Telecom usage meter inacurate?

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33 posts

Geek

#434059 2-Feb-2011 07:54

yeah I know they are reluctant to accept my data as well. now they want me to drop everyone off the net and just use one computer with the monitoring software and power cycle the router a couple of times over a fixed periob so they can compare the data.

Justanotherjohn. do you have a pc on the network as well?
I Gather the modem figures via telnet using a scripting program called tst10 and the windows scheduler, storing to a test file for disection. this should capture your xbox usage aswell
cheers

jbard

1377 posts

Uber Geek

#434436 2-Feb-2011 19:11

Ok first day of using my own monitor and the telecom usage says i have used 360mb when in fact i have only used 250mb????

kiwigeek1

637 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#434442 2-Feb-2011 19:24

are you sure config it correct.. and ticked udp packets monitoring as well.. normal is tcp but special software used on pc can use udp packets

if just normal browsing and not gaming then its probably fine

some times your router has session stats if log in via the browser control panel.. you can do a double check there also mght even show udp packets count and errors
hopefully your wireless is secure and no one has hacked it and using it.. which has happened to some people over the years wpa2-key and long 8 character password normally good enough its the wep 250 bit you should avoid as can be cracked with brute force too easily

jbard

1377 posts

Uber Geek

#434472 2-Feb-2011 20:36

Yeah it is configured correctly, but i do normal browsing anyway. It can't be wireless because i don't have any - two computers running and both connected via ethernet.

5uperTed

33 posts

Geek

#434507 2-Feb-2011 21:18

Hi just an update
Working thru with telecoms helpdesk
I sent them all my data? spreadsheet showing
ComTraffic monitoring Vs Telecom Usage Meter (average 28%+ for usage meter for last week)
Router counters Vs Telecom Usage Meter (average 30%+ for usage meter for last week)
ComTraffic monitoring Vs Router counters (average 2%+ for ComTraffic monitoring since comparison started)
The log files with the counters from the router collected 12 hourly

They asked me to cycle the router, only connect 1 pc for a few hours and then cycle the router again and send them my data for that period.
The power cycling is so that they can pick up the usage easier.
I completed that task tonight
I am awaiting their call
Cheers

networkn

Networkn
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#434575 2-Feb-2011 23:51

Interested to hear your results

5uperTed

33 posts

Geek

#435148 4-Feb-2011 08:21

HI all
The helpdesk finally agreed that things don't seem to be correct and that their figures are more than mine. They then asked if i would like them to raise a ticket with their network group... OF COURSE was my response. So I am now waiting for the results of their investigation...
I must say tho that all the people I have delt with have been very polite and professional and helpful in their dealings with me they seem to lack a bit knowledge in network technologies and techniques, But then I have been round networks and computers for over 20 years now and know the difference between a HUB and a Switch.
I'll keep everyone posted
Cheers

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

5uperTed

33 posts

Geek

#437637 10-Feb-2011 09:44

Hi still no reply from Telecom but Yesterday figures were alot closer than ever before
see attached

SumnerBoy

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#437652 10-Feb-2011 10:00

I just had to increase my monthly plan cos I kept blowing out my 10GB limit - and I was certain I was not using that much data!

If I now find I am only using 6-7GB thanks to you identifying a fault with their monitoring gear I am gonna be pretty peeved - not with you of course, but with them for taking my extra money!!

Although happy they have finally sorted it - will just have to downgrade my plan again next month.

Good work mate!

5uperTed

33 posts

Geek

#438109 11-Feb-2011 07:49

Oh spoke too soon. looks like they havn't fixed it... just a hickup.
Back to around 30% for yesterday

dwl

371 posts

Ultimate Geek

#440017 15-Feb-2011 21:34

i posted this on faults forum today: "Usage mail alert said I had gone over 20GB cap and i was dropped to 64kbps. Helpdesk said usage meter showed 7GB down and 1.4GB up over short period (within 2 hours) when nobody home. A later check of DSL router stats showed the 8GB of traffic not evident with usage only 4GB down, 1GB up since reboot 9 days ago. Telecom has lodged request to restore speed but it takes 24-48 hours. I noticed drop in ping times (usually 52ms, dropped to 47ms) one hour prior to alleged use so suspect Telecom making network changes. I am not happy that usage meter can get it so wrong."
Overall usage meter has previously been fairly close to my router counters but this sudden spike is a mystery. I have asked for the hourly data as it may highlight an implausible rate, especially on the uplink. Here's hoping the reasons for the differences can be found.

5uperTed

33 posts

Geek

#441404 19-Feb-2011 07:55

HI all just an update.
I've called telecom again and was advised that their network people are still working on it and should update me in the next couple of days
the extra usage figures for the last week
26%
41%
29%
35%
26%
47%
25%

so not alot changing there
cheers

5uperTed

33 posts

Geek

#441406 19-Feb-2011 08:03

For anyone interested I use a program called tst10 to telnet to the router and retreive the stats.
I set the scheduler to get them every 12 hours using this batch file
----------------
c:
cd\telnet

Date /T>date.txt
Time /T>time.txt

tst10 /r:statrouter.txt /o:routerstats.txt

copy stats.txt+date.txt+time.txt+routerstats.txt stats.txt
------------------------------------
note stats.txt needs exist before starting
statrouter.txt is a script file below
-------------------
192.168.0.254
WAIT "ogin name:"
SEND "admin\m"
WAIT "assword:"
SEND "admin\m"
WAIT ">"
send "ifconfig ppp_0_100_1\m"
WAIT ">"
send "adsl info --stats\m"
WAIT ">"
send "logout\m"
wait "ok."
--------------------------
if you want to use the above you may need to edit for correct prompts and commands
Cheers

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#441408 19-Feb-2011 08:05

Could you folks post this in our faults page as well, every time it happens?

dwl

371 posts

Ultimate Geek

#441477 19-Feb-2011 13:41

I was hoping to update with my usage from the meter but getting Bad Gateway just now. However, my daily usage that showed a huge spike of 8GB on one day has been changed to a dramatically less usage for the day with total monthly usage now only at 13GB on 20GB plan (instead of excess usage). I have not yet heard back from Telecom on how their systems can get it this wrong and I am confident it is not my usage based on router stats.

The posting on using the router interface counters raises an important point about how bytes are counted. I am now using telnet on a Thomson 585v8 (Thomson removed SNMP) with Python script and getting the WAN interface counts like this:

{admin}=>ip iflist
Interface Group MTU RX TX Admin Oper
0 loop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . local 65535 142954103 115104109 UP [UP]
1 Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . wan 1500 454936231 933105923 UP UP
2 LocalNetwork. . . . . . . . . . lan 1500 1017407178 501349940 UP [UP]

These counts seem to wrap every 4GB so in the above example it has now done 454MB + 4GB on the downlink since my last reset 13 days ago. If I use the GUI interface it seems to keep track of these wraps and reports Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/GB]: 889,97 / 4,42. (I assume 4GB=4294967296 bytes?)

However, if I look at the DSL stats it says Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [GB/GB]: 1,23 / 5,18 - this is 17% more for sent and a massive 41% more for received. I would expect the ATM side to have greater counts due to overheads but what layer is Telecom using for their usage meter? I admit I'm not even sure whether these Thomson stats are IP or Ethernet but based on reported MTU probably IP? This can be a significant difference, especially on the uplink with average of smaller packets.

I need a few more days to compare my counts of the wan interface with the usage meter. A final point is I have very high FEC error counts on the DSL stats:

FEC Errors (Up/Down): 10.013 / 16.747.566
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 197 / 22
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 2.280 / 375

The service is working fine but I wonder this affects the usage counts although the FEC errors continue with usage meter not going silly except for that one day.

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