Sudden Data usage spike?

oletimer · September 23, 2016

We have used a mobile satellite dish for years to get internet service. The first 8-10 years it was the Ku band, but Hughes kinda' put a stop to that, and last year we had to change providers, buy a new system, and go through a VSAT provider. I know there are better, faster, cheaper, and easier ways for internet service, but with our lifestyle, and the places we travel, this works best for US! After finally getting use to setting up the new system (Ka band), we got along fairly well, except sometimes our usage would exceed our 20 gigs a month. We never went over with our old system, we don't stream, watch any movies, or even surf much. We check facebook once a day, pay bills, etc. Ram, at RTC, our Vsat provider, thought the problem might be our router so we purchased a new one when we returned to our S&B for the summer. We were there from May thru August, and never used more than 12-18% of our allowed data, so I thought the problem was solved. We went to our ranch in Wyoming for a week,(working too hard), and in that week, our usage gauge went from 100% to about 90%. We got to Brackettville, Texas, and within 4 days, the gauge went to 62%. I think we do use data in the setup, but only about 1%?? We haven't changed anything, we don't do automatic updates, etc. I am now on the park WiFi, removing the Ethernet cable to the modem until I get this figured out. Any thoughts? Keep in mind, I not too bright about these things, sooo be kind.

Thanks, Dick T

wildmandmc · September 24, 2016

few things that could be.

cell phone, are they hooked up to your wifi. an if smart phone apps get updates.

antivirus programs updates.

malware on computer.

something to look at for cheaper monthly useage

Depending on what price you pay a month for service. as far as i know sat service is usually more expensive then other ways.

get a hot spot box from a cell phone carrier with a 20 gig plan or depending on travel area's try something like metro pcs *unlimited data or t-mobil.

Yarome · September 24, 2016

It's not exactly my area of expertise, but I use sat internet as well. You mentioned disconnecting the ethernet cable so I'm assuming you're connecting your computer directly via cable.. however.. is the routers wireless still enabled? If so.. is it secured? If not, is there any chance someone might have been near enough to have been using your wifi signal or possibly another device in your rig that might be accessing your wifi signal unbeknownst to you (cell, tablet, gps, etc.)?

Again.. it's not my "area", but perhaps someone will be along shortly that might recommend a decent network monitoring solution. A % of monthly usage allowance meter probably isn't going to give you the answers you really need to determine exactly what is consuming so much bandwidth. Routers/modems generally have a simple network usage utility built in. It generally doesn't keep ongoing logs or show much information, but it 'might' be enough to see if a "foreign" dns is connecting or at least what online connection is being made during that particular window of time.

Ie., you might see (just an example DNS) 52.46.1.0.1 https://www.rvnetworks.com

Your routers manual or mfg website should be able to give you instructions on how to access the routers utilities/setup... typically a dns address accessible via a web browser. If that information is not readily accessible then.. unless it has been changed.. the default dns is typically your "current DNS server" address with ".0" as the last digit.

Ie., if your current DNS server is 52.46.1.0.1 then your routers utility address might likely be 52.46.1.0.0.

You might need to lookup how to locate your current DNS server depending on which operating system/device you are using.

wildmandmc · September 24, 2016

also do you have i-cloud or any back up on pc. that will use a lot also. i searched online an there are plenty of complaints from diff ppl using sat internet with high data usages.

Biker56 · September 24, 2016

Windows 10 has a lot of apps that update info a lot and always on. News, weather, etc.

Go to Start Menu(Windows)

Right click on app and turn live tile OFF

oletimer · September 24, 2016

Thanks for the comments folks, good info. I tried all that last year with no luck. We do have on our network which BTW is a password protected network, 2-PCs, and when we are at our home in NE Kansas, an iPhone6, and an ipad. I know the apple updates are huge, so last winter we always made sure to not update until off OUR network. That didn't help. All this summer I kept track on our data gauge, with the iPhone, and ipad plus the 2 PCs all on the network with NO PROBLEM!! I would wait until the last few days of the renewal month, then update all the apps, including icloud, and apple. I was surprised at how little of our data was needed for the updates. What puzzles me, is the fact that in the four days we used 30% of our data, the ipad, and iPhone was not on our network. My computer is Windows7, and I can turn off the updates, but Susan's is Windows10, and after the first update from 10.1, I can't find a way to turn them off, but do have then set to update @ 3AM during the free download zone. But again, the auto update was on all summer, with "0" problems. I must be a moron! Dick T