Internet usage

[sam49]

Hi guys i am looking for a little advice.

I have just had a email from my ISP saying my internet usage is above the fair use allowance.

So now i have installed Net Meter to monitor my internet usage, and i am a little puzeled to find thet Net Meter is showing something uploading almost all of the time.

How can i find out what is doing this please

Regards

 

[mborner]

Do you have a wireless router? Is it password protected? Did you let a neighbor tap into your router for internet access? It sounds like somebody is using your internet connection for down/uploads.

 

[TVeblen]

Have you run virus and malware scans?

In the news you may have heard about "denial-of-service attacks". These work by infecting a host computer with a program that constantly sends packets of data to the target website. The trojan/worm infects thousands of computers which become the hacker's "zombie army".

Other malware does a similar thing, but the data it is sending can be more injurious to you.

 

[sam49]

Hi guys i have run a virus check but not a malware check yet do you have a malware check program you could recomend please.

And yes i have a wireless connection to my router but it is protected with wap

 

[Golden]

Try this Malwarebytes

 

[sam49]

Ok i will try this and post back

 

[mborner]

Get rid of WEP encryption. It can be cracked by a 9 year old in seconds. Go with WPA/WPA2. Change your router's password immediately.

 

[severedsolo]

It sounds like somebody is using your internet connection for down/uploads.

I agree that WEP should not be used for Wireless security. (Mborner is not exaggerating when he says a 9 year old could crack it) but if Net Meter is showing Upload happening constantly, that must be happening on the Local machine and not anyone elses. Net Meter monitors whats coming in/out of YOUR machine not the router.

Its still possible someone is tapping into the network though, so yes switch to WPA as quickly as possible and change the passphrase.

Could you please upload screenshots of both the Net Meter showing constant upload, and also a screenshot of the "Processes" tab in Task Manager with "Show Processes from all Users" checked.

 

[sam49]

Sorry guys i made a ,istake on my post i have the router set to WPA security, i am running a Malwarebyte scan at the moment.

I will post back soon

 

[Golden]

Could you please upload screenshots of both the Net Meter showing constant upload, and also a screenshot of the "Processes" tab in Task Manager with "Show Processes from all Users" checked.

After you perform the malware scan, you should still follow severdsolo's advice as above.

 

[sam49]

Hi guys thanks for all the above advice i have found the problem.
I use a progrm called Mozy backup to backup small files but importent ones and for some reason all my hard drive had been selected and the backup was talking hours. now i have stopped that running all is back to normal.
Also the Malwarebyte showed no problems

Thanks guys

 

[Golden]

That sounds like good news........but, what does your internet usage have to do with the backup? Is the backup to a cloud (internet) site? If so, its all good.

Keep that Malwarebyte program handy, its good practice to run a scan every once in a while, and gives you peace of mind

 

[Lunarpancake]

you may want to look into a new ISP if any are available in your area. Hell, I use about 8gig of 3g bandwidth on my iphone alone.

 

[Lunarpancake]

That sounds like good news........but, what does your internet usage have to do with the backup? Is the backup to a cloud (internet) site? If so, its all good.

Keep that Malwarebyte program handy, its good practice to run a scan every once in a while, and gives you peace of mind

Mozy backup stores its backups on their servers "off site". It is a good cheap alternative to offsite storage.

 

[sam49]

Hi Lunarpancake

Yes Mozy is good and cheap for off site storage upto 2Gb its free.

As for my IPS i am looking to change but i dont have a lot of choice where i live as my local exchange is quite old and i like in a small town so not much chance of a better service.

When i signed up the internet service about 2 years ago it was unlimited then i get a email the other day saying there is a fair usage cap at 40Gb and i had gone over and i had to reduce my usage.

Thats why i am running Net Meter

Regard to you all