Has Santa been using my WiFi?

[#1]

Just back after 3 days away over xmas. Usually have two computers on the Thomson TG585 v7 wifi box. Box left on while away but computers off. Yet each day there has been  about 100Mb of usage and about 30Mb usage overnight.  The wifi box has WPA-PSK security and I certainly haven't given the user name or password to anyone.  This is a new Plusnet account. I was previously with Orange but returned their wifi box a few months ago. All very strange - any ideas?

[#2]

Unless you can switch off the router for 24 hours it may be difficult to find out if PlusNet have a problem with your usage calculations.
i.e. if it is switched off for 24 hours and you still accumulate usage during that period then you know to report a problem to PN.
Maybe try turning it off between 12 midnight and 10am and see if you get any overnight usage. - note 10am because it can take up to 2 hours for usage to be added to your figures.
You could also try enabling the plusnet broadband firewall found under connection settings under your account.
Note: there is a certain amount of 'internet noise' which will use some bandwidth while your router is on. These are pings and attempts to access your router over the internet by bots and malicious programs running on other PCs.

[#3]

Are you certain there is nothing else connected to the net?  TV, Sky/Freeview box?  Game console?  Mobile phone(s)?  Mediaservers?  NAS?  Those amounts could easily be call home and download updates kind of stuff.

[#4]

the other thing that has come up recently is that some PC's are not actually switched off but are in standby mode and can switch themselves on

[#5]

It's worth remembering that no domestic wireless connection is going to be 100% secure and someone could have cracked your key. The only way to get round that is to use a wired connection and turn off the wireless function of the router.

[#6]

Thanks for all the replies and tips.
I did actually switch off the WiFi box last night and today there was no recorded overnight usage so it looks like someone really is using my connection.
If PN are monitoring this message sequence perhaps they can advise on whether I can change my wireless key, can't see a way to do this.
Geo

[#7]

Hi there,
If you're using the Thomson router we supply take a look here which tells you how to change SSID and password.

[#8]

You can change the WPA-PSK security information as follows
Login into the router's web interface (http://192.168.1.254)
Click Home Network on the left
Click WLAN: … in the centre
Click Configure top right
Change Network Name (SSID) if desired (no spaces)
Verify that Use WPA-PSK Encryption radio button is selected
Change WPA-PSK Encryption Key as desired
Click Apply
Remember to use the altered information when you reconnect your wireless devices (including your present one if it was connected wirelessly).

[#9]

Quote

Yet each day there has been  about 100Mb of usage and about 30Mb usage overnight.

Are you sure it was Mb and not Kb ? , that sort of usage in Kb is typical for background traffic ( keeping the connection alive etc )  if the router is left on and is quite normal and nothing to worry about.

[#10]

Quote from: geo3geo

Thanks for all the replies and tips. I did actually switch off the WiFi box last night and today there was no recorded overnight usage so it looks like someone really is using my connection. If PN are monitoring this message sequence perhaps they can advise on whether I can change my wireless key, can't see a way to do this. Geo

If you've been hacked once, you will be hacked again, make sure you use WAP and not WEP and that you have long key, this will make you harder to hack, but not impossible.
However my favourite is still that its some other device on your network just doing its stuff.  Especially if its 100Mb per day and 30mb overnight, if those figures are consistent day in day out, then that aint no human browsing the web or anything, thats a machine doing the same thing day in day out.

[#11]

Well. this is REALLY embarassing because I have to admit I did not read the data properly. I simply saw the numbers but didn't read the letters - it was Kb not Mb - normal background clatter.
So apologies to everyone for wasting their time and apologies to Santa for even suspecting that he could stoop so low as to hack my account.
geo
btw Santa what happened to my pressie? You haven't flogged it on eBay by any chance?