Forum Discussion

5thwheeleroldma's avatar
Oct 30, 2014

Do Cable Companies Fake Data Useage

My cable company website says I have been using around 12 gigabytes/month of data lately for my internet service. This sounds weird as we don't stream movies or download photos. We send maybe 2 -3 emails per day, perhaps surf the web a couple hours max per day, maybe view a 3 minute news video a couple times a week. I had thought my data useage would run around 4 gigabytes/month.

It wouldn't matter as the cable co has a max of 250 GB/month. However I am ordering the Verizon hotspot and thought their 5gb/mo would be plenty.

28 Replies

  • It does sound like someone is piggybacking off your service. Do you have your router locked down with WPA2? Do you live in a subdivision with homes nearby that could be poaching?
  • 2oldman wrote:
    Your account should have a daily use log online.
    That would definitely depend on the ISP. For example, FIOS has no way of showing data usage.
  • Yeah, I have a wireless router; have to see if I can change the password on it; forgot how. Also I have Stopzilla as a security program and they do seem to be continually updating things. Maybe I should delete them and just use the freebies.
  • Do you have a wireless router?
    Could someone be leeching off of it?
    Change the password on the wireless router.
    Download a good internet monitor to see what is going on. I have no recommendation on a GOOD monitor
  • How many and what type devices do you have attached to your network? Are any of them set for automatic updates? A lot can be happening in background that you are unaware of.
  • That does seem really high. As fulltimers our hotspot is our only source of internet except whenever we run into some free WiFi. We use 5-6 G a month but I am online at least 4 hours a day, do a lot of research, and post to a blog almost daily. You may be using 12G if you have programs that are automatically updating or running in the background even when you're not using them.