Telecom Broadband usage issue

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

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#120754 12-Jun-2013 13:14

I am a telecom broadband customer on a 150gb plan and recently I have noticed that my upload data usage is unbelievably high. In this month it says I have used 100gb of upload data. I have 6 devices on my wifi network, all have been checked for viruses but I'm continuing to check. I think however, that it is a metering issue as regular checks throughout the day show large increases in upload usage when there is no devices connected to the network. I have tried unplugging the modem so there is no connection, this stops any data being logged. It seems that data maybe being miscounted. Tomorrow I will shutdown the wifi and keep the modem on to see if that catches anything. In the mean time, has anybody else encountered this problem. I looked at previous data history and my problem gradually increased from the middle of April. Is there anything else I can do? Currently I have gone over my cap and the connection seems to timeout (says page is not available) for every website, don't know if this is related. Also, a look at my modem stats shows upstream transmit power at 20db also don't know if that is related. Sorry for all the random threads of info. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

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2837 posts

Uber Geek

#835824 12-Jun-2013 14:31

An obvious question but you didn't tell us. Is your wireless connection secured with at least WPA?

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kiwigeek1

637 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#835831 12-Jun-2013 14:36

You might of been hacked by a neighbor.. has your router got access logs check the ips/macs
of all devices and rename them if can so makes easier next time.

sadly even WPA PK2 is very hackable even with a long password.. and some routers have WPS turned on
so they can be hacked within minutes

also put a tool like BMExteme on your windows laptops to count traffic and apps like 3gwatch dog for mobile phone then you can compare downloads and uploads with telecoms

im on 150gb plan and not really noticed weird increases.. but I do sometimes wonder how accurate it is
as they always had problems with it

beware of games like League of legends.. it implants what I would call malware as it dont inform
people very well that it puts a p2p client in background which shares game updates
name of it slips mind.. but scan through background process with windows manager tool

arr found a link about it..

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=521081

quote :
it does run in the background, even when league of legends isnt running ... I play
a lot at a pc cafe, and whenever a single update starts PBM runs .... it used up
more than 4GB of my 10GB of upload usage and I'm not pleased.

makes me wonder how many other things do this now without you knowing

linw

2837 posts

Uber Geek

#835944 12-Jun-2013 16:40

Also watch out for cloud storage that is synced to a local folder with a lot of changing files e.g. browser profiles.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#835949 12-Jun-2013 16:45

massive upload suggests cloud storage or backup syncing incorrectly (or just going nuts uploading masses of photos if you just got back from holiday or something - happened to me!).

check for things like icloud, dropbox etc trying to sync

kiwigeek1

637 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#835954 12-Jun-2013 16:51

yeo dropbox on tablet.. a killer for data.. my sister got caught with that.. thought she had enough
data it went over limit and ate up $30 of extra data costs and so the next day 500mb add on
didnt go through cos the money credit was used up.

solution rid dropbox completely. wasnt worth the pain and costs even if it did have a option
to disable if wasnt wifi etc.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#835983 12-Jun-2013 17:22

Thanks for the replies guys. Sorry should have said that wifi is secured WPA-Personal. Looking at the DHCP table shows only 6 devices mapped, matched the mac addresses. Looked at the ARP/RARP table and only devices in the household have been mapped. No games, no PS3 in months, I do use google drive but only have 0.87gb synced and it only rarely shows up as syncing. I have google play but that passed all the diagnostic tests. Will call telecom and see how it goes. Thanks.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836033 12-Jun-2013 19:54

Also, just checked, my modem's internet light flashes, indicating that there is some network activity but no devices are connected as wifi is disabled and no devices are connected via ethernet. I had a look to see if the mysky was playing up so I unplugged it to see if that had any effect but none, modem still showed internet usage without any devices connected. Tried with a second D-link DSL-302G same thing. I am currently using a linksys wag200g. Also, had my line repaired by chorus around 2 weeks ago, but problem shows up in april, may and june billing periods.

linw

2837 posts

Uber Geek

#836037 12-Jun-2013 20:16

Very strange. Let's know the outcome. Good luck.

1101

3121 posts

Uber Geek

#836338 13-Jun-2013 14:23

kiwigeek1:
sadly even WPA PK2 is very hackable even with a long password.. and some routers have WPS turned on
so they can be hacked within minutes

And some routers have a bug that means WPS is NEVER actually disabled.
You should be using WPA2 , not WPA

I doubt that its someone accessing your wifi.

Its usually a local PC , could also be a local tablet/phone. Often the kids devices/PC/laptop
What you need to do, is disconnect ALL devices except 1 PC. Monitor usage over a few weeks then add back wifi devices 1 by 1. Change the wifi password, dont tell anyone what it is till this is sorted.

Run malware scan on the PC's, run at least 2 different malware/AV scanners.(malwarebytes etc)
Un-Install all P2P / torrent programs.

A while back there was ongoing issues with an ISP's (Telecom?) usage meters being wildly inaccurate for some users. They did try to deny & hush it all up but aventually had to admit the issue after it hit the newspapers & TV.
It could be exactly your issue.

Most often it is actually something on the network using all the bandwidth.
the usage monitor may be hours off in recorded usage , so you may need to leave it off for a day or so to see if you are getting meter usage when the modem is off.

sittingduckz

680 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#836365 13-Jun-2013 15:00

I have to agree with the OP. I'm in a small company that usually uses approx 20GB/mth.

So far we are at:

Total downloads: 18.10GB
Total uploads: 49.49GB
Total usage: 67.59GB

Only 1 Server & 8 workstations and I still can't find the issue. Wifi is secure.

I'm not a complete idiot, I still have some parts missing.

n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836390 13-Jun-2013 15:35

Ha a fellow intent user who has the same issue!I feel less alone in the world! So here's the update, after 45 minutes of mind numbing troubleshooting I got escalated to level two. It was around nine so instead of arguing I told them that I would disable the WiFi and not connect any devices to the network while the modem was plugged in and they agreed that there should be no usage in this situation. I asked them to monitor it and give me a call back at five today. So far while having WiFi disabled from the router (meaning it doesn't broadcast so no one can connect) and having no devices connected via Ethernet I have logged 2gb of upload usage and 10mb of download. I think this sufficiently proves it is not my device. I have also swapped filters and tried with a different modem briefly. After I got throttled down yesterday they said I was suffering from packet loss due to heavy usage from my connection even though I couldn't connect to the net. Thanks for the tips though, I will update later tonight.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#836396 13-Jun-2013 15:40

What type of modem are you using?

If it's something that has DNS exploits it would explain it.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#836412 13-Jun-2013 15:56

I understand the usage meter is not real time and can be out by as much as 2-3 hours. How long did you leave it unplugged for? If it was only a couple of hours its possible it was counting usage from before you unplugged it.

It's also worth checking whether it continues to record usage even when the modem itself is switched off and unplugged (for more than a few hours remember to avoid the time delay) - just to be sure.

I feel for you man, it's a huge pain in the butt. I went through a similar excercise a while back and in the end it turned out it was my rellys staying with me using icloud to upload all their holiday snaps and they didn't even realise - assuring me

michaelmurfy

meow
13191 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#836415 13-Jun-2013 16:01

sbiddle: What type of modem are you using?

If it's something that has DNS exploits it would explain it.

Could you please try this with the modem Telecom send you? Seems like the modem you normally use has a DNS exploit causing massive data use. If you don't have one of these flick me a private message and I can see if I can sort one out for you.

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

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n0exit

34 posts

Geek

#836416 13-Jun-2013 16:02

I am using a Liknsys WAG200G. I don't know what DNS exploits are but I can update with DNS servers after five ish. EDIT: I have briefly (15 to 20 mins) tried with the old D-link modems telecom gave out, it connected to DSL but its ADSL light was flashing indicating usage. I will try with a different modem for the next few hours. Also, I think I should clarify, when I had the modem unplugged, it didn't record any usage. I had it unplugged from around 10am to 6pm.

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