Really weird bandwidth problem.......plz help ASAP

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Really weird bandwidth problem.......plz help ASAP

chaoscreater

69 posts

Master Geek

#35887 16-Jun-2009 14:06

Hi guys, I've only just joined Orcon last week and got everything all setup and working 3 days ago. I am using the Orcon Platinum + plan, it's the one that's $120 a month with 25GB data allowance. I've setup all the settings for the Orcon homehub or w/e it's called, and by all the settings i mean every single setting under advanced & security tab etc.....

I've assigned a WEP key or password to my WIFI connection as well as assigning MAC Addresses to all the computers in my house, and i only have 2 anyway. But the point of this is that only the clients with the assigned MAC Addresses can connect to the router, at least i think that's wot it does, correct me if i'm wrong.

So anyway here's the problem, the data usage or bandwidth seems to go up rapidly AND by a large amount for no reason. Yesterday I used the internet for a total of about 2 hours, i mostly did some very light Google searches and watched only about 8 Youtube videos. I didn't use much internet at all but when i checked the usage meter, it jumped up by 4GBs, so i was lyk WTF?

Also i notice a lot of times, as long as i'm using internet, whether watching Youtube or doing Google searches, it seems to use up 100MB ~ 200MB every 20 minutes or so because that's the interval i check my data usage now. I just feel really annoyed and pissed off about this since every 1GB you use after you've reached your data allowance per month, you get charged $2. I.e i get 25GB data a month, after i've reached 25GB and wants to use more, i get charged $2 per 1 extra GB.

Right now i'm at 36GB / 25GB and that's an extra $22 i have to pay for no reason, and it KEEPS GOING UP.

I've made sure to close all the programs that download from internet, such as any P2P programs like Limewire or Flashget or Internet Download Accelerator etc..........in fact i don't even use them!! They're all disabled upon startup. I've also checked my other computer and it's the same as well. Nobody in my family uses computer or let alone download stuff.

By the way, i used up 20GB myself on the first day i got it working, coz i wanted to test the speed to compare how fast it is to my previous ISP which was Telecom XTRA. I was really impressed with it but i stopped at 20GB, so i can save 5GB for the rest of the month for normal usage, but now it's going up so quickly.

So basically, i've made sure none of my programs r downloading from the internet, my WIFI is password protected and i've even changed the password twice. I checked the status and connection and can only see my computer connected to it so nothing is wrong, but for some reason the bandwidth jumps from 100MB ~ 200MB everyday and sometimes to 1GB or 2GB. It's insane.

The only possible reason i have for this is that I've downloaded this program from this forum section, called Usage_Meter_v2.2b1. I got it from here btw:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=82&TopicId=31478

It's a great program btw and i'm not trying to make any accusations here, but maybe it's a keylogger? I'm not really sure how it works but if it could show me the exact amount of data i've used up, compare to using Orcon's usage meter from their website here:

http://www.orcon.net.nz/usage

then what i'm thinking is if the program can give me the same result then maybe it logs my username and password and someone could've been using my account to download stuff??

Anyway plz help me, i dun want it to keep going up anymore and having to pay an unnecessary $2 per 1GB. Right now i'm already owing $22 extra for no reason........

Perrin

40 posts

Geek

#225610 16-Jun-2009 14:48

WEP and MAC address restriction are next to useless if someone has decided they want to use your wi-fi. Use WPA instead.

As an immediate step I would suggest you turn off the wi-fi completely and see what impact that has.

I don't know anything about the Orcon Homehub but I assume it has status lights on the front. Watch the WAN light for activity.

If disabling wi-fi makes no difference, I would unplug all the computers from the hub then plug each in in turn and watch for excessive activity.

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#225611 16-Jun-2009 15:03

if you log into "my account", you can see the usage by day, download and upload data, perhaps paste that data here

the orcon + network the username doesnt matter, noone can use your username and have traffic count on your bill

netlimiter free is a good program you can install on every pc to monitor the traffic
http://www.netlimiter.com/download/nl_2010_mon.exe

dawnraid

100 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#225623 16-Jun-2009 16:02

WEP is rubbish, also could have your computer downloaded updates?

chaoscreater

69 posts

Master Geek

#225627 16-Jun-2009 16:09

Perrin: WEP and MAC address restriction are next to useless if someone has decided they want to use your wi-fi. Use WPA instead.

As an immediate step I would suggest you turn off the wi-fi completely and see what impact that has.

I don't know anything about the Orcon Homehub but I assume it has status lights on the front. Watch the WAN light for activity.

If disabling wi-fi makes no difference, I would unplug all the computers from the hub then plug each in in turn and watch for excessive activity.

oops my bad, ya i do have WPA, not WEP. I don't have any computers connected to the homehub, i use my laptop and so i only use Wifi.

dawnraid: WEP is rubbish, also could have your computer downloaded updates?

Nope, im using Windows XP and have all the latest updates already, and i always check what updates i want to download and i don't see the update icon or notification anyway.......and no way an update can use up 1GB or 2GB all of a sudden.

And here is my data results i got from My Account ---> Usage

Orcon@Home Platinum+ (25GB)
Orcon@Home Platinum+: 25GB, homeline, unlimited national calls, unlimited calls to one other country. 25GB total

Usage per day
2009-05-23 2009-06-22
2009-05-23 2009-06-22 Total time: 89.91 hours Total data: 36.19 GB

Start Days Reconnections Upload Download

2009-06-12 3 9.27 MB 311.23 MB
2009-06-13 2 744.12 MB 29,417.85 MB
2009-06-14 1 73.49 MB 1,856.07 MB
2009-06-15 100.56 MB 3,853.75 MB
2009-06-16 1 23.62 MB 670.30 MB

951.06 MB 36,109.21 MB

(89.91 hours) 37,060.27 MB (36.19 GB)

In addition, you've enjoyed Zero-Rated (free) usage of: 8.47 MB (0.01 GB)

And sorry about the long as post, i just realized how ridiculously long it was......:P

wellygary

8335 posts

Uber Geek

#225631 16-Jun-2009 16:16

So it all happened on Saturday 13th, I would guess someone has hacked your wifi network, turn it off and go back to a wired connection, ( as well as changing your router passwords etc)

Is you SSID hidden or visable?

chaoscreater

69 posts

Master Geek

#225632 16-Jun-2009 16:20

Hi, no i don't think i was hacked because as i've said, i downloaded about 20GB of stuff and left 5GB for normal usage. But afterwards the data went up slowly.

Yes my SSID is visible and i have changed my router and wifi passwords twice.

dawnraid

100 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#225637 16-Jun-2009 16:35

If its WPA then dont worry, its near impossible to crack.

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chaoscreater

69 posts

Master Geek

#226477 18-Jun-2009 22:38

ok i've tried NetLimiter PRO (full version) and it's still not working too well for me, is there anything i can do to show any form of proof to Orcon that i'm not using any internet usage at all but that the bandwidth is just keep being used up so they can look into it and remove any unnecessary usage?

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#226481 18-Jun-2009 22:51

Triple check all your computers for spyware and viruses and install traffic monitoring on all your machines this one is free and easy to use:

http://www.softperfect.com/products/networx/

It's extremely unlikely it's a problem with Orcon's logs.

$5 on it being a virus or trojan or unauthorized wireless usage.

PromNZ

154 posts

Master Geek

#226587 19-Jun-2009 10:02

$5 on it being unauthorized access. Check the client list on the router after 10 mins of activity, there might be a bored kid next door with a laptop/ipod touch.

chaoscreater

69 posts

Master Geek

#226698 19-Jun-2009 14:02

PromNZ: $5 on it being unauthorized access. Check the client list on the router after 10 mins of activity, there might be a bored kid next door with a laptop/ipod touch.

done that a lot of times, i am the only client using it. Checked lyk once per 5 mins........

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#226808 19-Jun-2009 18:45

Hi all ,

After reading this post I decided to look at my wireless network setup again. The odd times it has been used I have set MAC address allowed clients. This seemed to work fine. However I went to the Orcon support site and found their Homehub setup video and used the suggested WPA method using WPA2-PSK / WPA-PSK and then set a password. All seemed OK.

I got my wifes OC to test this and I lee the Homehub and enter the password, press connect. I see it connect in the status screen of the homehub but her PC keeps say "Acquiring Network Address" and after several minutes times out. DHCP is turned on the Homehub.

This worked fine with only MAC filtering.

What am I missing??

The link to the Orcon video http://www.orcon.net.nz/support/page/setting_up_wireless_on_the_orcon_homehub/

Thanx in advance

Regards,

Old3eyes

chaoscreater

69 posts

Master Geek

#226919 20-Jun-2009 00:05

old3eyes: Hi all ,

After reading this post I decided to look at my wireless network setup again. The odd times it has been used I have set MAC address allowed clients. This seemed to work fine. However I went to the Orcon support site and found their Homehub setup video and used the suggested WPA method using WPA2-PSK / WPA-PSK and then set a password. All seemed OK.

I got my wifes OC to test this and I lee the Homehub and enter the password, press connect. I see it connect in the status screen of the homehub but her PC keeps say "Acquiring Network Address" and after several minutes times out. DHCP is turned on the Homehub.

This worked fine with only MAC filtering.

What am I missing??

The link to the Orcon video http://www.orcon.net.nz/support/page/setting_up_wireless_on_the_orcon_homehub/

Thanx in advance

I think u should create ur own topic since ur question is irrelevant to mine..........i think there's a word for this, like topic leeching?

Anyway did u the Mac Address on ur wife's PC to the "Allowed Clients" list under Advanced --> Wireless Connection? Coz if u didn't, her PC won't connect to the homehub.

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#226960 20-Jun-2009 09:34

Found the problem last nite. It appears that the homehub thru it's toys out of the cot and refused to send DHCP to any PC after the wireless change. Rebooted of homehub fixed it..
For what it's worth . It was related to some of the later posts in this thread..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Falconz

67 posts

Master Geek

#228001 24-Jun-2009 15:49

perhaps you just don't realize how much data your using. some of those youtube videos could take up a few hundred megabytes especially if you watch HD versions

The only thing you can do is disable all access to everything other than your computer, and watch the bandwidth with a bandwidth monitor, which should also say how many MBs a program has used.

WPA2 is also easily cracked. web can be done in under 1 second WPA2 takes time, and some one can also easily find out your mac address