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DesertGirl's avatar
DesertGirl
New Contributor
2 years ago

Random SPIKE in Internet Data Usage

I have been monitoring out data usage since seeing a huge spike in our service at the most random times. It seems to happen on overage once or twice a month. I have a Netgear Nighthawk Modem and Orbi Wifi mesh system which I pay extra for security monitoring, notifications, etc... No gaming systems in the house, computers, tablets, phones (our phones are unlimited data and we have wifi turned off our phones.) This month, after 10 days we had a HUGE spike in our internet data usage so much so that we used 75% of our monthly data in 10 days? Days that we were barely home using any services! I don't think so. I called cox and they say they cannot control data usage and it's all us, I should just upgrade to unlimited. I call **. It's an absolute SCAM. This month, my bill DOUBLED because of their so called overage on data usage. When most of the time, we are always under what comes with Gigiblast. What recourse do we have? What should Cox be doing because there is NO WAY that we used what they say we are using. I have started to screen shot and take notes on usage. Most days are around 50G, then one day will shot up to 221 or higher followed by another day that is almost 200 and then back down to 50G or less. There is no change or reason for those days to spike. I am infuriated and about to just leave COX. 

internet data usage
spikes
surge

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  • Darkatt's avatar
    Darkatt
    Valued Contributor III
    2 years ago

    Do you have security cameras, or a ring doorbell, or Alexa? They can cause data spikes. Additionally, do you have one drive loaded on any devices? It can start doing backups daily and one person I assisted with this found they had installed on an android phone, which would automatically send up a backup of their phone daily, over WiFi. SOME android phones, will automatically turn on WiFi, 2when in a known location. My S22 Ultra does that. Last but not least, any video streaming? Netflix? If someone is watching something that's 4k, it can use 8GB/hr. 

    • Lovemylab's avatar
      Lovemylab
      Contributor III
      2 years ago

      Having Outlook '.pst' files on OneDrive can be a problem. They may grow to a few Gigabytes, and there is no way to perform an incremental backup. So, every time you open email, the whole thing backs up. With that said, video cameras that don't have 'away' mode set can really become hogs, especially if there are several.

  • Newington_Resid's avatar
    Newington_Resid
    New Contributor
    2 years ago

    Also, check your ORBI router admin panel and see if there are an unauthorized systems on your network.  Change Your router admin password if you have not changed the default password from the factory and don't give it out to any family members. Changed the network access password to start (all authorized devices will have to reconnect with the new network password). See if that makes a difference. Streaming and gaming take a huge hit on bandwidth usage.  See if you can tell at what hours the usage increases as that might give you a clue.  Use family controls to ban usage at certain hours if necessary.