cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Huge usage showing but low use made

Mardler
Rising Star
Posts: 630
Thanks: 26
Registered: ‎01-07-2012

Huge usage showing but low use made

Today, PN usage is showing 1.25GB. I've never used that much (bar the Olympics).
All I have done is used internet radio for about 30 minutes, visited a handful of websites and downloaded a 300kb pdf.
The last 0.4GB was incurred whilst I have been away from the PC!
Anyone any idea how this can be?
18 REPLIES 18
vultura
Rising Star
Posts: 325
Thanks: 14
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎22-05-2011

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Possibly Windows updates, antivirus updates or similar.
Has anyone seen my signature, it's gone missing.
Rich
Grafter
Posts: 184
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Is wireless enabled om your router?  If it is, is it secured?  Any other Internet capable equipment - e.g. TV?
Richard
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Quote
The last 0.4GB was incurred whilst I have been away from the PC!

Remember that the usage monitor isn't instant, usage can take up to 2 hours to appear.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Do you use P2P?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Mardler
Rising Star
Posts: 630
Thanks: 26
Registered: ‎01-07-2012

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Usage went from 1.26 to 1.36Gb in last hour. I've downloaded 300kb docs.
Router is secure. No other internet connected gear.
No windows updates, no virus updates.
This is very odd; I think today is the highest usage I've had yet it's a day of very little time at the PC and no streaming etc. is in effect.
NB Just gone to 1.37 - done nothing!
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Don't forget it includes uploads which is why I asked about P2P (file sharing), they frequently carry on uploading to other users after the download has finished.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Mardler
Rising Star
Posts: 630
Thanks: 26
Registered: ‎01-07-2012

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

No P2P.
Ended up at 1.47Gb last night.
All I've done today is read emails (about six) check Facebook and send a 29kb Excel file to 5 people. Usage is just under 3Mb.
Is there anything more detailed PN can give me?
zubel
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,793
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Plusnet should be able to give you an hourly breakdown of your data transfer.
I would suggest that you grab a copy of Networkx and use it to monitor your PC and see if the figures tally up with Plusnets
Just checking - there are no other devices connected to your network?  Be that smartphones, Sky boxes, Apple TV or newer digital TVs with ethernet ports, or games consoles?
Also - a word of warning.  Facebook can actually chew through a surprising amount of data with it's realtime XML feed-checking, even if the page is simple left open.
B.
Mardler
Rising Star
Posts: 630
Thanks: 26
Registered: ‎01-07-2012

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Thanks, Barry.
I may well look at Networx.
There are no other devices connected during the times I have been checking usage and I only have a FB page open when I am reading or posting o/wise it is closed.
Today, I switched the PC on at about 10.00. It immediately showed 2.36 Mb and minutes later 262.44 - I hadn't done a thing! I have been out all day and switched PC on at about 16.20 - usage instantly 331.38, minutes later 337.42 and with nothing else using the internet (I'd rebooted and only opened this page in Firefox) watched it climb to 345MB. It is now 353.86.
Would anyone expect FB to use 12Mb in 10 minutes?
Oddly, I just noticed that since Sunday my overnight usage has plunged from averaging 300Mb to 35 on Sunday to c.16 since. I have been using the PC roughly the same amount of time and streaming internet radio similarly.
Something is very wrong and I suspect it is PN where the problem lies; it is noticeable that no-one from PN has responded.
highfield5
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Have you just signed up for a static IP?  The reason I ask is that I had something similar a week or so ago and it was tracked down to the previous user of the IP address (they are recycled by PN) being some kind of Skype node.  When I was allocated the address I immediately started seeing 0.5 to 0.75 GB of incoming telephony data every hour. 
Mardler
Rising Star
Posts: 630
Thanks: 26
Registered: ‎01-07-2012

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

Now 372.69 and rising.
Mardler
Rising Star
Posts: 630
Thanks: 26
Registered: ‎01-07-2012

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

highfield5 said, "Have you just signed up for a static IP?"
No.
I have just this PC accessing the 'net at the moment via Firefox and just looking various sites plus c.10 minutes on FB.
zubel
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,793
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

IIRC, Plusnet have two independent sources of information for the usage figures - BT and the Ellacoya switches. 
The daily usage figures are generated from the BT reports, and the usage-type breakdown is generated by the Ellacoya switches.  If these figures tally, (and I dont recall if the breakdown on the portal actually shows totals) then it generally means that the figures /are/ correct.
B.
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Huge usage showing but low use made

A computer with a virus could well be generating large volumes of traffic.