We have had HughesNet for several years. Nothing has changed with our computer settings. Everything updates in the middle of the night during free time. Our wifi has a 24 character password! Our neighbors all have DSL. Our allowance is being used up overnight while no one is using it. Went to bed with 32% and have Zero this morning.

Lea,With all the other hoops you are being asked to jump through it would be interesting to check when Windows Update has been checking for updates the next few days. Start, All Programs, Windows update will show you the last time windows checked by time and date. That doesn't mean it made the update at that time since it is on the BITS download system which only downloads when nothing else is going on, pauses if there is, and resumes the next time the pc is on. Defender, which should be off since you have McAfee, and a few other windows programs update the same way.What home page do you use in your browser?A few of the news channels you mentioned checking as well as the Hughes home page have way too many large changing pictures and little videos running on them these days for limited broadband.Even the home page of Microsoft Bing has far too many images. If you leave any of these open in a tab while looking at others or nothing there is a lot of usage. A search engine page that is very plain and mostly text is the way to go. They are getting hard to find as Google Search is adding more junk all the time. What email program do you use? Some of them check for new mail every 15 minutes but some almost instantly whenever they are open. Send yourself an email and see how long it takes to arrive back in your inbox with the program open.McAffee should have a History Log and/or a Performance graph that will show you everytime something tries to come through it. You will be amazed at the activity that goes on in the background.It should tell you each event and when it happened. If you have some of the common malware trying to gain access it may block it but there will be activity ( usage) every few seconds. Actor PID is a typical one. You can look it up on the web and see how much trouble it has been for many folks that are completely unaware it is trying to mess with their computer.We all think nothing has changed in the way we browse and use our computers but the sites we browse have become more and more cluttered every year and the size and frequency of updates to windows and other software we have installed has become ridiculous, at least in my opinion.Ron

I also wanted to mentioned that I can't agree that my data is refilling right. It did last night, but the night before the data gods blessed me with an extra 10%. Not complaining about that, but when the data gods giveth that means they can also taketh away.

Lea are you using Facebook? Their videos play all by themselves and use all sorts of data ... I know that won't make the math make sense but I had an issue with that .... there's a way to stop them from playing automatically now!

Hi Lea,Thank you for updating us so far. You mentioned that you unplugged the LAN cable with 22% of your data allowance left. So overnight your modem was left isolated until you plugged back in the morning and found the same amount, 22%. This tells us that no data was used and eliminates the modem as a source of unidentified data usage.I don't know why your data reset up to 82%, but look on the bright side, you were given more data than expected! As Staci mentioned, Facebook does have autoplaying videos in their timeline feature, which can use more data than you expect. In addition to that, keep in mind there are countless factors that can use your data:- more devices are capable of connecting to the internet: phones, tablets, gaming consoles, SmartTVs, and even refrigerators can connect wirelessly to the internet. Keep track of what devices you leave running on Wi-Fi.- automatic-updates: your computer and any other programs you use will often keep working in the background, even if you're not actively using that program, in order to keep your system/program up-to-date. Anti-virus programs will periodically use your internet connection to check back with their malware database for any updates. You should have an option to turn off auto-updates and/or schedule them for a later time.- multimedia content: Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, news sites, and other websites will contain videos, animated gifs, and sound clips that may start playing as soon as you land on the site. So much content, so easily available almost everywhere on the internet. For starters, try disabling auto-play video on Facebook:https://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/how_to_disable_autoplay_videos_on_facebookor adjusting your Netflix playback quality to SD:https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87To help you monitor your data usage and other performance metrics, we’ve gathered resources for you here, which also includes communityrecommendations: http://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/track_your_usage_performance_speeds_and_view_tips_....The most important tool to download is the Status Meter, available in the Customer Support Center, so download that if you haven’t already:supportcenter.myhughesnet.comAnother community member has also shared a list of things you might not have thought to check that uses data, so we highly suggest checking it out here: https://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/data-usage-sources-common-and-not-so-commonFeel free to let us know if you need additional assistance, we're happy to help.Thanks,Liz

Great that means that your data is refilling right. next let figure out whats causing the data usage, What brand and model router are you using and can you list all of the devices that you have connected to it either by wire or wireless

Usage depleted overnight. All updates set during free time.

Lea
New Member
11 years ago
How do I take a screen shot? The status meter above does not look like mine.
Ron4
New Member
11 years ago
Charles McCool explained to you 4 weeks ago in this thread that the old "Use Meters" leaked data and that you should install the latest one.
Did you do that?
You can take a screen shot by holding down Ctrl-Alt-Print Screen. This puts the image in the clipboard. Then you must open it in a photo editor and crop the image down to the size of the meter. Then save it as a .jpg and send it.
Much simpler to go to Accessories in the start menu and use the "Snippet tool" which is self explained.
Ron
Liz
Moderator
11 years ago
Good morning Lea,

Here's a guide to help you take screenshots: http://www.take-a-screenshot.org/

Also, as Ron suggested, you should download and install the latest status meter from here: supportcenter.myhughesnet.com

Let us know if you have additional questions, we look forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks,
Liz
Lea
New Member
11 years ago
I disconnected this morning at 7:14 and reconnected at 1:14 this afternoon. There was no change. I'm having trouble uploadinging my screenshot. I'll figure it out and try again later, so that you can see my meter.
Lea
New Member
11 years ago
Carla Spradling
New Member
11 years ago
Lea, I have to tell you that I've been having the same problems for a couple of weeks. Finally got fed up with it today and called in for help. After I explained my problem, the person I talk to proceeded to tell me about a new plan with new equipment and only a 1 year commitment before they even tried to help me troubleshoot the problem. I asked why would I want to start a new plan, get new equipment and of course, sign a new service contract, when I didn't even know what was going on with my current equipment. There may be nothing significant wrong. I was then told that old satellites are being turned off all the time and this will prevent my service from being interrupted. When I said no and I want to find out whats going on with my current set up I was given a lesson on how the internet works and how data is exchanged and that it may even be my coffee pot using the data! I'm following along with the troubleshooting, like a good girl, but I've got a feeling that most of this is happening so Hughesnet can sell me new equipment and make me sign a new contract. Thats about how it happened 3 years ago and that contract was up exactly a year ago. I've been reading this thread and have found several things to try, Thanks for your help everyone, but I'm very doubtful that anything with change including them trying to sell me more "stuff". We have 2 devices and a router. Thats it. The router is Linksys brand. We have a laptop which is wireless and a desktop computer that is not. I've turned off all of the updates. Here's something I can't figure out...when checking my data usage, the chart shows usage during all 60 minutes between 12-1pm this afternoon. Our data ran out at 12:25. ( it actually dropped from 46% left at 11:55am to 0% at 12:25pm - a half hour of typing 1 email!) That's when I logged off and called Hughes. How could I have data usage for 35 more minutes if I wasn't even on?
I'm as frustrated as you are!
Liz
Moderator
11 years ago
Great, thanks for the screenshot, Lea! Just to confirm, at 7:14 am today, before you disconnected the modem, you only used 37 MB. Then when you reconnected the modem and checked the Status Meter again, it still said 37 MB used as shown above in your screenshot?

Now we can try connecting JUST your computer to the HughesNet modem. Do not connect your router, as we do not want additional devices on your network using data. With your computer connected directly to the modem, please take note of the time when you connected the computer and take a new screenshot of your Status Meter. Use your computer as you normally would and keep track of what you do (Streaming video? Facebook? Checking email? Offline work?). To help us better evaluate your usage, it would be best to have at least an hour of usage logged. We'll update your data token allowance to perform this troubleshooting without needing to stop short. After you're done using the computer, please take another screenshot of your Status Meter so we can see how much data was used during that single computer session.

We really appreciate you working with us to help us address your concerns, thank you. Looking forward to hearing back from you.

-Liz
Liz
Moderator
11 years ago
Hi Carla,

I see it's your first post here, so welcome to the community! We're glad to see you found the information in this thread useful. If you would like us to assist with your data usage concerns, please create a new post and include a case number or your modem's serial number so we can locate your account.

Thanks,
Liz
CharlesMcCool
New Poster
11 years ago
Carla you should probably check and make sure you router has the latest firmware in it because there is a issue with Linksys routers and data drain, this may not be the problem but its best to update just to be sure
Carla Spradling
New Member
11 years ago
Thanks Charles, I will do that as soon as I finish the "5 hours of unplugged router" test. Then, if I still have problems, I will start a new thread and continue from there. Thanks for the help. It's greatly appreciated!