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MASSIVE drain issue

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teejk01
New Member

MASSIVE drain issue

We have the 15gb/mo plan which we manage carefully (don't dare watch any movies or YouTube)...seems every month we lose a ton of allowance when nobody is using it. On the 10th of this month we lost 3+GB in 3 hours with nobody in the house and all devices turned off! Inquired, got a reply via E-mail (DO NOT REPLY) and a follow up call that quite frankly I couldn't understand a word of...too much "chatter" in the background from what I guess is a foreign based call center. Running Win 10 (set to "metered"). Using Norton Internet Security (set to "metered". Wireless secured router. How can I lose 3GB in that short amount of time with nobody here?
51 REPLIES 51
Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

WOW, I couldn't even GIVE my retail version of ME away !


Chris11
Alum

teejk01
New Member

Funny...I think I had ME at one time also (came after Win 95 didn't it)? Truth be told I never noticed much difference with any version...guessing I'm finally getting the appeal for Apple products.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Windows Me and the dreaded BSOD became synonymous. 
teejk01
New Member

Been so many versions of Windows and I guess I never noticed any difference. I was running "Norton tools" at the time and it did a good job of dealing with that BSOD.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

I have used every version of Windows since 95 (with the exception of 2000 and NT) and ME was definitely the worst with the BSOD.  Once they came out with XP, which used the NT system, everything got MUCH better.  I haven't had one BSOD in 14 years (knock on wood).   
teejk01
New Member

Older than you I guess! Started with that "green screen" (MS DOS)...then Bill Gates adopted (stole")? the "GUI" and we got Win 3.1. I think since 1993 I have owned 6 computers, all operating on different versions of Windows.
teejk01
New Member

Since the "shock" of that unexpected spike (that currently has me at 1% "anytime" remaining), I notice an increasing daily drain on what allowance remained. Haven't installed Glasswire yet but I'm sure it is Win10 related...I've also noticed that some web-sites get "choppy" and even if I close out the browser seems that things are still trying to run in the background. And then I wonder how much is consumed by embedded GIF's now common on a lot of sites. The "15/50" plan isn't cheap but seems it is not enough even for a house that doesn't download movies and doesn't dare to even launch a YouTube video. Frustrating... 
teejk01
New Member

Thanks...I too was an "early adopter" (and ain't that young either). Earlier versions of Windows made it easy to control "updates". In Win10 I found the button to say "metered service" (buried in the "tools" menu) but I think that only controls the "install" (I don't recall an option to specify time)...that is relative "nothing" in terms of data usage (the damage has already been done because the package has been delivered). Nothing I have found let's me control the "download". I did search the question and see that it is a common complaint from people around the globe. But anyway...Win10 installs "Edge" as the default browser (guess they got tired of patching Win IE). Perhaps that is the problem? Would hate to migrate to Chrome (just because but if that's what it takes then so be it). Now one thing to add...I "hit the button" for "metered service" in Win10 recently...seems to have made it worse. HughesNet was kind enough to add some "token bytes" which I will be using to try to figure this out (which I will share).
Chris11
Alum

Hi teejk01,

First thing I would do is use a browser like Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Or Safari. These browsers offer useful extensions like ad blockers that will help you in using less data, and have a smoother browsing experience in general. This extension is from Chrome that I use myself:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-plus/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb

Hope this helps.

- Chris
teejk01
New Member

Thanks to both...I think Chrome downloaded with a version of Adobe Reader (forgot to uncheck the box) so that's already here. My son was a Firefox user but switched to Chrome. I'll set that to my default browser and see if that improves data usage. 
teejk01
New Member

Let's see...first home computer was 1994 or so (IBM 340mg hard-drive...a big improvement over then popular Packard Bell 185mb). 1200 baud dial-up modem. Prodigy anybody??? When they folded I went to AOL when they charged $$$ to subscribe  (and took me about 2 years to "un-subscribe"...they were the "Hotel California" of the on-line world...enter anytime you want but you can never leave...got what they deserved I think).  
teejk01
New Member

Worked in public accounting (for too long) and I think we got an Apple (32E???) in the mid-80's. Then we got what was supposed to be "portable" Compaq's (small green screen and the keyboard folded up to serve as one of the sides). Remember Visicalc (fore runner to Lotus 123 and now dominated by Excel)? Big floppies only in those days...hard-drive came later. As for portable...it only weighed 60 lbs. or so as I recall...was more senior on the audit engagements by then so hauling that beast through airports was assigned to the rookies. Times have changed huh?
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

We bought a Commodore VIC 20 when I was a kid, then got a Commodore 64.  The neighbors got an Apple 2C and I was so jealous, but it's not like I really knew how to use any of them for more than the demonstration programs in the manuals.  My first internet used computer was an IBM clone that had Win95 and 8MB of Ram.  That sucker was expensive, too!   
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

We bought a Commodore VIC 20 when I was a kid, then got a Commodore 64.  The neighbors got an Apple 2C and I was so jealous, but it's not like I really knew how to use any of them for more than the demonstration programs in the manuals.  My first internet used computer was an IBM clone that had Win95 and 8MB of Ram.  That sucker was expensive, too!   
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

The double post thing again, and the inability to remove the second one.  Ugh! 
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

The first computer and no I wasn't alive when it was invented. OK maybe it was the first storage device.

BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Took a community college night class in 1982 for BASIC programming. Uh oh, don't even remember what computer anymore. I think maybe the VIC.
tkohlman
New Member

Well Chris...things were "managable" since I first reported this issue 10 months ago...UNTIL this billing cycle. Two days into the cycle my wife turned her computer on and managed to use 37% of the "anytime" allowance in 2 hours which I know was a Win10 update. Since then my computer got a "stealth" update also (not the that extent but noticable). I think Hughes needs to #1 Increase the 15gb to something higher or #2 Provide some relief to us Win10 users by swapping GB from the "bonus" allowance that we rarely use or #3 Offer a higher token purchase at a cheaper price. I have yet to see a solution to the Win10 "Home version" Btw I called your customer service line and they opened a ticket (101705793)upgrade thing...they "push it when they want to with NO notice to the user that they want to do it or notice that they are doing it (all "background" actions). 
Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

Updates on Win10 can be "managed" in the respect that they can be delayed ... if you connect wirelessly.

Plan sizes are not just pulled out the air. The are based in part on satellite throughput capacity.

Moving Bonus Bytes from late to early will only cause further congestion.

There currently is a "buy two, get three" token sale in effect now.

There is no way that Hughes could offer a "data break" just for Win10 users. This was done to a point when Win10 was first released and you could hear the complaints from here to eternity.

No one forces anyone to use Win10. In point of fact after a trial I dumped Win 10 and switched three of my eleven computer to Linux Mint.

As Counterpoint, I have used 3.3GB of data 20 days into my usage cycle.
I suggest loading GlassWire on all your Windows machines and find out what is using data and how best to conserve what you have for what you wish to use it on.

There have been changes beyond Win10 that may be affecting your usage such as a Nvidia driver update that now shares considerable data with third parties.
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Why I'm not updating to 10. There is the ability to disable updates in Services then re-enable it when wanting to update, like Bonus time, but not really something for the average user.

I've got 7 years of MS support left on my 8.1 Pro. Lots of time to decide what to do like move completely to Linux.