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System used 30 gig in a day with out video, games or audio!!!!! Technical support no help

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David Clarke
Freshman

System used 30 gig in a day with out video, games or audio!!!!! Technical support no help

My system is 30 gig of data in one day and I didn't even know it . Tech-support just had me Unplug the modem several times with no resolution . Seems like an equipment failure or a scam to get me to upgrade my service
8 REPLIES 8
williamtobler
New Member

I just posted this response to another thread with the same complaint.

There are many things around that may connect via the WiFi of your router, assuming you have one.  Your smartphone is one which will preferentially use the WiFi over the cell tower.  And typically there are a lot of Apps on your phone that might use it if you allow it.

A few months ago, we replaced one of our DirecTV receivers with a Genie.  Movies on demand and other things work via your internet ISP instead of the DirecTV satellite, which in your case is Hughes satellite. My other receiver is connected via RJ45 which never caused a problem, but the new Genie receiver is not located where I have cables installed. And so I enabled its WiFi capability to enable the "good features".  I have two ISPs for various reasons, one is Hughes and the other is DSL (which is uncapped and not metered).  Fortunately, I only allowed the Genie to connect to the DSL WiFi.  After a couple of weeks, I noticed the WiFi light on the DSL router showing a LOT of activity.  I tracked it back to ONLY the Genie, which was accessing it almost continuously for its own secret reasons.
After a Google search, I learned that this is a Genie bug which some people discovered after they received a $1500 monthly bill from Verizon for excessive Data utilization.

I could only stop this "unauthorized" WiFi utilization by disabling the WiFi connection, which was not really easy to do, at least from the Genie menu.  What I ended up doing is changing the WiFi password on the router and after a day or so, the Genie gave up and disabled its own WiFi feature.

So what to do with your Hughes modem?  For one, you can look at the blinking lights on its front panel which should not be blinking much at all except during activity.  If they are blinking, then you should try to find out why.

David Clarke
Freshman

I have not made any changes to any of my devices that connect to the internet. Have not had this problem before. 30 gig is a lot of data to have disappear in a day
williamtobler
New Member

Something is running full tilt.  Looking at the system front panel lights should tell you.


Amanda
Moderator

Hi David, 

You're right - 30 gigs is a lot to go through in one day but not impossible... I can attest that we are most certainly not stripping our customers of data in order to force them to upgrade (if you're on Gen4 there really isn't anywhere for you to upgrade to at this moment anyway), nor trying to scam anyone to make money. We are, however, in the business of providing great internet service to customers who would not otherwise have it and giving the best support we can here in the community.

Depending on what devices you have in your home, we may be able to track down where the data went so it would be helpful to know that information so we can get an idea of where to start.

Thanks,
Amanda
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

David,

What devices do you have connected to your Hughesnet internet?  What computers and operating systems on those computers.  Smart Phones?  Apple Products?  DirecTV or Dish Network receiver?  One of those whole home Smart Devices, like an Amazon Echo or similar?  

Knowing what you have connected may help us to help you in determining what chewed through your data so quickly.  
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Is pretty easy to go through 30 GB in a day on Gen 4 Jupiter 1 if getting 20-30 Mbps speed and something on user's end is sucking data.

Run virus/malware scans and unplug any satellite TV boxes from the modem is any. Start with one computer directly connect to the modem and see how data use goes.

Anything doing syncing/backup to the cloud?
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

The new Windows 10 updates were just released, and if the "update from more than one place" option is set to share the updates, that could blow through that much data in no time.  Just another thought.   

Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

There are endless ways for your data to be used. The first order of business I think is to gather some information.

You can' do anything about the data that is already gone but you can glean some information by looking at the two available Hughes usage "History" readouts.

One is available as part of the Download Status Meter by clicking on the Usage History option on the left side column:


The other history display is available in the myAccount/Useage/History:

While we can't get the lost data back the history displays will provide some clues:

Is the usage only at certain times or is it around the clock?

Is the missing data in the form of "Upload" indicating that something within the network is doing a lot of "talking"? (Sync/Cloud/Virus/Malware)

Or download activity? (Program/process stuck in a update/fail/repeat mode)

The process posted below is a repost but I think it will provide an overview and a procedure that can be used to narrow things down.


Networks, even residential networks are much more complex than most of us realize.

In the not so distant past routers and switches and "Networking" were pretty much limited to businesses and perhaps the more "geeky" subscriber.

A typical satellite users connection looked like this:

A single computer directly connected to the Modem. There is only one path that data can be used. There are no "cross roads" no chance of anything using data beyond those two devices.

Things however even at this level are more complex than meets the eye. That single computer by itself has 65,536 connection ports.

There are broadly speaking two things in play here:

Applications ... Those are PROGRAMS that we start .. we can see them running such as a web browser of an email client program.

A look at Windows Task Manager reveals:

Three running Applications:

An email client program, a web browser and an open file.

However a look at running Processes  shows something much more complex:

I currently have a whopping 102 Processes running in the background  unseen, unknown. Not all of these of course are going to be connected to the Internet at any given time. They "turn on", perform their function and turn off.

In our very simple "network" (single computer directly connected) we could install a program like GlassWire on that computer and it will show all data used by THAT computer and what programs and processes used that data:


Our simple Network now has two "measuring points":

Point A is going to be the point along the single "data path" that is monitored by GlassWire.

Point B is going to be the usage registered by the Modem as "traffic" to be charged against the user monthly data allowance.

The two values should pretty much coincide within reason.

It is possible to look at a usage meter that has yet to "refresh" or register the usage in the last few minutes.

It is possible for the ISP to have "compressed" data and a smaller amount is shown by the Modem as being charged against the allowance than indicated by GlassWire.


At this point the perimeters  are pretty straight forward:

Do the amounts measured at points A (computer) & B (Modem) match ?

If they do NOT and the Modem claims greater usage then I suggest the following process:

Take a screenshot of your remaining allowance (allow for data that has yet to be recorded)

Disconnect the LAN cable from the rear of the Modem and note the exact time.

Let a number of hours pass (overnight ?)

Reconnect the LAN cable and again note the time and the amount of remaining data. Again an allowance must be made for the usage meter to update itself. What we are looking for here is a major discrepancy.

In the event that A and B match then we have to conclude the all of the data used (and charged against the users allowance) was indeed used by the directly connected computer.

A careful look at GlassWire will reveal what program and what processes are using data.

There are many things that can be done to conserve data .. browser extensions that block ads and scripts among other things. Much easier to do once the source of usage has been identified.

As we look at the above example we can see plenty of opportunity for data use and this just by a single computer.

The problem is very few subscribers Networks look like the above.

This is more typical:

The above really multiplies the complexity. It offers multiple connection paths  and each of those by itself has the same complexity as the single computer shown in the example above.

We have to take a much closer look at the Router itself:

The router as a central point in the network has three potential data use avenues:


#1: Its firmware/hardware:

This would include automatic update checks, Remote Access accounts/vulnerabilities, WPS settings/vulnerabilities and "front end" username/password setup to name a few.

#2: Wired LAN connections and the types of devices connected as well as their settings. Specifically end users not understanding the differences between "hard off", "sleep" and "hibernate" as well as other system settings such as Wake On LAN, Wake On Ring and even extending to "scheduled tasks".

We need not even go into the details of forced updates and data "sharing" inherent to Win10 and being back ported to Win7/8/8.1

#3: We come to the most difficult to control ... Wireless activity (on each frequency dual/triple band routers)

We can start with what encryption level, if any, has been set up. We also need to consider the username and password that limits access to the routers front end so that unauthorized users can add themselves to the wireless users list. It needs to be changed from the default values.

We also have the multitude of settings of the many types of devices that can connect wirelessly be they computers, notebooks, tablets, cell phones or even thermostats.

It is often not apparent when all apps on all devices have had their update ability turned off. Very frequently an update will cause other settings to change to their default values.

Considering the number of "connection avenues" provided by a router it is mandatory that it be included in any troubleshooting steps ...

We have to understand the Router is at the center of the Network ...ALL OF THE CONNECTION PATHS  and ALL OF THE DATA USED have to pass through the Router therefore it I suggest a Router that allows the tracking of usage per device.

There are many brands and models available .. a user needs to research which one best serves the users needs.

I have a Asus RT-AC3100 that has traffic monitoring:

Main interface that has the routers options and displays among other things which devices are currently connected:


Which devices used how much data by IP and by date:


And a statistical analysis per device by the top consuming software or process:


One often overlooked area is usage by the Router itself in the form of its internal services:

I had enabled two of the above services and the router internally consumed nearly 1/2 GB within just several days.

Determining the cause of missing data or even excess use requires that a user have some degree of understanding their Network.