Broadband usage has doubled and I don't know why

Question

Hi there
Just received a warning message that I am about to exceed my 40gb limit.  Normal monthly usage has been 18gb apparently and we don't know why the increase has occurred.  We have no kids at home, we don't stream films or videos or play games, I've downloaded 1 music album this month and we've surfed the net as usual.
Can this usage be verified?
Any tips on checking whther someone else is using our broadband....is this possible?
Any tips on why this might be happening...it's puzzling.
Is there an indpependent (non BT) way of monitoring and measuring broadband usage?
Dom

Answer 1

Hi dr58.
In my experience the only way to sort this out is to hope that your post draws the attention of a forum moderator. Anyone on the phones will try and convince you that you are indeed downloading 20 albums a day, uploading 3000 pictures a week etc etc and "it all mounts up" and you would be far better on an Unlimited Package.
I had problems (in fact thinking about it, this time last year) where my usage had crept up and according to BT my son and I were using 90gb a month, despite no streaming, gaming etc. I am on a 40gb package like yourself so was incurring £50 charges each month. In the end it was resolved with BT agreeing it wasn't possible for us to be getting through that amount but as I wasn't using a BT router at the time it was impossible to prove that someone hadn't been piggybacking my wifi. (I'd changed passwords during the high readings to no avail anyway).
My personal advice would be to keep a daily eye on your broadband monitor, screenshot them if need be, if you have been out during the day or away for any great length of time also note the readings that appear for that day. I also check my BT homehub to make sure only the devices in my house are hooked in just in case.
As it happens I've also noticed a big jump in my readings this month, I have just a few GB to spare but in my opinion the readings are still high compared to what I was noting at the tail end of last year after I finally had SeanD look into the matter for me.
I do hope that the meters arent going up the creek yet again because I've sworn that if it should happen again I'm walking to a different company this time around.
Best of luck and I hope you get the information you need and the situation resolves itself.