicely to your second comment.
I do not hate BTOR as you suggest, that would be emotional and unproductive, but I do have issue with their total lack of professionalism and the inability of ISPs to manage their performance.  Such inability being predicated on there being no timely and proficient esclation routes for the failure cases.  I think you'd agree that there are too many 'same issue' failures being reported around here each month?
You are clearly following my postings (should I be flattered - no answer sought) in which case you'll realise that many of my BTOR comments are based on personal experience.  The bottom line is they are not performing, however the majority of consumers do not see nor understand where the issues are in the industry and are therefore not able to influence change.
Even Ofcom do not have a clue as has been well illustrated by them applying commercial penalties to ISPs where speed estimates are not met.
Best not derail this thread any further; an explanation of the over recording would be nice - the difference between router recorded bandwidth and PlusNET recorded bandwidth kind of knocks the win10 download idea into the long grass.  The correlation of correct recording after changing the account password (if there was not another router using the same credentials) reveals a mystery which might forever remain unresolved! 

[#7]

Quote from: Chris

It might be a few days before I get more info [...]

It's gone very quiet, and I am disappointed to have had no answer.
Meantime, I've continued to log data. Since I started, I have seen the ratio of Plusnet's record of my usage to that reported by my router vary from 0.76 to 26.66. One obvious possibility is that Plusnet's usage counter does not work properly.
Time for me to move on – but those on a 10 GB limit might find it interesting to record their own figures and take this question up.

[#8]

Sorry, I've been out of the office so haven't chased this up again yet.
FYI those on fixed allowances have their usage recorded in a different manner which I've not seen any issues with.

[#9]

Chris has now replied to my ticket, and my thanks to him for looking into this.
He says: "... the usage did come from your connection. The majority was used between 8am and 10am, where your line was being used at around 7Mb/s for the majority of this period. Over the course of the day there was over 3 hours usage at this rate which would account for the amount of traffic."
This does look like something running away, but what I don't know; and why it should start, go wild for three days, then stop is a mystery. The other possibility is a virus running a DoS attack or something of the sort. This would stop if and when my antivirus caught up with it - but the antivirus should have reported this, which it didn't.
And the sometimes huge discrepancy between the router's and PlusNet's traffic figures remains a puzzle.
Things are continuing to behave themselves at the moment, so I am closing the ticket.
Thanks again to Chris and his colleagues, and to those who made suggestions in this forum.

[#10]

Thanks for the update.

Quote from: Petard

And the sometimes huge discrepancy between the router's and PlusNet's traffic figures remains a puzzle.

One would have to conclude that it is possible to transfer data and not have it recorded by the router!