160GB additional usage over 6 months - its a lot if you haven't used it!!!

[#1]

@Chris, I'm really quite amazed by your comment  'I've just checked over your account ........... How do you know who I am?  Are the figures you checked mine? .....................?

[#2]

Your forum account is linked back to your account in our CRM system.

[#3]

@maxviz -Have you actually looked at your router information pages to see whether any unauthorised users are/have been logged on?
On my router I can see the MACs of all devices that have recently been given an IP by looking at DHCP Leases; also under wireless devices I can see the MACs of devices currently connected.
In my case I can identify all the devices that have or are connected wirelessly.
Also, have you tried the suggestions of Gel from the previous page?

[#4]

Quote from: maxviz

@Chris, I'm really quite amazed by your comment  'I've just checked over your account ........... How do you know who I am?  Are the figures you checked mine? .....................?

When you registered on these forums it forced you to enter your Plusnet user details!

[#5]

Hi all, to everyone who has offered me practical advise, I have tried all or at least most of your suggestions but that has not shed any light onto the excessive data usage. Sadly it appears that no one can help with this issue. I have tried to make clear my issue but either people are missing the point or they simply don't realise what it is that I am saying. I will continue to monitor this post in the hope that somebody understands. To the guys from pn thanks for your attempts to answer my concerns. To those who have taken an interest,good luck and watch your data usage very carefully!

[#6]

Try answering the questions asked!
How long has this been going on? Is it a similar amount every month?
It is absolutely 100% certain that the traffic recorded by Plusnet is accurate. What you need to do is find out what is generating the excess usage.
What devices do you connect to the internet? For PCs running Windows you should install NetWorx as recommended by gofaster

[#7]

Quote from: maxviz

I have tried to make clear my issue but either people are missing the point or they simply don't realise what it is that I am saying.

From reading the responses on this thread I think everyone that has contributed understands the point you make but doesn't agree that the onus is completely on PN to resolve the issue.  PN already supply data regarding the type of traffic which is more than many ISPs. 
<Analogy>If you received an electricity/gas/water bill for consumption in excess of your expectations you would monitor your usage carefully and then perhaps raise a query regarding the accuracy of the meter if your figures are wildly different</Analogy>
Why is this situation any different?  Just because PN supply a breakdown of your traffic doesn't mean that there isn't a need for you to monitor your usage in order to gather data to challenge the bill.  Others have pointed out that the usage reporting is, in their experience, accurate so the balance of probability is that it is in your case as well.

[#8]

It is always difficult trying to assess the amount of traffic used - either from the OP's perspective or from PN's.
However, is it possible that PN can provide a bit more detail on an Hour-by-hour basis (even on a mutually agreed one-off basis)?
I note the the OP's initial post stated:- "My computer is not left on overnight nor is it left on during the day". Hence, other than "token" Router Traffic, his usage should be virtually zero in those periods.
If the usage only coincides with the OP's Computer being on then it would appear to be caused by the OP, but if it doesn't then it could be either some form of hi-jacknig!
If PN are unable to provide this breakdown, then I would certainly recommend that the OP does not use his PC for a day (but leave his Router on) & then checks to see that day's usage. Depending on that result, I would recommend him repeating it with both the PC & the Router off!
Additionally, depending on his Router, he might be able to get basic usage figures from it to compare the daily totals!
Hopefully, this will at least get the query into context!!
In addition to that, if he hasn't already done so, he should certainly double-check his Virus definitions & also run an Anti_malware program - just to be certain that his PC is not churning out without him realising it.

[#9]

Quote from: jelv

It is absolutely 100% certain that the traffic recorded by Plusnet is accurate.

I disagree - this is an extract from a pm when I had a similar problem - the one to which I never got any more info about.......
Basically we use 2 systems for usage aggregation, Ellacoya and CBC. On accounts where there is no additional charge for usage the displayed amount is from the Ellacoya system, for those we charge extra usage on it's taken from CBC.
Usually these 2 systems are so close with the usage it wouldn't matter which we used for each, however for some reason yours is massively different! Hence me wanting to do some digging.
As I said earlier in the thread I am on unlimited so the amount of usage didn't matter.
I understand where the OP is coming from.

[#10]

That was a conflict between the two systems, in this case though the OPs usage is only collected via CBC (the one that in your case, and pretty much all others, was reporting correctly).

[#11]

Hi,
Do not know if this helps, but I have recently found an excessive level of use on my account.  Knew it could be no one other than the wife's daughter...  She said she had not been doing anything - beyond "copying my photos from my (Galaxy) phone to my laptop" though she did also mutter something like "via my Google account....!".  When I explained to her that the 1500 photos had consumed (on one day) 3.5G (of our 10G allowance) she promptly told me it could not have been her "I was transferring them to the laptop, not the internet".
The point here is that with cloud technology being in nearly everything social these days, it is possible that we are using the internet (and thereby bandwidth allowance) when we believe we are simply copying from one 'in-household' device to another.  I plugged that issue by capping the additional spend to £zero!  Now the rule is "when its gone, its gone".

[#12]

@Townman,
A very valid point!
Given the way things like Win-8 tend to default to Microsoft's Skydrive (et al), then even doing a Word Document will lead to usage!