Dumb question?

I have a hard drive attached as Readyshare storage to my NetGear modem which makes it accessible to my home wireless network. I use this hard drive as the repository for the TV programs that I wish to watch.

I use the drive by copying files from the PC to the hard drive, via the network, and watch those programs using a wireless WD entertainment unit, again via the network. Both actions are of course going through the modem.

My question: would either of these actions have any effect on my ISP upload/download quotas? Whenever I transfer files to the device NetGear Genie alerts me to high Internet traffic.

Overall it doesn't seem likely but my usage figures seem to have gone through the roof since I started doing things this way.

I don't use ReadyShare, but a quick glance at how it works makes me wonder if someone might be getting into your cloud (assuming that you have that feature enabled or that there is an exploit that lets people get in.).

Any traffic on your LAN should be totally separate from your ISP quota. I use Comcast cable and I stream movies and TV shows from my computer to 2 different TV's and it doesn't affect my monthly cap at all. My network monitor shows both internet usage, AND LAN usage, but it doesn't count towards my monthly cap. If it did, I would be screwed!

If you are using more than you think you really are, start by securing any wireless connections. If it is bad, you can probably find some network activity monitor that will keep a log so you can figure out if someone else is contributing to your monthly usage or not.