OS X using bandwidth when it should be idle

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sleepeyNZ

18 posts

Geek

#47382 11-Nov-2009 11:49

Hey all

A little mystery.. I am using a XT mobile broadband (MF636) on OS X 10.6.1, and Telecom Connection Manager is telling me that I am continuously sending/receiving precious KB's when I have no obvious programs running.

I initially thought mobile me was the culprit as I spotted aosnotify.me.com using lsof, so turned off auto-sync, and it is still happening.
SurplusMeter agrees with TCM.. so what is doing it?

it is sending roughly the rate of 1KB/s and rx at 0.5KB/s.. which doesnt sound like much but I only have so much to play with a month and it adds up!

WAL-Es-iMac:~ waynelaker$ lsof -r -i TCP -i UDP
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
SystemUIS 192 waynelaker 7u IPv4 0x07ecb8ec 0t0 UDP *:*
SystemUIS 192 waynelaker 11u IPv4 0x07ecb810 0t0 UDP *:*

any ideas?

cheers
Wayne

1 | 2

8328 posts

Uber Geek

#271993 11-Nov-2009 11:58

Grab a trial of little snitch and have a look at what it trying to connect to the 'net

http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

sleepeyNZ

18 posts

Geek

#272000 11-Nov-2009 12:13

thanks

it's mDNSResponder, responding to dnsc1/2.xtra.co.nz.. why would that be going hard out continuously?

wellygary

8328 posts

Uber Geek

#272008 11-Nov-2009 12:31

http://developer.apple.com/networking/bonjour/faq.html

2. What is mDNSResponder?

mDNSResponder is a Bonjour system service that implements Multicast DNS Service Discovery for discovery of services on the local network, and Unicast DNS Service Discovery for discovery of services anywhere in the world. mDNSResponder is built into Mac OS X and can be downloaded as part of Bonjour for Windows. Applications like iTunes, iPhoto, iChat and Safari use mDNSResponder to implement zero-configuration network music sharing, photo sharing, chatting and file sharing, and discovery of remote user interfaces for hardware devices like printers and web cameras. mDNSResponder is also used to discover and print to Bonjour printers and USB printers connected to the AirPort Extreme and Express base stations. mDNSResponder is open source, and hardware device manufacturers are encouraged to embed the mDNSResponder source code directly into their products to benefit from zero-configuration networking.

sleepeyNZ

18 posts

Geek

#272013 11-Nov-2009 12:41

Yes I saw that, but surely it shouldn't be using that much bandwidth.. If I left my connection running it would be using 170 MB/day or roughly 5GB/mo!

and I only have 3 GB/mo data allowance!

Jarno

270 posts

Ultimate Geek

#272078 11-Nov-2009 16:20

Automatic updates maybe? There was a security update recently, and 10.6.2 came out a few days ago.

wellygary

8328 posts

Uber Geek

#272082 11-Nov-2009 16:24

Jarno: Automatic updates maybe? There was a security update recently, and 10.6.2 came out a few days ago.

Nah, OSX waits for the user to initiate a software update,

TO the original OP, why dont you crank up the firewall settings and stop it getting out.

josephhinvest

1543 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#272086 11-Nov-2009 16:30

OSX waits for the user to initiate a software update.

Not necessarily, Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6 can "Download Updates Automatically" you can enable or disable in System Preferences > Software Update > Scheduled Check.
The downloads occur invisibly in the background, Software Update will then prompt that Updates have been downloaded and are ready to install.

Software Update used my old mans entire 1 GB vodafone cap, in the background. He couldn't understand why he had been using so much data! The 10.5.8 combo update is like 750 MB.

Cheers,
Joseph

Sharesies

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

sleepeyNZ

18 posts

Geek

#272088 11-Nov-2009 16:31

I did that and I could not resolve dns, so it would seem somewhat important

sleepeyNZ

18 posts

Geek

#272090 11-Nov-2009 16:33

Download Updates Automatically is not enabled, plus when I disabled the mDNSresponder the traffic stopped.. although perhaps whatever was causing traffic couldnt resolve dns anymore

I need a drink!

wellygary

8328 posts

Uber Geek

#272095 11-Nov-2009 16:48

According to this, mDNSresponder handles the DHCP renewal, perhaps this was set to constantly renew the DHCP lease. - have a look in your internet settings and see if their is anything obvious

http://osxdaily.com/2009/09/15/disable-bonjour-by-turning-off-mdnsresponder/

Ashka

139 posts

Master Geek

#272288 12-Nov-2009 09:31

I queried the constant bandwidth use with Telecom and was told it was used to keep the USB modem connection going.

Little Snitch & iStat Menus ~ mDNSResponder 1KB per second up most of the time.

Telecom Connection manager is also writing over 4000 messages to Console each hour
There are also the Stealth mode connection attempts every couple of seconds from numbers I have been told are telecoms 202.27.158.40:53 & 202.27.156.72:53

The modem software is also very poor and will not configure the modem in System Prefs network at all although it will work after a fashion.