Hi Kim,
The topic where we left off can be found here:
https://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/i-have-a-few-requests-for-hughesnet
I'll repost my last reply for you:
Hi Kim,
I hope all is going well this morning ?
In your last post you posed several questions. Let me try to answer them:
" I already tried contacting HN the day it happened?"
You would have been asked to run a modem isolation test to determine if the Hughes modem was using data on its own.
That having been done along with Amanda's suggestion to post here in the Community suggests that Hughes has determined that the usage is by SOMETHING on your network and for a multitude of reasons can not dig deeper into your "network".
The "normal" process at this point would be to alert you to get "professional services"
Hughes has done referrals HTS (Home Technical Services), a third party paid service that for a fee or a annual subscription will remote into your system. Personally, No Thanks
Second option ..... That place that shall remain unnamed but is known to employee Geeks. No No No Thanks.
Third option: Take everything in your network to a known well respected local computer shop. Always an option of course but those types of places also vary in their skill levels and have zero understanding of just how important every tiny setting is while running on a high latency data capped service.
That leaves a fourth option and that is working with those members of the Community.
"My immediate question is... When this huge data amount occurs again, what do I do?"
Hopefully when that occurs we will have things in place to answer: Who, What, When and Where .. and then take steps to control or eliminate the culprit(s) as the situation calls for.
" I need to troubleshoot what to do when it happens again"
We need to start off with some Divide & Conquer
We need to understand a couple of changes in the landscape regarding operating systems
We need to understand some Network basics so as to reduce our "usage exposure"
We need to keep and open mind and consider all devices and all software as "guilty until proven innocent".
Questions:
Of the computer: What are the Operating Systems ?
Of the computer: What Anti-Virus programs do you have installed ?
Of the computer: What Anti-Malware software do you have installed ?
Of the computer: What browser do you normally use ?
Your Router: Can you post the Brand, Model and Version so that I may download the manual for it ?
Your Plan: Can you confirm that you have the 50/50 Ultra plan ?
Your usage consists of two parts, Download and Upload. Can you post a screenshot of your usage history so that I can compare ratios of upload to download ? (and yes, that is a loaded question.)
This is pointing the cart before the horse but at the center of every Network is .... a Router. There can't be a Network without one.
Are you able too, have you given any consideration too, buying a Router that will track usage by device ID ?
The laptop that you referred too, it that the HP PC you listed or is that in addition to that machine ?
Can you/have you installed Glasswire on all computers ?
Do you feel comfortable in setting and using GlassWire ? If not or if you need some tips see all of my responses to Yorkytown in this topic:
https://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/data-drain-cannot-find-the-cause
I mentioned at the beginning we need to institute Divide & Conquer and that means that at the start we need to remove your router from the equation for a short period of time.
I know that that is a painful disruption and it want you to understand why this is needed.
It won't last long but it is essential.
A router really complicates finding data leaks because it opens up soooo many potential connection avenues.
Lets look a block diagram of a router to help visualize these avenues:
The first area has to do with the "internals" of the Router itself:
Its firmware
Its "access" security settings
Its enabled "features"
The point is the Router itself can use data ... without you being aware.
The second area is related to the Routers wired LAN ports and multiplied by the number of wired devices connected.
The third area is the Routers wireless connection channels and settings.
In the whole, having a Router connected at the start really complicates things to no end.
Therefore it is essential that it be disconnected at the beginning of our troubleshooting. It will, be reintroduced soon and its functions re-enabled in stages as we go through each of its functional areas.
Our first step is to directly connect a single computer that has GlassWire installed and see what programs and processes are connecting and using data.
In response to your questions posed in this topic:
"So, when I went to bed at 11:15pm, the Anytime Data was 9.8GB, and Bonus Bytes 3.5GB"
"This morning the Anytime Data is 11.9 GB and the Bonus Bytes was 3.6 GB."
I'm confused:
End: 11:15 PM: Anytime 9.8 GB: Bonus 3.5 GB
Start: this AM: Anytime 11.9 GB: Bonus 3.6 GB
-------------------- -------------------
UP 2.1 GB UP 0.1 GB
I fail to see an issue if you had MORE data in the morning at startup than when you shut down the previous night.
Also please post a screenshot of the "meter" that you are using as there are THREE USAGE METERS and THREE HISTORY PAGES. Each of them has differing "resolutions" and a history of course is just that, a history and is not intended nor can be a "real time" display.
Also you had reported some weather related connectivity issues. The modem is going to report to the Gateway its "usage", the Gateway will update the "meters" in this order:
1st: Dashboard meter: (the most accurate)
#2: That will in tern update the Modems SCC usage display (192.168.0.1)
#3: The Modem will then update the Download Status Meter display:
