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Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

JWebb
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎29-05-2009

Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

In the last few weeks my bandwidth usage has gone balistic and I dont know why. I've upgraded my package to the most expensive and replaced my free virus and firewall programs with expensive ones but still I am reported as using Gigybytes of bandwith each day....... up to 13GB in a single day.  The high bandwidth usage is attributed to web usage which is strange as this week there is very little as I am abroad and only have a bit of security and email software running. I though maybe its the kids and their x box but  gameing use shows as minimal and the kids are only gaming the same as 3 months ago before I had a problem.

I have posted a support ticket Questions | ID: 28924315  more than 2 days ago but this remains unanswered.... no doubt very convenient as I am paying per gigabyte for all this unexplained usage.
My router reports no strange attached devices. The wireless is secure and I have even turned it off for periods. My Firewall reports only limited use of a few megabytes from all programs.
THe only thing unusual is my router is logging many more " UDP Packet " DOS logs than normal. Around 500 emails in 3 days each with several entries like this:
UDP Packet - Source:173.30.119.194,1024 Destination:80.229.163.126,3074 - [DOS]
UDP Packet - Source:67.186.45.182,3074 Destination:80.229.163.126,3074 - [DOS]
UDP Packet - Source:72.70.6.241,3074 Destination:80.229.163.126,3074 - [DOS]
UDP Packet - Source:71.217.198.30,3074 Destination:80.229.163.126,3074 - [DOS]
UDP Packet - Source:173.30.119.194,1024 Destination:80.229.163.126,3074 - [DOS]
UDP Packet - Source:66.27.140.85,62170 Destination:80.229.163.126,3074 - [DOS]
Could that be anything to do with the xbox? Is somebody blasting my router from outside in a Denail of Service attack? Is Plusnets bandwidth usage wrong? bHow can one PC with nobody on it and one x box do 13 Gigabytes of web surfing in one day?
What can I do about it , or do I need to change to a different ISP, one that answeres support tickets?

Regards,
Jonathan Webb
9 REPLIES 9
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

Hi Jonathan,
There's a few days where there's been a relatively high level of usage compared to what seems to be "normal".
I've asked someone in the call centre to pick up your ticket, but I'd initially suggest that you check your wireless security settings and make sure that your router is secure and that it's not possible for someone else to use your wireless network.
Unless your router logs are *absolutely flooded* with those DOS reports (I mean thousands and thousands) I wouldn't expect it to be the cause.
I'd also definitely suggest doing an antivirus scan to make sure the computer is clean.
paulby
Grafter
Posts: 1,619
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎26-07-2007

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

@JWebb
One other thought - is your router turned off when you're not using it? (If it's not then this *shouldn't* be an issue.)
Have you given an old router to a friend or family member also on Plusnet and not removed your login credentials from the router?  If there's a possibility that you've done that you should change your password in the member centre and then change it on your router/e-mail client etc.
JWebb
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎29-05-2009

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

Thanks for the reply.
My wireless should be reaonably secure with a wpa enabled and I have looked regularly for unknown attached devices. A few days ago I stopped broadcasting the SSID and since I bought it years ago the network name dosnt include the make of router.
My virus scaner wont allow remote access so I cant scan now but I did a full manual scan last week when I installed it ( to replace avg ) and nothing was found. Its new so not sure what its regular scan settings are  but presume its doing a daily scan.
There are not thousands of UDP logs, just a few hundred, so I guess its not a DOS attack.
Its diffucult for me to investigate at the moment as I am not at home this week.
I havn't given away any old routers, this one is about 2 years old. It runs 24/7 as does my pc. If I don't get any other ideas I will get somebody to pull the plug on the router this evening until I get back or have any better ideas.

Regards,
Jonathan Webb
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

Thanks Jonathan.
It would certainly be interesting to see if the data usage completely stopped when the router is turned off aswell as seeing if the high level of usage continues over the next few days.
Let me know next week and I'll try and dig out some more detailed logs for you.
JWebb
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎29-05-2009

over usage

Hi, thanks for your help. Since posting on here I have established contact with customer services.
I've not found the problem yet but I have the odd pointer..... perhaps x box demo downloading has been suggested.
I have disabled wireless access and will try timed periods of having the router disconected.
Any other suggestions are very welcome. Also any ways of improving my security further. I have paID FOR consumer software fiurewalls on all pcs and the router has a firewall built in. If there is a better way of firewalling my home network and the net then let me know ... I'm prepared to spend some money on a hardware file wall or new router if there are clear security  benefits.
regards,
Jonathan
Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

There is no such thing as a hardware firewall - even ones in separate boxes are just software firewalls inside separate boxes. Wink
/2p
reggyperin
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎03-06-2009

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

surely if you have updated to the plusnet unlimited account you shouldnt be throttled anymore?
dvorak
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 29,473
Thanks: 6,623
Fixes: 1,482
Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

you generally change products on the next billing date, so throttling will occur until then.
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Neilski
Grafter
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎24-05-2009

Re: Throttled due unexplained bandwidth use - no help from customer services

Hi Jonathan.
Couple of things:
I'd be a bit more paranoid about posting info with my IP address in it.  (You can still edit your post to remove it, btw.)  Probably no biggie, but hey, I'm paranoid Smiley 
As for the traffic, you may have already googled port 3074 and seen that it's to do with Xbox Live?  Slightly suggestive of an Xbox link, indeed, with respect to the increased traffic, but of course not proof.
Can you get your router to show you the total traffic (byte count) it has seen?  If so, you might be able to watch it increasing, and if it suddenly halted when you yank the net from the Xbox...  (You might be able to get the traffic using SNMP, if the router web interface doesn't report it.)  Most routers I've seen wrap at 4GB (by which I mean 2^32 ;)) by the way.