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High data usage with nothing connected

Bogbody
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 181
Thanks: 47
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎23-02-2020

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Do you have a Smart Meter for electricy or gas? They "phone home".
The other possibilities are a smart TV or freeview/sky/freeview tv recorder fetching programe info for the epg.
In these "info is money" days an "unlimited" account is becoming essential.
However, I sympathise, 10 years ago I found myself in a position where every penny mattered. I arranged thing so as many things as possible were on a fixed price - no sudden supprises. That way I knew what my exact outgoings were and EXACTLY how long my cash would last.
Took a while and a close call with repossesion to fix that.
summers
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 275
Thanks: 50
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎01-06-2014

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

For monitoring this is the kind of thing had in mind :https://kitz.co.uk/routers/monitor_linestats.htm 

Hopefully one of those can monitor the traffic on a line, its not a usual stat - but should be available in the rooter - certainly my openwrt router has this ...

Robz
Grafter
Posts: 33
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎21-01-2019

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Hi , none of the above not even a TV - no license. (Although I support the choice to not-pay and not-view by various means.) Plusnet once competed with BT, we all know what happened next. Now they exist to make BT look good, and BT has always felt costly for those on income vapour.
Thrall
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 568
Thanks: 112
Fixes: 23
Registered: ‎28-09-2020

Re: High data usage with nothing connected


@RealAleMadrid wrote:

@Thrall  I don't think that is an option. Plusnet stopped offering broadband only deals around the end of 2019. Since then any new contract has to be a combined phone and broadband package.



Ah yes I forgot about that. Sad Thanks for the heads up

Robz
Grafter
Posts: 33
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎21-01-2019

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Hi @summers, nice link, thank you 👍
summers
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 275
Thanks: 50
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎01-06-2014

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Yes, and if your rooter uses some form of linux, and you can log onto it - you can monitor the traffic on an interface in e.g. /sys/device
s/virtual/net/pppoa-wan/statistics/*_packets - so if you set a script to monitor those files, and timestamp the changes; you can see what your rooter is saying about when your bandwidth is being used. So if you can tie down exactly when the traffic is, you'll also get a better idea of where its originating from.

Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,922
Thanks: 9,538
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

The TG582n really lends itself to being monitored, it works well with router stats (see below to obtain it and set up instructions for a TG582n).  With a bit if fiddling with the custom graph, you should be able to measure data in / out.

If this is caused by hacking attempts as suggested by someone above, then the router's firewall log should offer some insight as to what is being attacked.  Such traffic can be blocked from escaping from Plusnet (and using your band width) by using the Plusnet server side firewall, as advised.

You said you are running a website - just for clarity, it is not on a device at home is it?

And to cover all of the bases, do you have a Sam Knows white box?

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Robz
Grafter
Posts: 33
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎21-01-2019

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Hi @Townman - yes I am discovering one of the monitoring applications DSLStats.exe - it might help a little. I will then try your RouterStats soon this week. My first aim right now is simply to check the daily router totals approx match those reported by Plusnet. I had 400MB used up on Sunday without doing anything much - in fact mostly just checking plusnet usage page and that was mostly done via the mobiles metered 4G network.

 

The monitor application uses a telnet interface to the router. Disappointingly it offers MB/min rate graphs, or MB.day total graphs when what I need is MB/hour total graphs. But there are other monitor applications no doubt. Maybe your RouterStats will do the hourly totals. I will stick with the one I have learned to use for a short while but it means remembering to manually reset the days graph totals manually at 8AM - which is daft. Then I will try RouterStats you linked to in your post.

 

It is a bit annoying that aggregate values abound everywhere in the operating system usage figures when a bit more detail as to what device or application if any is responsible and EXACTLY WHEN. Basically I have to had to keep wifi disabled on all devices until moment of need.

 

I need to ensure that no cheeky update or unwanted download or advertising-video is not sneeking its way in during the brief moments that wifi is enabled. But as I said all I have seen from the Android6 operating system for example is blimming long term totals by application over daft arbitary periods which are selected from lists of other daft random choices. So I end up with useless info like Chrome used lots of data in the last 18 days which was no help finding what app used all the data today - if any on the android device grrr.

summers
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 275
Thanks: 50
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎01-06-2014

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Out of interested, I had my rooter record how many RX and TX packets it processed per minute, for a few days. Attached is the result I got, you can see over night, when I'm not really accessing anything the rate drops off close to zero. During the day and you can see the date rate is *very* variable, some minutes with a very low rate - others with a high rate (limited by bandwidth).

 

So my guess is your usage should look fairly similar. So helps you judge if yours is odd...

packets.png

summers
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 275
Thanks: 50
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎01-06-2014

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

And realised after doing the above graph, I could easily access the bytes going across the interface, and this is shown for a one day period below.

bytes per second, against time in daysbytes per second, against time in days

Notice overnight, when not using computer (but computer is on) and the rate drops down to below 10B/s. The occasional byte goes out, and a few bytes are coming in (continuously) but its a low rate.

around 41.9 days you can see a zoom session, with received bytes up at 200kB/s, and its constant. You can see a couple of lower rate streams (these where live youtube) down at 100kB/s.

And in case wondering - yes there is about 1hour with data at ~3am; I couldn't sleep, so was browsing on a tablet.

So if your graphs look different to this, you should be able to see when the data is being streemed, and if its you our not.

Robz
Grafter
Posts: 33
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎21-01-2019

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

I have started a very simple vb.net app to continuously show the total MB usage from the routers telnet interface.

Basically at this stage it just logs in automatically and dsiplays one number - the number of MB

received + transmitted.since router last reset. Yes obviously this is very basic and will be improved

to show daily, hourly, monthly usage, ignore unmetered hours, recognise billing start day, show charts and alerts etc.

The window can be squashed to show only the number. You can then on drag it above the notification icon to

keep an eye on it.

TrafficMon2.png

Window resized to show only MB used.

trafficmon2-min.png

code summary - see attached Form1.vb.txt

 

Why vb? Simple! It says what it means; e.g    Must Inherit,   Inherits   etc.

None of that   Virtual, Static  foolery-although C/C++is my first language, it does not have to be favorite too.

And Yes I know the metered broadband package is old etc - but this app is just a handy little helper.

summers
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 275
Thanks: 50
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎01-06-2014

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Reminds me of the router that first came on my account in 2011 - that had that interface. Can't remember what logging I did on it - but updated many years ago. Current rooter has had openwrt flashed to it - and that makes monitoring easy. I just run the attached script on the router itself - so doesn't need another computer to monitor it. To follow bytes rather than packets is just a case of changing {rx,tx}_packets to {rx,tx}_bytes.

Anyway hope the logging gives some insights into what is using the bandwidth.

#!/bin/ash

while true; do
dstr=`date +"%j %H %M %S"`
read rx < /sys/class/net/pppoa-wan/statistics/rx_packets
read tx < /sys/class/net/pppoa-wan/statistics/tx_packets
echo ${dstr} ${rx} ${tx}
echo ${dstr} ${rx} ${tx} >> /tmp/rate.dat
ss=`date +%S`
sleep $(( 60 -${ss} ))
done

exit

Robz
Grafter
Posts: 33
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎21-01-2019

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

The saga continues....

The following issue occurred today out of the blue WHILE I had my monitoring facility activated so I could see more of what the heck is going on.

Basically

1. my Windows app regularly gets the routers internet rx+tx usage figure via telnet using the command 'ip iflist'.

2. all my devices are completely shutdown except the monitoring device and the router.

3. IMPORTANT: the routers 'access control' feature has the monitoring device disconnected from the internet/WAN over this period, this is confirmed by inability to access duckduckgo.com as intended. But obviously the monitoring app can and does access the router via telnet.

 

below is an 'interesting' log of internet/WAN usage where column

A = C(connected) or d(disconnected)     established by pinging example.com

B = billing day

C = date time of log entry

D = M(Metered daytime usage) or --(unmetered night time usage)

E = suggested days maximum MB usage (e.g 19 / 31 ths of 10GB is 6118 MB)

F = Actual metered usage in MB so far since billing day 1 during metered hours 0800-midnight

G = Total usage so far in MB since billing day 1 during all hours of day and night.

 

A  B   C                             D E         F         G

C,19, 30/03/21, 06:26:41, -, 6118,  5020,  15300,   8221,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10280
C,19, 30/03/21, 06:27:15, -, 6118,  5020,  15301,   8222,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10281
C,19, 30/03/21, 06:28:56, -, 6118,  5020,  15302,   8223,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10282
C,19, 30/03/21, 07:00:00, -, 6118,  5020,  15302,   8223,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10282
C,19, 30/03/21, 07:11:17, -, 6118,  5020,  15303,   8224,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 07:27:05, -, 6118,  5020,  15303,   8224,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 07:27:39, -, 6118,  5020,  15303,   8224,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 08:00:27, M, 6118,  5020,  15303,   8224,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 08:02:44, M, 6118,  5021,  15304,   8225,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 08:14:40, M, 6118,  5023,  15306,   8227,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 08:34:00, M, 6118,  5024,  15307,   8228,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 08:34:31, M, 6118,  5025,  15308,   8229,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 08:35:01, M, 6118,  5026,  15309,   8230,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 08:38:36, M, 6118,  5026,  15309,   8230,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 08:39:06, M, 6118,  5026,  15309,   8230,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 08:49:19, M, 6118,  5026,  15309,   8230,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 09:00:12, M, 6118,  5026,  15309,   8230,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 09:55:48, M, 6118,  5027,  15310,   8231,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 09:57:22, M, 6118,  5028,  15311,   8232,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 09:57:53, M, 6118,  5029,  15312,   8233,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 09:59:27, M, 6118,  5030,  15313,   8234,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:00:29, M, 6118,  5030,  15313,   8234,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:02:33, M, 6118,  5031,  15314,   8235,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:04:08, M, 6118,  5033,  15316,   8237,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:04:39, M, 6118,  5035,  15318,   8239,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:05:10, M, 6118,  5036,  15319,   8240,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:05:42, M, 6118,  5038,  15321,   8242,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:07:15, M, 6118,  5039,  15322,   8243,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:07:47, M, 6118,  5045,  15328,   8249,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:08:18, M, 6118,  5051,  15334,   8255,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:08:49, M, 6118,  5055,  15338,   8259,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:09:21, M, 6118,  5059,  15342,   8263,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:09:52, M, 6118,  5064,  15347,   8268,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:10:23, M, 6118,  5066,  15349,   8270,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:11:58, M, 6118,  5067,  15350,   8271,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:12:29, M, 6118,  5068,  15351,   8272,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:13:01, M, 6118,  5069,  15352,   8273,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:13:32, M, 6118,  5070,  15353,   8274,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:14:03, M, 6118,  5071,  15354,   8275,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:14:35, M, 6118,  5072,  15355,   8276,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:15:06, M, 6118,  5073,  15356,   8277,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:17:43, M, 6118,  5075,  15358,   8279,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:18:15, M, 6118,  5077,  15360,   8281,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:18:46, M, 6118,  5080,  15363,   8284,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:19:18, M, 6118,  5083,  15366,   8287,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:19:49, M, 6118,  5085,  15368,   8289,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:20:20, M, 6118,  5086,  15369,   8290,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:20:52, M, 6118,  5088,  15371,   8292,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:21:23, M, 6118,  5089,  15372,   8293,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:21:54, M, 6118,  5091,  15374,   8295,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:25:32, M, 6118,  5094,  15377,   8298,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:26:04, M, 6118,  5098,  15381,   8302,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:26:35, M, 6118,  5102,  15385,   8306,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:27:07, M, 6118,  5105,  15388,   8309,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:27:38, M, 6118,  5109,  15392,   8313,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:28:10, M, 6118,  5112,  15395,   8316,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:28:41, M, 6118,  5114,  15397,   8318,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:29:12, M, 6118,  5119,  15402,   8323,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:29:44, M, 6118,  5121,  15404,   8325,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:30:15, M, 6118,  5122,  15405,   8326,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:30:47, M, 6118,  5124,  15407,   8328,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:31:18, M, 6118,  5127,  15410,   8331,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:31:49, M, 6118,  5129,  15412,   8333,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:32:21, M, 6118,  5130,  15413,   8334,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:33:23, M, 6118,  5131,  15414,   8335,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:33:54, M, 6118,  5133,  15416,   8337,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:34:25, M, 6118,  5137,  15420,   8341,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:36:30, M, 6118,  5139,  15422,   8343,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:37:01, M, 6118,  5145,  15428,   8349,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:37:32, M, 6118,  5151,  15434,   8355,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:38:03, M, 6118,  5154,  15437,   8358,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:38:34, M, 6118,  5158,  15441,   8362,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:39:05, M, 6118,  5165,  15448,   8369,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:39:36, M, 6118,  5171,  15454,   8375,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:40:08, M, 6118,  5178,  15461,   8382,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:40:39, M, 6118,  5185,  15468,   8389,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:41:10, M, 6118,  5192,  15475,   8396,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:41:42, M, 6118,  5199,  15482,   8403,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:42:13, M, 6118,  5203,  15486,   8407,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:42:44, M, 6118,  5209,  15492,   8413,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:43:16, M, 6118,  5213,  15496,   8417,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:43:47, M, 6118,  5226,  15509,   8430,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:44:18, M, 6118,  5230,  15513,   8434,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:45:52, M, 6118,  5232,  15515,   8436,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:46:24, M, 6118,  5236,  15519,   8440,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:46:58, M, 6118,  5245,  15528,   8449,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:47:32, M, 6118,  5250,  15533,   8454,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:48:07, M, 6118,  5255,  15538,   8459,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:48:41, M, 6118,  5260,  15543,   8464,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:49:15, M, 6118,  5261,  15544,   8465,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:50:24, M, 6118,  5263,  15546,   8467,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:50:55, M, 6118,  5265,  15548,   8469,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:51:27, M, 6118,  5268,  15551,   8472,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:51:58, M, 6118,  5273,  15556,   8477,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:52:29, M, 6118,  5275,  15558,   8479,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 10:53:01, M, 6118,  5276,  15559,   8480,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 11:00:17, M, 6118,  5276,  15559,   8480,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 11:02:54, M, 6118,  5277,  15560,   8481,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 12:00:02, M, 6118,  5277,  15560,   8481,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 13:00:05, M, 6118,  5277,  15560,   8481,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 13:29:18, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 14:00:01, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 15:00:10, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 16:00:17, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 17:00:17, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
d,19, 30/03/21, 18:00:24, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 18:41:29, M, 6118,  5278,  15561,   8482,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 18:43:01, M, 6118,  5279,  15562,   8483,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 18:43:31, M, 6118,  5280,  15563,   8484,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 18:45:03, M, 6118,  5281,  15564,   8485,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 18:46:35, M, 6118,  5282,  15565,   8486,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 18:58:49, M, 6118,  5283,  15566,   8487,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283
C,19, 30/03/21, 19:00:21, M, 6118,  5283,  15566,   8487,   2680,   7490,    411,   7079,  10283

The point of interest is that about 200+ MB of data are used WHILE d(disconnected) between 0900-1053 !!!

 

I am baffled. The router shows all devices that have had access and they are all completely shutdown AND the acces control feature of the router is denying INTERNET/WAN access to all devices during this period anyway.

 

So, How can the router access 200MB+ when no devices listed by the router are able access ANY data ? ? ?

 

It is like the router is accessing lots of data for its own use - or ISP use - during metered hours. I have checked the router firmware version and it has not updated itself - so it's not that.

 

Is there a telnet command I can send to the router TG582n to discover more about the endpoints of this unexplained data?

The amount of 200+ MB in less than 2 hours is concerning (for me) although it is the first time I have logged it happening this month. For the preceding part of the month all the usage figures has been correct AFAICT.

 

It looks rather like the router is storing LOTS of data which is being collected by the ISP or other external agent . It does seem to be rather a large amount and it is happening during metered hours at my cost!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

idonno
Champion
Posts: 1,564
Thanks: 506
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎22-10-2015

Re: High data usage with nothing connected


@Bogbody wrote: Do you have a Smart Meter for electricy or gas? They "phone home".

They do indeed but they don't use your Wifi. If you removed or turned off your internet connection, they still work.

 

@Robz  Without knowing all the usage, it is very difficult to see what is using the data. The only thing I do know is sites like Youtube etc can consume vast amounts of your data limits. And as mentioned, Smart TV's do things in the middle of the night - like phone home for an update but 240Mb is quite a tidy sum. Me? I would change my password, even if I thought it was secure and check for malware.

 

10Gb a month? I do feel your pain. I'm just grateful I left that situation behind many years ago. I too was cash strapped for a couple of years and BT use to email me quite regularly, saying I was getting near my limit. I dread to think what BT would say now when monthly downloads are in excess of 1TB.

 

As others have mentioned, for you to sleep easier, you really need to get on an unlimited package.

Ever helpful. Grin Sure, I’d love to help you out. Now which way did you come in?
Robz
Grafter
Posts: 33
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎21-01-2019

Re: High data usage with nothing connected

Unfortunately the PN moderator has deleted my updated post today that showed evidence of router 200MB+ metered internet data usage when the router had all devices barred from internet access.

 

Apparently it was marked as spam. It took me ages to write that post in the hope of an answer as to what might be going on.

 

I urge the darling moderator to repost the post so that readers can judge for themselves.

 

Until then I guess the deletion speaks for itself in terms of who knows why 200MB+ of data can be transferred to the internet from/to my router without my permission on my metered account.