Hi. I use Bell internet and have a 65 Gb cap which is normally more than enough. This past month we got a bill with a $40 overuse charge (!) So I went in and looked at the monthly usage amount and we used about 35 GB downloading and 50 GB uploading. I looked at our bills for the past 6 months and maximum uploading has always been 2 GB or less. What could be causing this big increase??

We don't specifically upload anything like movies, photos etc. so I have no idea how our usage could jump so much. On some days, we apparently uploaded over 2GB which is the maximum that we've used in a whole month. I spent almost an hour on the phone with Bell and they weren't able to explain much. Apparently no one else is using our service. They suggested it might be a virus (although the 4th person that I got transferred to suggested it might be torrents. As far as I'm aware, we're not using torrents.) Is there anything else that could cause the upload amount to jump so high.??

What devices do you have? Do you have an iPhone ? Could you or someone in the house be backing up the idevices to the iCloud?

A MacBook, MacBook Pro, netbook and a Samsung Galaxy phone. I've never used iCloud and neither has my husband. I use Remote Desktop Connection on my MacBook to remotely access and upload files for work but they're only Word documents (reports) and just a few times a month, maybe once a week.

Check the logs in your router - most decent router have logs of useage by device and places visited.
Also I would turn off or block ads
Try to see if any one is backing up to iCloud or photo stream which useless and I disabled it.
Also have you reinstalled your OS a few times ? Since everything apple does is net based
This happened to me once was never charged but I turned off my Rogers modem over night and it cleared the cache on it.
That was the best tip I got from Rogers.

Oh be sure to turn off and disconnect from the remote connection properly
Or the meter runs all the time

Thanks so much for the advice macintosh doctor! I think I always log out of RDC properly but I'll definitely keep an eye on that. I didn't realize that it still keeps running if you don't log off . There's only me and my husband and neither of even know how to use iCloud (!) I haven't reinstalled the OS ever. Sorry but I have no idea how to check the logs on the router or to disable ads. Could you give me an idea how to get started with that?

Reinstalling your OS isn't going cause your UPLOAD to increase. Lol!

Done any torrent downloading? Left it seeding afterwards? Popular item?

Do you do a lot to TV or movie streaming on your computer? Like even watching Netflix on your xbox or playstation would do it. I had to upgrade our bandwidth usage because I had two kids watching lots of netflix stuff and streaming TV shows on the laptops.

Do you do a lot to TV or movie streaming on your computer? Like even watching Netflix on your xbox or playstation would do it. I had to upgrade our bandwidth usage because I had two kids watching lots of netflix stuff and streaming TV shows on the laptops.

Would not cause a sudden increase in UPLOAD!?

Would not cause a sudden increase in UPLOAD!?
Ooops misread that one, thanks!

Two things immediately spring to mind:

1) Do you have a wireless router with a nice strong password and WPA2 encryption? Someone could be stealing your wifi. I realize you said no one else is using your network but I'm curious as to how that's been established.

2) Dropbox

Is it possible that Bell is wrong? They have been known to make mistakes.

Is it possible that Bell is wrong? They have been known to make mistakes.

as I mentioned before.. turn your modem off and unplug it over night.. that will cause the cache to clear and re sync with your provider - this did happen to me with rogers and after I DID THIS, i have had a bill greater than 25 GBs of bandwidth.. lucky for me I have 100GB cap but couple of months was 60 and 70GBs and I phoned them to complain..

Since that time I keep my eye on my logs and run my own bandwidth meter within my router, as I no longer trust rogers.

Is it possible that Bell is wrong? They have been known to make mistakes.
NEVER!:rolleyes:

NEVER!:rolleyes:

^^ :lmao:

Reinstalling your OS isn't going cause your UPLOAD to increase. Lol!

Done any torrent downloading? Left it seeding afterwards? Popular item?

I had kind of forgotten about this, but about a year ago, I played around with Frostwire. I downloaded part of a movie and an exercise video. Then forgot all about it until yesterday when I did a search for torrents and found them. Would someone be able to access those files even when Frostwire is not open?? Sorry, I don't really understand how torrents work.

Two things immediately spring to mind:

1) Do you have a wireless router with a nice strong password and WPA2 encryption? Someone could be stealing your wifi. I realize you said no one else is using your network but I'm curious as to how that's been established.

2) Dropbox

Good question. I think it's a strong password (?) -- combination of 10 letters and numbers. I checked and the encryption is actually set to WEP. I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure that it was set to WPA2 before. We've been having ongoing speed issues on and off (sometimes slowing to 1MB!). I've called Bell about it for several months and their solution is typically to unplug and replug the modem. The last time, which was about a month ago, the tech had me reset everything and create a new network name and password. I'm pretty sure that he had me change it from WPA2 to WEP. No idea why. I didn't realize until looking it up now and realized that WEP is not as secure. Do you think that's the problem?? Kind of a coincidence that the encryption was changed a month ago and that's when we began having issues with massively increased upload usage. Should I just go ahead and change it to WPA2?

As for how they checked, I think all they did was to check and see how many devices we have (3) and then checked and saw that 2 devices were using the network. I'm not sure if there was anything else that happened but that seemed to be about the gist of it.

Sorry, I've never used Dropbox.

I had kind of forgotten about this, but about a year ago, I played around with Frostwire. I downloaded part of a movie and an exercise video. Then forgot all about it until yesterday when I did a search for torrents and found them. Would someone be able to access those files even when Frostwire is not open?? Sorry, I don't really understand how torrents work.

I am not sure how frost wire works but make sure your port is closed in the router and turn off any file sharing you might of enabled for that service.

NEVER!:rolleyes:

Yes never!! LOL The initial customer service rep that I spoke to started talking to me like I was 12, lecturing me about how 'everytime you use the internet, your'e always uploading and downloading, bla bla bla...." But that doesn't explain how my upload usage is 25x what it normally is and 10 GB higher than my download usage. She just kept repeating the same thing so I asked to be transferred to someone else.

as I mentioned before.. turn your modem off and unplug it over night.. that will cause the cache to clear and re sync with your provider - this did happen to me with rogers and after I DID THIS, i have had a bill greater than 25 GBs of bandwidth.. lucky for me I have 100GB cap but couple of months was 60 and 70GBs and I phoned them to complain..

Since that time I keep my eye on my logs and run my own bandwidth meter within my router, as I no longer trust rogers.

Do you mean doing this nightly or as a one time fix? How do you check the logs?

I am not sure how frost wire works but make sure your port is closed in the router and turn off any file sharing you might of enabled for that service.

Sorry, but how do I do that?

Do you mean doing this nightly or as a one time fix? How do you check the logs?

One time
If you log into your router by typing your ip of the router in the browser you surf with

sudo rm -rf /

Yes never!! LOL The initial customer service rep that I spoke to started talking to me like I was 12, lecturing me about how 'everytime you use the internet, your'e always uploading and downloading, bla bla bla...." But that doesn't explain how my upload usage is 25x what it normally is and 10 GB higher than my download usage. She just kept repeating the same thing so I asked to be transferred to someone else.
Do what I did ask for someone in Canada! My problem was solved in two days after two weeks. Initially I kept getting someone overseas who practically just "read" from the manual. Somehow I got a Canadian guy at three in the morn (yes my problem was frustrating).

Do what I did ask for someone in Canada! My problem was solved in two days after two weeks. Initially I kept getting someone overseas who practically just "read" fron the manual. Somehow I got a Canadian guy at three in the morn (yes my problem was frustrating).

One of the many reasons I don't use bell, rather Rogers

Yes, use WPA2 and I strongly recommend MD's suggestion about monitoring your own usage. Bell and Rogers are the two worst price gougers around and they've been known to make "mistakes" by over charging more often than most... A quick search will tell all.

If you suspect it could be coming from your computer, "little snitch" will tell you any requests being sent from your own programs. Not to be paranoid but that's one possibility.

One of the many reasons I don't use bell, rather Rogers
To be honest both companies I had billing and lousy service issues. Roger had yet to replace the 40 year old cables in our area. HD not so hot on TV so we switch to satellite on Bell. Better but Bell's billing sucks, wife has to check constantly for overcharged services.

Thank you all very much for your advice. I really appreciate it. Could someone please direct me to where I can find instructions for setting up a WPA2 network? I've set up a new network before and I thought I did the same steps as last time but I must be forgetting a step and can't get it to work.

To be honest both companies I had billing and lousy service issues. Roger had yet to replace the 40 year old cables in our area. HD not so hot on TV so we switch to satellite on Bell. Better but Bell's billing sucks, wife has to check constantly for overcharged services.

funny, I complained and they strung a new cable from the pole to my home middle of winter
and then when spring came they re feed it underground to my home.. I watched..

everytime I complain they come out.. actually couple of homes in our 'hood complained they did the same.

Bell forget it.. - worst ever service on the planet.
PROUDLY BELL FREE FOR 8 YEARS AND COUNTING.

Thank you all very much for your advice. I really appreciate it. Could someone please direct me to where I can find instructions for setting up a WPA2 network? I've set up a new network before and I thought I did the same steps as last time but I must be forgetting a step and can't get it to work.

It just might help if you provided some info for the hardware that you're using.

And for your excess upload billing, maybe have a look at some of the monitoring software if your equipment is supported and keep track as to what's going on with ISP's access, maybe:

Download SNMP Test Utility for Mac - Monitor network and router functionality. MacUpdate.com (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/39693/snmp-test-utility)
or
Download NetUse Traffic Monitor for Mac - Monitor your network traffic. MacUpdate.com (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/39200/netuse-traffic-monitor)

etc.

maybe download and try the trial version of Little snitch (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/10426/little-snitch), which will alert you to any and all outgoing connection attempts.

Thank you all very much for your advice. I really appreciate it. Could someone please direct me to where I can find instructions for setting up a WPA2 network? I've set up a new network before and I thought I did the same steps as last time but I must be forgetting a step and can't get it to work.

The exact steps are dependent on the brand and model of your router. Here are the general steps and links to half a dozen manufacturer's support sites

Q. I have lost the password to my router – how do I reset it? | CanadaRAM: Memory and Computer Q&A (http://www.computer-answers.ca/2012/internet-networking/q-i-have-lost-the-password-to-my-router-how-do-i-reset-it/)

The exact steps are dependent on the brand and model of your router. Here are the general steps and links to half a dozen manufacturer's support sites

Q. I have lost the password to my router – how do I reset it? | CanadaRAM: Memory and Computer Q&A (http://www.computer-answers.ca/2012/internet-networking/q-i-have-lost-the-password-to-my-router-how-do-i-reset-it/)

Thank you! That did the trick. Thanks also for the program recommendations. I'll look into them.

This happened to me as well. If adding a password doesn't work, think about replacing your router. They do wear out, and that's what happened to me,. I switchexd to the apple router, and all is fine.

Cheers,

Canada Mike

Thanks. I didn't know that. Actually I will be replacing the router -- decided to cancel Bell and give Rogers a try. They're probably just as bad but they offered me a good deal for internet + TV so I thought I"d give them a try. Just had way too many negative experiences with Bell and this last incident just gave me more incentive to leave.