more than expected data through router

[unclegrouch]

hi PH,

Hoping somebody might have some ideas please.

At my workshop we use a lebara sim in a router, it's on a 20gb data plan which has been fine for over a year.

it's used quite lightly, browsing, emails, updating dropbox with work files (only a few mb per day)

Recently the data expired 2/3 of the way thorugh the month.

Each day there seems to be anything between 1GB and 1.6GB of data which we can't possibly use ???

Connected devices: 2 desktop PC's (not left on when we leave) both hard wired to router
3 phones as & when we are there. 1 wirelss printer left on 24/7

If there a cheap or free tool I can use to find out what is using the data or at least trace it's route ?

many thanks

[paddy1970]

To track down the unexpected data usage, start by checking your router’s web interface for any built-in traffic monitoring features. This may show which devices are using the most data. If your router does not provide detailed insights, consider installing third-party firmware like DD-WRT or OpenWrt, which offer advanced monitoring tools.

On your desktop PCs, you can use a tool like GlassWire to monitor network usage per application, which might help identify any unusual activity. For mobile devices, check their built-in data usage stats or use apps like My Data Manager.

Ensure that your wireless printer is not performing unnecessary updates or sending data online. Additionally, check that software updates on all devices are not consuming excessive data, and run malware scans to rule out any infections. Lastly, consider changing your Wi-Fi password to prevent unauthorised access.

[Aunty Pasty]

May be somebody streaming a movie or watching YouTube during lunch?

[unclegrouch]

paddy1970 said:

To track down the unexpected data usage,....

Excellent info thank you, this is extremely useful.

Pretty sure the router doesn't have much detail & my suspicion is the main PC, so will delve a bit more.

Thanks agan, much appreciated.

[unclegrouch]

Aunty Pasty said:

May be somebody streaming a movie or watching YouTube during lunch?

Good call but no chance. We are a small workshop with only 4-5 of us maximum working at any time, phones do get used but rarely.

Thanks for the suggestion, appreciated.

[Nemophilist]

Could it be people listening to music or podcasts during work that aren’t already downloaded?
That drains my data

[bitchstewie]

20GB isn't all that much these days even allowing just for routine software updates.

Assuming you've got up to date devices and up to date anti-malware given what they cost I'd probably just buy a bigger SIM tbh.

[camel_landy]

My money would be on OS updates.

M

[unclegrouch]

Nemophilist said:

Could it be people listening to music or podcasts during work that aren’t already downloaded?
That drains my data

Possible but very unlikely. it's a small family business & we all work so closely together i don't think that could happen.

Appreciate your reply though, thank you

[unclegrouch]

camel_landy said:

My money would be on OS updates.

M

Quite possible i guess, it seems a lot of data to me but i'm no expert.

just put the trial version of Glasswire on my home PC & it's brilliant - if it is the main workshop PC doing it, then it should show.

the "second" PC at work was dleiberately left switched off for 48 hours & the big data transfers were still happening so must be either the hard wired main PC or something wireless !

Thanks for your input

[james6546]

If the PCs are windows you can turn on the metered connection setting which should help limit data usage by the OS

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/metere...

[e-honda]

you can easily clock that up with background usage.
phones will be treating the connection as unmetered as that is the default for wifi so will not hold back.
if you set your phones to treat that wifi connection as metered it will probably bring it down a fair bit.

[tamore]

sorry! couldn't resist.

[silentbrown]

Both pcs and phones will probably have data usage stats available. That's the easiest place to start.

https://www.glasswire.com/blog/2023/11/03/how-to-m...

It varies a bit on phones, but Android calls WiFi usage "non-carrier data usage" or similar.

A better WiFi/router system like unifi would track it all for you, but that's a comparatively expensive sledgehammer.

But really I'd just get a bigger allowance or tell phone users to use their own data.

[bitchstewie]

If you know you know

[Forester1965]

Back in the day when your wired broadband was metered I had an almighty row with BT. Every month they'd surcharge me for extra data.

Had that many angry phone calls with ladies in India saying "computer says so" that I thought India would declare war on me.

In the end it turned out the street cabinet literally had it's wires crossed and we were being billed for other people's usage.

[silentbrown]

FYI, on Windows 11 you can see this.

[unclegrouch]

james6546 said:

If the PCs are windows you can turn on the metered connection setting which should help limit data usage by the OS

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/metere...

Thanks, will take a look

[unclegrouch]

Forester1965 said:

Back in the day when your wired broadband was metered I had an almighty row with BT. Every month they'd surcharge me for extra data.

Had that many angry phone calls with ladies in India saying "computer says so" that I thought India would declare war on me.

In the end it turned out the street cabinet literally had it's wires crossed and we were being billed for other people's usage.

That's great, paying for somebody elses usage :-o

[unclegrouch]

silentbrown said:

FYI, on Windows 11 you can see this.

windows 11 :-o Still on 3.1 here ............. well, not quite but on Win 10, it does ok for what i need at work