[TelstraClear] Where is my broadband disappearing to?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] Where is my broadband disappearing to?

Geems

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#16300 3-Oct-2007 15:34

Hi - can anyone out there explain why my broadband is being used, even though my laptop and modem is completely unplugged from the power source? I'm monitoring the usage metre and there's been a steady download of about 1 mg every hour for the past 30 hours or so. Telstra are trying to sort this out for me, but I am curious whether anyone else has any ideas.

rscole86

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#89280 3-Oct-2007 15:48

If your modem is unplugged from its power source then I cannot see how it is your modem doing the downloading.

If someone else on your node is using your IP address and downloading then TCL should be able to track it down based on the other persons MAC address.

I think you will just have to wait and see what TCL say...

Geems

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#89336 3-Oct-2007 18:49

thanks! don't entirely understand how this could have all happened, but I'll trust that Telstra can sort it out soon. Cheers.

Basekid

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#89347 3-Oct-2007 19:35

What usage meter are you looking at?

KiwiOverseas66

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#89358 3-Oct-2007 21:13

the usual law of physics stuff with any sort of data connection is that there has to be a source and destination (i.e - something has to be sending the traffic, and something else has to receive it for a "transfer" to have occurred). Even if a ping packet is bounced off your machine - it has still responded (in your case - that would be a hell of a lot of ping traffic). Pipes are dumb and cannot initiate or complete a data transfer on their own. Might sound like an obvious thing to say - but you would not believe the number of people calling helpdesks who swear the PC/ Server/ etc - couldn't possibly be responsible for sending or receiving traffic. Use to be very common in the early days of DSL with small businesses running exchange server. Conversation would go:

customer: My network is not sending any traffic,
techie: Do you have exchange server?
customer: yes.
techie: have you switched the default mail relay setting to off?
customer: what's mail relay?

If traffic is being transferred, then something is sending, and something else is receiving. By the way, as basekid said - how are you monitoring this (if your router and PC are off)? Also, by chance you wouldn't happen to be on TCL cable? Running a bridge perhaps? Static IP?

Geems

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#89392 4-Oct-2007 07:22

Yeah it is Telstra cable. I'm in another part of the country checking the usage metre via another pc. that's how come Iknow my pc and modem are totally disconnected and not in use. Sorry - I'm not at all IT literate so can't even answer your last two questions.

kdn

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#89423 4-Oct-2007 10:28

You could try running your own traffic monitoring software, there will be plenty of free applications to do the job, however you would want to run it for at least 3 days straight as the telstra usage meters arent real-time,What i would do is..

i would: run the thing for 72 hours, choose the middle day (midnite to midnite) and see how much traffic your graph reports, then check the daily report on the tesltra meter. see how close the comparison is.. the telstra meter if anything should be slightly lower than what your seeing.. if its way off then send tesltra a copy.

Flamer.

rwales

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#89463 4-Oct-2007 12:11

It's me (nice house by the way). Don't worry, I'll replace the groceries when I leave.

P.S. When are you coming home?

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Geems

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#89526 4-Oct-2007 18:13

Cool - remember to feed my husband and alsatian while you're there? Cheers.

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#89528 4-Oct-2007 18:27

I think whats been missed here is:

I'm in another part of the country checking the usage metre via another pc. that's how come Iknow my pc and modem are totally disconnected and not in use.

Installing traffic monitors may be useful when the modem is connected and as is the computer - however short of the situation where someone else potentially uses the internet connection - what will this prove?

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kdn

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#89558 4-Oct-2007 21:07

cokemaster: I think whats been missed here is:
I'm in another part of the country checking the usage metre via another pc. that's how come Iknow my pc and modem are totally disconnected and not in use.

Installing traffic monitors may be useful when the modem is connected and as is the computer - however short of the situation where someone else potentially uses the internet connection - what will this prove?

well it will prove how much traffic is coming from telstra clear to this users computer, as opposed to how much traffic is being recorded under this account at the isp end.. which is exactly what we need to know..

Flamer.

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#89567 4-Oct-2007 21:50

It won't prove anything. It only shows that the data didn't originate from that computer (and even then its not that accurate) - other computer could ahve been plugged in.

If the modem/computer have not been connected (ie. physically unplugged), I would certainly be raising questions if I was placed in that position.

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kdn

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#89570 4-Oct-2007 22:33

cokemaster: It won't prove anything. It only shows that the data didn't originate from that computer (and even then its not that accurate) - other computer could ahve been plugged in.

If the modem/computer have not been connected (ie. physically unplugged), I would certainly be raising questions if I was placed in that position.

thats why i suggested to run it for 3 days and take a whole middle day as a comparison.. i was under 200mb of my limit with about 8 hours till midnite on the last day of the month i thought great, didnt download anything, kept watching the meter right lil the last minute.. only added a few megs.. next thing i have a bill for 5.8gb overage.. not saying it didnt come from my computer but just that the meter was way out of sync.

Flamer.

Geems

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#90518 10-Oct-2007 17:26

I'm back at my PC now, a week later, and still no explanation from Telstra although I ring them daily and each person I speak to assures me they are working on it. I'm connecting to the internet and the usage metre seems to be accurate when I'm downloading/uploading - but at night, when everything is unplugged from the wall, there is still a steady 1 or 2 mgs an hour disappearing. I have downloaded zone alarm and spybot - it hasn't stopped the disappearing mgs, but has shown a disburbing number of access attempts (like a thousand in 30 hours). Is that normal and related does anyone know?
PS can anyone recommend a good traffic monitor? There is one called Paessler advertised on this site - but don't know anything about it. Ta.

Fraktul

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#90524 10-Oct-2007 18:06

KiwiOverseas66: the usual law of physics stuff with any sort of data connection is that there has to be a source and destination.

Should I get shirt printed? "TCP/IP - its not just an idea, it's the LAW"

But seriously, it has nothing to do with any laws of physics

Depending on where and how traffic measurement is taking place it is possible that traffic counters are recording traffic destined for your IP address even with your modem unplugged.

Similar to an ADSL PPPoA connection you can not be using your connection and have this locked down tight, yet if people send you traffic this still passes out the LNS and is recorded in the session counters

freitasm

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#90525 10-Oct-2007 18:10

AS Fraktul says it could be that traffic destined to your IP is being recorded on the gateway - this is a good explanation because the modem wouldn't respond.

I see no relation between your installation of a software firewall and blocking traffic. Note that you say the traffic is there even if the mode is unplugged - if the modem is unplugged then nothing would ever arrive on your PC for the software firewall to block, right?

As for "attempts" there are many types. There is background noise in any network with broadcast messages that are normal. Then it could be that you once used a peer-to-peer software and some clients around the world are simply trying to connect to your IP address to see if the program is still running - this is normal and should go away with time if you don't run any P2P program for a while.

Also the traffic meter is not real time, and it could be some old stuff catching up?