Telecom Broadband usage issue

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom Broadband usage issue

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34 posts

Geek

#836420 13-Jun-2013 16:08

I feel like I should clarify my stream of consciousness like posts for other users who may be (unsuspectingly) facing the same issue. Looking back at my previous usage over the last 12 months my uploads were generally around 2gb to 3gb per month. For my billing period from 19 march to 18 april my uploads jumped to 11gb, but I didn't take notice as I was well below my cap. Then following period from 19 april to 18 may my uploads jumped again to 50gb. Again, got closer to the cap but 150gb is pretty hard to use so again didn't really notice. This month, from 19 may to 18 june, I have so far logged 103gb of uploads, yes ONE HUNDRED AND THREE GIGABYTES of uploads. I live in Auckland, Mt Roskill, we don't have UFB so I don't think that's related (although, it did occur to me the timeline may fit), as mentioned I am on telecom, I use a Linksys Wag200G. An easy way to diagnose this IMO, is to simply stop broadcasting wifi from the router and have no devices connected overnight. I did this today and still logged 2 gb upload. I have also tried multiple modems, my wifi is secure (although not as secure as it should be apparently), I have tried different filters, I have scanned for viruses. So, unsuspecting telecom users, what I would love to know is, is this affecting you? You may not notice initially, but you will eventually.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#836436 13-Jun-2013 16:36

So, unsuspecting telecom users, what I would love to know is, is this affecting you? You may not notice initially, but you will eventually.

OK, heres some facts for ya. A bit of history

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/telecom-admits-broadband-ck-95540

This was after months & months of denial. Do a search in the pf1 forum. One guy had a long running dispute, dispite him gathering all sorts of proof Telecom would not admit fault till it all hit the paper & TV . Im not sure that he was ever compensated/refunded
http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/forum.php

You will never win this argument with Telecom.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836450 13-Jun-2013 16:54

I don't want to win, I just want to use the internet :'(. Also, you have to know how to push the right buttons, my legal training tells me I have two or three different options, it's easier when you're not out to get telecom, 're the previous metering issue, Google did direct me to their press release, it was two years ago I think so this might be a separate issue.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836509 13-Jun-2013 18:53

UPDATE: Level two guy passed it onto their network team, put me back up to full speed and will update me tomorrow.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#836778 14-Jun-2013 11:50

1101:
So, unsuspecting telecom users, what I would love to know is, is this affecting you? You may not notice initially, but you will eventually.

OK, heres some facts for ya. A bit of history

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/telecom-admits-broadband-ck-95540

This was after months & months of denial. Do a search in the pf1 forum. One guy had a long running dispute, dispite him gathering all sorts of proof Telecom would not admit fault till it all hit the paper & TV . Im not sure that he was ever compensated/refunded
http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/forum.php

You will never win this argument with Telecom.

I personally know that case well, it was a very edge case which has subsequently been resolved.

I also respectfully disagree with the response "you will never win this argument with Telecom". As I have personally seen customers who have had the DNS exploit by using non-Telecom supplied routers and are now well known to the world thanks to the Internet Census this year or have had malware / virus install themselves onto the machines and using it to DDoS or have had some cloud storage or streaming app go awry and start downloading or uploading massive amounts of data.

My debugging steps would be first login to the router and disable wifi (see if someone has hijacked your wifi) and leave it for a few days then check your usage.

Then if it's still unusually high switch off all your computers as your router may have been compromised.

Then if usage is still high it could be a dodgy router so use the Telecom supplied on TG582N as they don't suffer that problem as we actually pen-test our modems before we supply them to our customers.

Then you will know if it was someone on your wifi, some virus on a wired computer or something in your router.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836782 14-Jun-2013 11:58

Hi plambrechtsen, Thanks for the tips, this is exactly what I intend to do, getting a hold of a telecom modem. Already switched off the wifi and didn't have any devices connected via ethernet and still had very high usage. Will update soon.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#836821 14-Jun-2013 13:15

n0exit: Hi plambrechtsen, Thanks for the tips, this is exactly what I intend to do, getting a hold of a telecom modem. Already switched off the wifi and didn't have any devices connected via ethernet and still had very high usage. Will update soon.

re: bolded part, for how long did you measure this? usage meters are not real time so you could quite concievably switch your modem off and still see usage going up for several hours after that and for it to be totally genuine

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836822 14-Jun-2013 13:16

from midnight on the 13th to around 6pm. Showed 2.5gb of uploads with 10mb of downloads.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#836829 14-Jun-2013 13:27

Depending on how you go you could use gargoyle or similar usage monitoring on the router edge.

I am thinking that it is more likely to be a problem with your computer with a virus or malware. Malwarebytes is pretty good.

I remember my wife had some nasty that was doing clicks and browsing sites. Was quite hard to remove.

Let me know if you need more detailed breakdown on an hour by hour basis. As that is the frequency of usage billing.

michaelmurfy

meow
13252 posts

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#836830 14-Jun-2013 13:28

n0exit: from midnight on the 13th to around 6pm. Showed 2.5gb of uploads with 10mb of downloads.

Your replacement modem is en-route to you, since it's the weekend tomorrow I'd say you'll see it on Monday, give this a good go for a week at-least and see how things go.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

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NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#836831 14-Jun-2013 13:29

n0exit: from midnight on the 13th to around 6pm. Showed 2.5gb of uploads with 10mb of downloads.

Its possible, albeit unlikely that that amount of upload usage can happen in about 5 hours (1Mbps upload roughly equals 500MB maximum per hour), so it is hypothetically within the margin of error for usage meter timings.

Having said that, that amount of usage would require your line to be basically maxed out on upload, which would suggest a monthly amount waaaaaay more than you have actually been using

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836833 14-Jun-2013 13:35

plambrechtsen:
I am thinking that it is more likely to be a problem with your computer with a virus or malware.

I don't understand, if there are no devices connected to my router how can malware from my computer access the internet? I understand it could be a router issue so I am getting a Telecom one sent to me. There could not have been any devices connected to my modem as wifi was disabled from the modem and no devices were connected via ethernet from midnight on the 13th of june to approx 6pm on the 13th. Over that time my account logged 2.5gb of upload use. No devices were connected through my router over that time. If it was a malware issue the usage should have stopped over that period. However, an hourly breakdown may be handy, I would appreciate if you could send that through to me, I will PM you my landline. Thanks.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836835 14-Jun-2013 13:37

NonprayingMantis:
n0exit: from midnight on the 13th to around 6pm. Showed 2.5gb of uploads with 10mb of downloads.

Its possible, albeit unlikely that that amount of upload usage can happen in about 5 hours (1Mbps upload roughly equals 500MB maximum per hour), so it is hypothetically within the margin of error for usage meter timings.

Having said that, that amount of usage would require your line to be basically maxed out on upload, which would suggest a monthly amount waaaaaay more than you have actually been using

The usage was over 18 hours. 12:00 am on the 13th of june to 6:00pm.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836836 14-Jun-2013 13:38

michaelmurfy:
n0exit: from midnight on the 13th to around 6pm. Showed 2.5gb of uploads with 10mb of downloads.

Your replacement modem is en-route to you, since it's the weekend tomorrow I'd say you'll see it on Monday, give this a good go for a week at-least and see how things go.

Thank you. Much appreciated.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#836844 14-Jun-2013 13:50

n0exit:
NonprayingMantis:
n0exit: from midnight on the 13th to around 6pm. Showed 2.5gb of uploads with 10mb of downloads.

Its possible, albeit unlikely that that amount of upload usage can happen in about 5 hours (1Mbps upload roughly equals 500MB maximum per hour), so it is hypothetically within the margin of error for usage meter timings.

Having said that, that amount of usage would require your line to be basically maxed out on upload, which would suggest a monthly amount waaaaaay more than you have actually been using
The usage was over 18 hours. 12:00 am on the 13th of june to 6:00pm.

what I mean is, that you can switch your modem off at midnight and use no data for 18 hours. when you go back it shows 2GB, but it is possible that the 2GB it was showing actually happened over the 5 hours before midnight, but the usage meter is delayed in showing the usage.

Like I said though, it isn't likely since that would require your line to be maxed for the prior 5 hours, but it is hypothetically possible.

To be absolutely safe, what you should do is shut off your modem, wait 6 hours, check the usage meter and record the numbers shown, then wait a further 12 hours and check again and compare the 2 numbers. that way you will avoid accidentally counting usage from before the modem was shut off.

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