Broadband usage extraordinarily high

My broadband usage seems to have gone through the roof over the past few months without any great change in what we do with the internet. Granted we have a lot of tech connected to the WiFi but I can't see that what we do should be sucking up so much data. We were on the standard BT Broadband with a 40GB allowance which seemed to be quite adequate, in that I never got an email from BT about charges. Recently we chanegd to BT Infinity with the same 40GB allowance and suddenly usage has gone mad, over 80GB for each of the last 2 months.
We have:
2 laptops: One of these is used pretty much constantly by our daughter for Youtube, Facebook and email after school, so maybe 4 hours usage in the evening. Once or twice a week we'd watch BBC iPlayer or 4OD for up to an hour in bed. The other laptop is only used intermittently and then usually to play Minecraft and a bit of Youtube.
1 desktop: I play World Of Tanks on this for maybe 10 hours max in a week. Usually it's a struggle to get near it when there are 3 boys who constantly want to play Minecraft on it and then watch Youtube videos on it (about **bleep** Minecraft). The desktop would be on from 4:30pm - 10:30pm during the week and about the same length of time daily at the weekends (I do kick them out to the street occasionally!)
2 XBoxes: I is mine and is used very seldom and rarely online. The other is used by the kids but the only online stuff is Fifa 11 by one of the boys. Even at his worst this would be maybe 20 hours a week online.
2 iPhones: We download email and occasionally surf the odd page. I tend to download apps and updates at work and my fiancee rarely downloads new apps.
BT Vision box (which doesn't count towards the usage).
Currently the usage meter stands at 77GB and we're only 3 weeks into September so we seem to be on course for 100GB or more this month. The kids are back at school so computers don't get switched on till at least 4:30 and they're all off by 10:30 at the very latest. Also there's a hiatus for homework and dinner so they aren't on constantly. We don't use Skype or uTorrent so I'm baffled as to how we're using what must be 3GB per day!
I've seen stats that said 1 hour of XBox gaming is about 20MB and I'm assuming similar stats for PC multiplayer gaming. Even if I double the estimates of our XBox and PC gaming that's still only 1.2GB in a week!
Constant watching on Youtube is supposed to be around 100MB an hour if you allow for searching time. Even if our daughter was doing nothing else but Youtube every evening that's still only about 0.5GB a day. The boys occasionally interrupt their Minecraft playing to watch a Youtube video (about Minecraft!) but you'd struggle to see Youtube using up 1GB a day.
I guess that leaves our BBC iPlayer and 4OD watching. Possibly this is the culprit at 500MB per hour but we don't watch it every night and usually it's only 1 show which tends to be 30 minutes long. Even 1 hour a night would only add 0.5 GB to our daily total.
We do watch iPlayer via BT Vision but again that's not every night and BT Vision isn't meant to count towards your usage rate.
So adding up an overestimated account of our daily usage:
Youtube: 0.75 GB
iPlayer: 0.5 GB
Gaming: 0.2 GB
That's roughly 1.5GB a day or 45GB a month. Throw in a few Windows and virus updates, a World of Tanks update and some Minecraft texture packs or whatever and you could push that to 50GB a month, but not 80GB and certainly not 100GB.
One evening last week Networx showed that the desktop had downloaded 1.2GB but it had only been on for a hour and our daughter swore blind she'd only watched some Youtube videos.
I use BT's Netprotect Plus and downloaded Trend Micro's Housecall to search for viruses but they didn't find anything. I'm wondering if there's something on one of my PCs that they didn't detect? Is there a difficult to detect rootkit on them or some kind of bot infestation? Are my estimates wrong? Do I need to ban Youtube in my house?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

HI Do not forget uploads are also included in your usage allowance also facebook any social media gaming on face book can use up to 200+ mb per hour also possibly a little extra usage during the schol holidays soon mounts up
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    This is where customers help each other get the most out of BT products & services.
    Anything you post here does not go to BT. Although the forum is moderated by BT, not all posts are read.
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    jac_95 | BT.com Help Site | BT Service Status
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  • Broadband usage monitor

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    Deke wrote:
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  • Broadband usage surge

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  • Broadband usage suddenly rocketed - can anyone hel...

    Hi All
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    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    PaulP1966 wrote:
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    If you do decide to upgrade follow these links.
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  • Broadband usage monitor - do you believe what it's...

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    Thanks for your reply. No, not using Cloud yet (though I have registered for it). Also, and I may be wrong here, but I thought that usage of Cloud did not count towards your BB usage.
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  • Broadband Usage and speed problems.

    Hi.
    I have question about broadband usage.
    Its 11 days and bt website says I used more then 20GB!
    Its nearly 1.8 GB per day! I used Internet for browsing website and receive one email pre day, I download twice large amount (about 1-1,5GB) and nothing more!
    I just wonder what going on? I try monitor my usage day by day from 5 days ago and its worst and worst!!!
    I nothing download but my usage going very fast.
    Its looks like I will be download about 3 movies per day that means I will have now more then 30 movies! Its must be something wrong!
    I used before VM and my average Internet usage was about 15-20GB per Month with solid 10MB speed.
    Now my speed is **bleep** from 8mb to 1mb and sometimes less then 512kb!!! And usage is higher !!!
    How can I see details about my usage?
    And q2
    About speed - in my area BT Infinity will be available from 31.12.2010
    Its mean still BT have same works, it might be cause my slow broadband?
    And from 25.11 till now is same problem with broadband, in three days I must reset BT Hub because there is no Internet. On BT Hub anything looks fine, Is IP address etc... But is no Internet telephone and no Internet as well.
    I check by used ping bbc.co.uk

    Andy_N wrote:
    Hi.
    I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions, this may help to determine why your usage is as high as you're seeing.
    Do you have more than one computer connected ? Do you use iPlayer, or watch lots of youtube stuff ? Do you have any games machines such as XBox connected to the Internet ?
    Are you uploading lots of things ? uploads count as well as downloads.
    Are you up to date with all security and anti-virus packages, and have you run any scans recently ? (sometimes viruses and trojans can cause a usage problem).
    Your inherent speed problem could be due to various reasons, for example worsening line conditions due to weather and general wear and tear. Strangely viruses can cause a noticeable slow down, but mainly due to the computer being infected rather than the line being slow.
    Can you posssibly post the hub stats ?
    If you're using a PC, download something like Networx usage monitor and see if that can help. Of course it needs to be on each PC, but can't see the usage of games machines or Internet TV (or iPhone use etc).
    I used only 2 machines. Desktop PC and laptop. Laptop very light, just 1-2 hours per day only websurfing (3-5 websites with no movie or high quality images, 90% is just plain text)
    I not download lots of stuff, Like I just say, in VM my average monthly usage was 15-20 GB and I download few movie and lots of music.
    In December I just download one movie other traffic is just webserfing email.
    Youtube - yes I watch, but its not new staff for me, like just say my usage is not deferent then was in VM!
    Now usage monitor on BT web site say I used more then 20GB! in 11 days!!! if one movie will be 0.7GB its means I download about 30 movies!
    Its massive! I never download 30 movies in 2-3 months )
    This start about 5 days ago, when my strip goes to orange. My average Internet usage is 1.8GB !!! Even I for 2 days used Internet very little.
    I nothing upload.
    It is not possible, to anny worm or viruses used so big bandusuage if any software used Internet connection in background (like systems) its just kilobits not gigabits!
    If I will be use very hardly Internet I will be no rise alarm. But I now what I used. I have Internet for more then 7 years and now how far I go.
    And now is very strange - I less used inherent I have more GB used!
    In my calculation if my average usage per day will be 1.8GB I will used 55GB!!! I never used more 20 - max 30GB! It must be something wrong on BT site.
    I get BT Broadband option 2 be cause, I now I used about 15-20GB per months and BT Broadband option 1 is not for me, but 20GB in 11 days!
    We not talk abut 100MB! or 500MB per day we talk about nearly 2GB per day! Its massive!
    Is any chance to get detail Internet usage?
    Q2
    I loose Internet connection 3 times per week, so I need push reset button on hub.
    I left once Hub with no reset but in 5 hours it will still no Internet.
    Its looking very strange, because anything looks OK except I loos Internet phone (no blue telephone light)
    In hub stats is IP, is Downstream etc... but when I ping bbc.co.uk it say: host unavailable or similar.
    After reset working well. My be my Hub is faulty?
    Many Thanks for reply!
    Hub Stats
    Line state
    Connected
    Connection time
    1 day, 3:31:03
    Downstream
    10,124 Kbps
    Upstream
    1,022 Kbps
    ADSL settings
    VPI/VCI
    0/38
    Type
    PPPoA
    Modulation
    ITU-T G.992.5
    Latency type
    Interleaved
    Noise margin (Down/Up)
    8.8 dB / 4.9 dB
    Line attenuation (Down/Up)
    31.0 dB / 15.5 dB
    Output power (Down/Up)
    20.9 dBm / 12.4 dBm
    Loss of Framing (Local)
    0
    Loss of Signal (Local)
    0
    Loss of Power (Local)
    0
    FEC Errors (Down/Up)
    139453 / 426
    CRC Errors (Down/Up)
    24 / 2147480000
    HEC Errors (Down/Up)
    nil / 61462
    Error Seconds (Local)
    16

  • Broadband usage meter for BT users

    How do I use the broadband usage monitor?
    What information is being displayed?
    The monitor is designed to show you all the usage that has been downloaded and uploaded over your broadband connection for the current month. This will help you to see how much of your monthly usage allowance has been used and how much there is remaining. The monitor only includes usage which counts towards your allowance; traffic from services such as BB talk and the BT Vision video store, is discounted from your total.
    The monitor also helps you to manage your usage by displaying three different views to indicate the current status your usage:
    If the slider is green then, at the last update, you were within your usage allowance.
    If the slider is yellow then, at the last update, you were within your monthly usage allowance but there is a chance you might go over before the end of the month.
    If the slider is red then, at the last update, you had already gone above your usage allowance and you may be subject to charges as outlined in our Fair Usage Policy.
    If you are on an unlimited product then you will never be charged for additional usage. The usage data will be displayed in blue for all customers who have an unlimited monthly usage allowance, subject to the Fair Usage Policy.
    If you are finding that your current usage allowance is not meeting your needs, then you might want to consider upgrading to one of our broadband options with a higher usage allowance. To find out more please see; How can I increase my usage allowance?
    How do I access the usage monitor?
    You can access the usage monitor through your My BT online account at any time. In the product section of My BT there is a 'View my broadband usage' link, click this link to open the usage monitor.
    When is usage information updated?
    The usage displayed on the monitor is scheduled to update every 24 hours. To help you keep track of the updates, the time and date of the last update are displayed on the left hand side of the page.
    What if I have more than one billing account?
    If you have multiple broadband accounts it is important to check that the right account is selected in your My BT page. You can change which account is selected using the drop down list on the homepage.
    Troubleshooting - Why isn't the monitor displaying correctly?
    If you are having problems accessing the monitor it may be because:
    You do not have a My BT account set-up.
    The usage monitor is undergoing maintenance. If this happens we will display a service message informing when the monitor will be available again.
    The service is busy. In the rare event that this happens a service message will be displayed to inform you. Try again at a later time to access the monitor.
    The monitor is not displaying correctly. It may be that you need to adjust your browser settings in order for the monitor to display correctly. Alternatively the device you are using to access the monitor may not be supported. Try accessing the monitor from your PC.
    Summary:
    The usage monitor helps you to manage your usage by showing how much of your monthly usage allowance has been used and how much is remaining each month.
    The monitor is accessed through the My BT online account. You may need to register for this service.
    Usage is updated on the monitor every 24 hours.
    It is important to make sure the correct billing account is selected in My BT to ensure the right usage data is displayed. The telephone number of the broadband line is displayed on the monitor.
    There may be some occasions when the monitor doesn't display correctly, please see the troubleshooting section to address these.

    mehtdosa11 wrote:
    hi andy,
    thanks for you reply, some usefull links there..
    i just noticed a reply you made to another post.. 
    "suggested keeping a daily figure from the BT online meter, and I was also going to suggest that you perhaps look at the hub stats for up/downloads too."
    how do you look at the hub stats? as i would like to know this info. accordibng to bt i've used 52.18gb since 4th november..
    Hi again.
    On my hub 2, type A - log into it, typically http://192.168.1.254/ or http://api.home. The Settings (enter your hub password). Advanced settings/Continue to ..... and click the Broadband link. I'm sure there's a simpler way, but that's how I do it (albeit infrequently). You then get a Data transmitted line giving up/downloads.
    That figure may well contain things like BTVision access, BBTalk and other items that are not included in the overall usage.
    However the hub stats will not be based on the connection time shown above, but possibly on a hub reset. I've not not really checked this, but other folk will know.
    http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
    http://www.andyweb.co.uk/pictures

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