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ncseamonkey59
Sophomore

High Data Usage

This is my second post on this subject.  I have had HughesNet for 11+ years.  I have 30 GB of plan data.  In the 11+ years, I have never run out of data until this past August.  Since August, I have run out every month and I am now down to 12.8 GB of my November Plan Data and 88% of my Bonus Data.  I usually have 75% to 80% of my plan data left and around 95% of the bonus data.  I have only my computer hooked up to the wireless.  I have no phone, TV, table, etc.  Only one computer hooked up to the wireless - no other devices.  In the past, I have had one computer, my phone and my husband's phone (when he is not at work) hooked up to WIFI and never ran out of data.

 

I have spoken to HughesNet multiple times.  They have replaced the modem and did a data depletion test, which showed nothing.  I will say that since I got the new modem, I am disconnected a lot from the internet.  It reconnects within seconds, but have never had that problem before.  I purchased a Home Tech Support package.  They spend several hours on 2 different occasions in my computer and did a tune up, but found nothing.  Nothing changed after this.  I then called and purchased a package from Geek Squad.  They were in my computer over the weekend on 2 different occasions - 2 different people - for about 4 hours.  Again, they found nothing and there is still no change.  I can literally sit and watch the number on the Data meter drop.  Today, when I turned on my computer at 7:31 AM, I had 47% (14.2 GB) & 88% (43.9 GB) of my data.  I just checked now, 4:04 PM, and my data is at 43% (12.8 GB) & 88% (43.8). 

 

I do not watch videos.  I do not watch TV programs or movies.  I check emails, look at Facebook, and do some GOOGLE searches.  The rest of the stuff I do on the computer is on WORD.  

 

Does anybody have any suggestion of where I go from here?  I do have one thing that I was wondering about - I have my computer hardwired into the modem.  Since my computer is about 15 feet away from my computer, I went to Office Max and bought a CAT 5 wire.  Could this possibly be bad?  I bought it a little over a year ago.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

41 REPLIES 41
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@ncseamonkey59 

 

With a single computer your best option is Glasswire, as was suggested before.  It will monitor all data going into and out of the computer and tell you what's using it.

 

Without some program or device to monitor your data usage, like Glasswire or a 3rd party router, there's really not much anyone can do.  The data usage by the computer must be monitored/counted.

This has been done and is continuing to be done.  Nobody - Home Tech Support (HughesNet) or Geek Squad can find anything.  Geek Squad says that for what I do, I should be using anywhere between 80 MB - 100 MB per day - which is about what I used for 11+ years until August.  

 

The only other thing that I can think of is could it possibly be the CAT 5 wire running from the computer to the modem?

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Can you post a screenshot of your Glasswire reports? That would show what's using the data. If you haven't installed Glasswire, that's your next step.  Install Glasswire, run it, then post a screenshot of the report. 

Glasswire has been installed since original post about this problem.  Here is a screenshot of glasswire that I just took.  

 

glasswire 8.35 AM 11-16-2021.JPG

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Excellent. Hopefully @GabeU will pop in later today and see what he can make of it. 

I am checking the HughesNet Meter to check the data usage at least once an hour and recording those numbers on a WORD document.  I have been doing this since October.  They might be useful.  

 

I have asked the following question a couple of times and have not received an answer.  My computer is about 15 feet away from my modem.  I have the computer hardwired to the modem with a CAT 5 cord.  Is it possible that this cord needs to be replaced?  It is about 1 year old (same age as my computer - which I got in October of 2020).  Is is possible to lose data through a bad cord?  Just a thought.


Thanks.  

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

It's likely  not the cord, but if you want to leave no stone unturned, you can replace it. 

 

The HughesNet usage meter is no longer supported. You may want to use the app, the website, or the SCC.

I use the usage meter at 192.168.0.1

I cannot use the app because I cannot connect my phone to the WIFI until I figure out what is eating my data.

not sure what the SCC is

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

It's the System Control Center.  

 


@ncseamonkey59 wrote:

not sure what the SCC is


 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@ncseamonkey59 wrote:

Glasswire has been installed since original post about this problem.  Here is a screenshot of glasswire that I just took.  

 

glasswire 8.35 AM 11-16-2021.JPG


That's only showing a one our period, from 7:03AM to 8:03 AM.  You need to move the left slider at the bottom all the way to the left and the right slider all the way to the right to see the data from the entire day.  

 

For reference, that screenshot is showing that you used about 228MB in a single hour, and the majority via Google.  Also, as before, "sync-worker.exe" is using a lot of data.  Either a legitimate program on your computer is causing sync-worker.exe to sync data between your computer and something else on your network or the internet or you have malware or a virus.  Google and sync-worker.exe are your major data users, or at least from what I can see from that single hour.

 

Please also set the options as was instructed in this post so that you're only monitoring internet data and not data being transferred back and forth in the computer.  It needs to be changed from "External & Local" to "External".  

I also want to just say that I am a medical transcriptionist.  The majority of my work is done in a WORD document.  I do have 2 Chrome browsers open most of the time I am working - one with my email so if i get an email from work I can read it - and another Chrome browser open in case I need to google a medical term or drug.  I would say that I open 1 email per hour and maybe do 3-5 google searches per hour.  I might look at Facebook once in a hour, but not always.  THis is what I have done for 18 years - the first 6 of those years with dial-up and the last 11+ with HughesNet.  I just don't understand how I am now using 75% to 80% more data  and this basically started overnight.  One month all is well, the next month I am running out of data.  Makes no sense to me.  Thankfully, I will be retiring in February and I can disconnect my HughesNet and only just my cell phone.  I just have to get through until the end of Februarly.

 

Thanks again for any help/insight.  I am truly at a loss her and just frustrated beyond belief. 

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Your computer could have a virus. 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@ncseamonkey59 

 

I'm back on my Mac now, but I installed Glasswire on a Windows 11 computer and used the computer for about two hours.  Though I forgot to get a snapshot before shutting down and reconnecting my Mac, in that time I used nearly 400MB of data.  I use Microsoft Edge, which is very similar to Chrome.  It's actually built on Chromium, which is basically open source Chrome that's stripped down, more or less.   I did typical browsing, including this site, Facebook, Twitter and a couple of news sites.  I read some Wikipedia articles as well.  The majority of that nearly 400MB was used by Microsoft Edge while browsing.  It also wouldn't surprise me if the majority of that usage was from Facebook, but I forgot to look at the breakdown.  

 

I had no instance of sync-worker.exe whatsoever.  

 

One thing to keep in mind is that increased data usage over time while browsing is normal.  We use a lot more data today to browse than we did "yesterday", even when going to exactly the same web pages and spending the same amount of time on them.  Up until Feb 2016 I was on a daily refill plan with a 425MB limit, and that was more than enough for hours of use.  I rarely used data tokens back then, and on the occasion that I did it was due to having to update my folks' laptop for them, as they had dialup at the time (they now have HughesNet).  The 425MB just wasn't enough for my normal use and doing one or two months' worth of Windows updates on their laptop.  That 425MB would be nowhere near enough today for my normal daily usage.  

 

But that still doesn't explain the sync-worker.exe.  However, if I remember correctly you have a program on your PC that syncs, and it may very well be related to that, and legitimately (not a virus or malware).


@maratsade wrote:

Your computer could have a virus. 


And that virus very well could be Chrome (or Edge, or any of the other browsers based on Chrome).

 

Chrome (as of v96.x) just turned their accross-the-network synching to on and (like all synching) it's using a lot of data. You may want to go into your browser's options and turn it off, even though you may have never turned it on in the first place.

 

You may have to hunt in Chrome's settings in order to find it. I have the Mac version and it may be a little different.


* Disclaimer: I am a HughesNet customer and not a HughesNet employee. All of my comments are my own and do not necessarily represent HughesNet in any way.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I will try the Glasswire thing that you have suggested Gabe.  I do understand that internet has definitely changed over the years.  I guess I am just really stumped as to why in the last 11+ years, I had my computer, printer, and 2 phones hooked up, used my computer in the same way (I actually use it less now, because I only have 1 job now instead of 3 - all used different programs), and had 75% to 80% of my Data Plan left at the end of the month.  Then in August - poof - started running out of data every month.  Even now, with nothing connected but 1 computer - no phones, no printer, I do less on the computer than ever, and I am using all this data and running out every month.  I have had 2 people from Home Tech Support and 2 from Geek Squad go through my computer and they cannot find anything that would be causing the data usage.  I have used Sync since 11/2017 and never had this issue. 

 

Should I switch to another browser?  

 

Mark - how would I find a virus in the browser?  Per Home Tech Support & Geek Squad, they found no viruses or malware.  I do have the syncing turned off on Chrome.  

 

Would it be of benefit to take it in to Geek Squad and have them restore to original manufacturer settings?  Or should I possibly try restoring to a date prior to August (if I have that option)?  

 

I am going to not browse at all today unless absolutely necessary.  I am will notate every web search I do, which is usually very little and see what happens.  This is making me insane. 

 

Again - thanks for the help and suggestions.

I am also monitoring TASK MANAGER.  I see something running in the background called YourPhone.  Any idea what this is?  

I was beng facetious about it being a virus.


* Disclaimer: I am a HughesNet customer and not a HughesNet employee. All of my comments are my own and do not necessarily represent HughesNet in any way.
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

To disable sync in Chrome (Windows)

 

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click on your profile picture.  If you see "Sync is on" click on it. 
  3. You will be taken to settings. 
  4. Click on "turn off."