Massive Internet data usage and my tuner

[swest6602]

5.2 GB from the time I took the HTPC off the network until 8AM this AM. Everything is on wifi at present. Did not try and capture the wifi data since it was normal. I do have wireshark set up on a laptop so if it does indeed see the wifi across the network I can record it.

I hooked the HTPC back up this AM. It is the only thing on ethernet (no wifi adapter). Nothing much happening since this AM. 165MB today per the router. I am going to try and keep a close eye on the router traffic meter. Let you know what I find.

[barnabas1969]

I'm going to ask the obvious question:

Do you have a kid? Is it possible that your kid(s) is(are) downloading a bunch of stuff from the Internet?

[barnabas1969]

Oh... and I didn't see an answer to a previous question: Is your wireless network SECURE? It's possible that your neighbors are using your Internet access to download stuff. Make sure to enable the strongest encryption possible with all of your wireless devices... and also enable MAC filtering on your router.

[gpatlanta]

I'm going to ask the obvious question:

Do you have a kid? Is it possible that your kid(s) is(are) downloading a bunch of stuff from the Internet?

i.e., Who's downloading all the bad stuff.

[swest6602]

barnabas and gpatlanta -- No kids. Network secure (I changed the password a couple days ago anyway). Believe me I have checked and re-checked all of the most obvious causes. Thanks for the ideas though. Much appreciated.

As an update (and maybe, just maybe) and a possible step in the right direction. I hooked the HTPC back up to the internet this AM and there has been nothing much at all going on all day data wise per the router. In the past 24 hours I repeated everything I did in the prior 12 hours that used 30GB of data. Streamed some podcasts,recorded some TV and converted some video. Obviously none of those things on face value would cause this data issue, but I wanted to try all of the things I did when I know it increased while watching the meter on the router. My data usage is even lower than normal. The variable? The network itself-- everything is on wifi except the HTPC and an Apple TV.

I normally use two switches that run upstairs devices on ethernet. I switched most everything else to wifi yesterday afternoon so I am only using two router ports. I may be wishful thinking, but I am wondering if the network set-up itself has been causing the issue. Bad cable, bad switch? I honestly don't even know if that is possible but this is the longest stretch of low/normal data use I have seen in a while so it is something to follow up on anyway.

I won't make any changes until tomorrow afternoon. I want to go through the night as is & watching the data usage. I will let you know what I discover. If anyone has a thought on how a switch (or cable) might be causing this let me know. It might save me some time with testing.

As I said this is the first time I have seen data usage at normal (or below normal) levels for this length of time. Granted when I was comparing to Comcast.net I may have had inaccurate or older data, but it still increased regularly. I am feeling just a tiny bit optimistic.

[TeddyR]

... ... If anyone has a thought on how a switch (or cable) might be causing this let me know. It might save me some time with testing.

Do you have any details on the exact model numbers of the switches and router you used?

Spanning tree (STP) can cause some strange behavior. In its simplest explanation, normally when connecting two switches together in a home environment only one cable should be used to connect the two swiches. In corporate environments it is possible to connect two swiches together with multiple connections for redundancy. The STP protocols will automatically disable the ports that are least efficient for the links (example using 10G vs 1G or 100MB link if both are availible). Unfortunately many home devices dont implement STP correctly (even in corporate environments there are different STP protocols that can confilict and cause issues...

A second possibility might be IGMP. I have also seen a situation where they had a switch and router that had IGMP enabled that passed the IGMP membership requests to the upstream provider.

PS: The SD devices do not like IGMPv3 snooping being enabled at all... See if on the netgear disabling IGMP proxying/snooping helps if the issue comes back.


For more details..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanning_Tree_Protocol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGMP

[swest6602]

TeddyR
Thanks for the links. I was doing some light reading on switches last night with a reasonably easy to understand How Stuff Works article. Still, much if it is over my head. I am not likely to apply for any Network Admin. positions any time soon.

I am testing some different configurations now (Have a phone interview at 1pm ET so have to stop for a bit), but the newest is a Netgear 5-Port Gigabit GS605 and the other a Netgear 5-Port Gigabit GS105. I am playing around with different connections now and trying to make the data go up. Will check the links you provided as well.

I had no massive usage with both switches off for 36 hours so feel somewhat confident I can make the problem stop. Still if I can figure out the exact config that causes the issue I will rest easier and stop checking data usage every 20 minutes. Plus I'd like to be able to continue to use the switches in a different configuration.

I will be checking in again after my interview.

[swest6602]

I have dropped my network down to 1 switch plus the router. I played around with a bunch of different layouts but was unable to recreate the issue so will just watch the traffic meter for a while and dive in again if it starts going crazy. I am hoping this is the end but not yet fully convinced of that. We'll see.

I'd probably drop back down to just the router and wifi but it leaves me no expansion room. I want to add another Ceton tuner (once I find a job) and get my Mom setup with an Echo this winter. I'll need the switch to get that done so I will run this setup for a while and hope I have no further issues.

I cannot thank you all enough for all of your assistance. Helping me get on the right track and using the right tools was a huge help. There are no step by step guides for this problem once you get past the obvious- malware, torrents and network intruders. All of the networking information is beyond me. I get the gist of it, but not much beyond that.

I will try and stop lurking when I visit TGB from now on (as I have for years) and post once in a while. I will also post here again in a couple days to confirm the problem is solved (or not).

[swest6602]

Made it several days now with no further problems. Still running the Netgear router with 1 switch. I am embarrassed that it took so long to find what, in hindsight was obvious, but I thought of the switches more as hubs or dumb pass-through devices so did not consider them as possible causes. Live and learn.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to help me out. Hopefully this thread will help someone else who tries a similar set-up and bumps into the same problem. We are a smallish community and most folks are probably more technically inclined than I am, but with such a great products in the Ceton tuners, companion apps, and upcoming Echo hopefully we'll see some more newbs join the ranks (assuming they can figure out how to get Media Center in Windows 8). At my end I added at least one new Media Center user. I gave two of my nephews my old OTA tuners in August to take to college. One is up and running (the geekier of the two). The other had trouble getting a signal with the antenna I gave him and quit, but keeps threatening to try it again.

Thanks again,
Sue

[gpatlanta]

I'm certain there are many on here (including me) that have overlooked the simple problem to focus on something else we perceive. Its part of the learning process. Glad you got things sorted and welcome to the community and the Media Center user ranks!

[swest6602]

So.... I was wrong. Checked the data this AM and it was through the roof-- again. This time I was able to catch it running with the router. Unplug XBox, no change. Unplug Revue, meter stops (I used both last night for the 1st time since the crazy data stopped so it was an obvious place to start this time). It was not the switches creating some sort of weird bridge. It also was not the Revue itself (I have 2), it was the Google Play Music app on the Logitech Revue in my bedroom. I did not catch it previously because it doesn't happen on demand. I was wondering about the Revues all along, but tested both a few times. The tests didn't show anything because I was apparently not triggering the app. This time it took 4 days for the app to start whatever it was doing to suck down the data. Caught it this AM. Unplugging the Revue is a reset, (something I did several times during this process.) This AM I searched 'Revue and Data Usage' and stumble on http://www.googletvforum.org/forum/logi ... -data.html. Apparently many people are having the issue. I hardly use either Revue anymore, but kept them hooked up for the remote capabilities. Logitech makes a horrible set-top box, but a great remote. UGH. So mad. (One Revue now goes to the electronics recycle bin and the other loses it internet capabilities until I replace its remote features).

[newfiend]

You should send Logitech a bill for your internet usage...that's crazy.. I would definitely contact them!!

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[bobbob]

you're the person that bought a revue?!?

[richard1980]

No, he's both of the people that bought a Revue.

[newfiend]

Ouch... Guys.... Ouch... LOL

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[Venom51]

All the geeks haven't figured that they are talking to a girl yet. That is unless his dad named him Sue.

[erkotz]

No, he's both of the people that bought a Revue.

C'mon - there's at least one more of them around, someone donated one to my Hackerspace.