Increased broadband usage with VDSL

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Technofreak

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#156039 17-Nov-2014 14:32

At the end of September we had Spark VDSL installed.

On the day of installation I changed the Admin password on the new router and also changed the SSID name and the WLAN password.

Since about that time the download usage has doubled. I was alerted to the high usage when I got an email over the weekend from Spark saying we had used 80% of our limit with 5 days to run till roll over date. We've never gone close to the limit in the past and we've not changed anything that would affect downloads or uploads.

The first thing that comes to mind is someone we don't know about is logging into our WiFi. However the fact that we have a 14 character passkey of letters and numbers would make it difficult to crack and that this was in place from day one as was a new Admin password I don't think it's likely someone is logging in.

Can these be an issue with the way Spark meters the downloads.

The upload usage is up slightly but not enough from normal usage to say that it is also abnormal.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

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plambrechtsen

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#1177400 17-Nov-2014 15:09

The way usage is metered is exactly the same for Copper ADSL, VDSL and UFB. The same boxes do the exact same metering no matter that transport.

Perhaps you got DDoS'ed??? Or had some malware installed at home?

If you can email me "pl at spark.co.nz" with your phone number that the xDSL is connected to and I could see whats going on. But there shouldn't be any difference with the transport in regards to usage.

NonprayingMantis

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#1177407 17-Nov-2014 15:24

just cos you haven't done anything differently, doesn't mean you aren't using more data

for example, if you ADSL was pretty bad before due to poor wiring, things like Youtube might have only run in SD. Now you have VDSL, Youtube will default to 1080P HD where it can, which uses something like 4 x the data as SD.

My advice: change to a bigger plan (or better yet unlimited)

Things like having multiple windows of videos open at the same time (watching one whilst the others buffer) will use a lot more data than on ADSL if you don't end up watching all the videos from end to end. (becasue VDSL is faster, it will have buffered more before you close the window)

Technofreak

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#1177437 17-Nov-2014 16:18

NonprayingMantis: just cos you haven't done anything differently, doesn't mean you aren't using more data

for example, if you ADSL was pretty bad before due to poor wiring, things like Youtube might have only run in SD. Now you have VDSL, Youtube will default to 1080P HD where it can, which uses something like 4 x the data as SD.

My advice: change to a bigger plan (or better yet unlimited)

Things like having multiple windows of videos open at the same time (watching one whilst the others buffer) will use a lot more data than on ADSL if you don't end up watching all the videos from end to end. (becasue VDSL is faster, it will have buffered more before you close the window)

We don't watch much video, and our ADSL wasn't all that slow. It appears there is high usage even on days when we're not home much.

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tdgeek

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#1177482 17-Nov-2014 17:22

Technofreak:
NonprayingMantis: just cos you haven't done anything differently, doesn't mean you aren't using more data

for example, if you ADSL was pretty bad before due to poor wiring, things like Youtube might have only run in SD. Now you have VDSL, Youtube will default to 1080P HD where it can, which uses something like 4 x the data as SD.

My advice: change to a bigger plan (or better yet unlimited)

Things like having multiple windows of videos open at the same time (watching one whilst the others buffer) will use a lot more data than on ADSL if you don't end up watching all the videos from end to end. (becasue VDSL is faster, it will have buffered more before you close the window)

We don't watch much video, and our ADSL wasn't all that slow. It appears there is high usage even on days when we're not home much.

Until Peter gets back to you, keep an eye on the router transfer activity light. Rough, but just to make sure that the level of flashing lights is more or less in line with whats being done, especially if only browsing or email, or if no on is using it.

1101

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#1177770 18-Nov-2014 09:37

My guess is that someone is using a music or vid streaming service , or a free VOIP service
eg spotify , online radio or something else.
DONT ASSUME THEY DONT USE MUCH DATA

People need to realise some of these are P2P , they may be using your internet connection as a node, especially now that its so much faster .
Ive seen music streaming service on 1 PC gobble 50% of a companies monthly data allowance (not a small amount either) . Turn of the streaming service on that PC
& the data usage went back to 'normal' levels .

It could also be a malware infection on a PC causing this. Just because it wasnt happening before is irrelevant.
See if you can find out if its uploads or downloads using all the data.

Are the PC's left on when you arnt there ?

scuwp

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#1177793 18-Nov-2014 10:13

I would estimate our usage went up at least 50% when we went to VDSL. You Tube especially gobbled it up, as now it ran at higher def and downloaded faster in the background, regardless of if it was watched or not. Not saying there isn't a problem, just that it needs to be appreciated in context. The only way to go is unlimited (for not much , if any more $$) and then you can just consume away without worrying.

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#1177795 18-Nov-2014 10:21

A V8 uses more petrol :)

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hio77

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#1177848 18-Nov-2014 11:23

ild check dhcp leases and such to make sure nobody is messing around in there.

considering you have said Upload traffic has not increased alot, ild count out the likes of P2P seeding being the cause..

contrary to others comments about increasing in usage from adsl to vdsl, i saw no increase on my average daily usage, apart from the occasional day ild download a few updates those days it was pretty clear the vdsl helped along..
I did however get used to watching everything in 4K where possible and such though, dropping back to adsl again becomes a struggle!

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tdgeek

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#1177938 18-Nov-2014 13:34

coffeebaron: A V8 uses more petrol :)

Lol,true. But if u browse thaw ability to see more webpages in an hour isn't much usage. A file from "am alternate source" is still the same size!