Plusnet Value - possible overclocking?

[#1]

I'm on Plusnet Value (no phone) and allowed 10GB downloads per month. For about the past 2 weeks I've noticed my usage is about double the normal. On using BitMeter, I noticed if I switch my laptop on and off during the day and go online each time, a mysterious 33MB is added on top of the normal usage I expected. Does anyone have an explanation for this or had a similar problem?

[#2]

Windows updates ?
Sometimes a failed update will try and download again. 33Mb isn't a huge amount to download but you might also want to download something like Networx which lets you monitor what is using your bandwidth.
Do you have any Apple software installed ? There have been recent issues where it has consumed large volumes of bandwidth without the users realising.

[#3]

Possibly a virus checker doing daily updates - some can be truly massive (100's of MB) when the database totally revised rather than just an update.
While Networx is good at monitoring usage on an hourly/daily/monthly basis as I recall it doesn't record what program/memory process is using it over what time frame.
Something like Sysinternals TCPview shows a real time log of what each internet connection from your computer is using at that moment in time.....but this does obviously require you to monitor it real time as well as once the connection has ceased the values recorded is removed from the display and then the data is lost.
I don't know of any program however which will log all of this to a file so that for example at the end of the day you can see a summary of exactly what program was connecting to the internet during the day or particular hour and how much it uploaded/downloaded during that time slot................and I'd be interested if there is one out there.

[#4]

Hi jim2009,
I'd definitely try a bandwidth monitor if this continues to concern you.
let us know how you get on.

[#5]

Thanks for all your help. Not Microsoft updates as I receive prior notificaion. I see I have Apple Application support and Apple updater - not sure why so I've uninstalled them.
I'm sending a log of events to Plusnet online -  I hate using their call centre because of the VERY LOUD music they play while on hold. I don't wish to go deaf prematurely!

[#6]

Hi jim2009,
I'd be interested in seeing this.
Whilst it is a very minimal amount of usage, it would probably be sensible to identify the cause of it.
Matty

[#7]

I installed ttB Meter to discover where those mysterious 32 MB downloads were coming from. It seems they are updates from Bullguard (anti-virus) and I'd been getting three or four of these per day since about September 23.
Bullguard's reply was -"our updates are indeed not that large."
For example, today I had six updates: Four of them were 32 MB, (but one before 8 am) one at 300 kB and the other less than 1 MB. My limit is 10 GB per month which works out at just over 300 MB per day. I've e-mailed Bullguard to ask then to let me know the actual size of the updates that have been sent to me recently.

[#8]

To avoid the worry of hitting your cap, why not upgrade to Unlimited? It can't be that much more per month, if not equal?!

[#9]

Hi jim2009,
I'm glad to read that it seems you've found the culprit!
It sounds like this is just the virus definitions updating  as and when each new definition becomes available.

[#10]

Solved the problem at last! The strange downloads were caused by malware called "Offer4U" - I'd run 2 full scans by Bullguard but had not detected it. I contacted them and advised I download AdwCleaner to scan and clean. It seems to have worked. My thanks to all who've given advice on the matter.

[#11]

Glad you got it sorted and thanks for posting back what the issue was
You might (as above) want to look at the unlimited packages and see if they could be worth moving to for your own peace of mind - often you can eat up data allowance by the most innocent looking things - I've seen a Windows Update from 8 to 8.1 eat 3Gb of data in very little time.

[#12]

Quote from: jim2009

Solved the problem at last!

What a relief! I didn't really know what else to suggest.

[#13]

Malwarebytes is another excellent package for removing problematic spyware, malware and tracking cookies etc.

[#14]

I spoke too soon! Despite full scans by Bullguard, scans with AdwCleaner and MalwareBytes (removed 3 PUPs) I've had 3 of those mysterious downloads today - each about 32MB. It sounds drastic but would going back to my laptop's factory settings be any use - I expect that is the same as formatting the hard drive?

[#15]

Use a Factory Reset as a last resort
In the meantime use Emsisoft Emergency Kit (The Emsisoft Emergency Kit contains a collection of programs that can be used without installation to scan for malware and clean infected computers.)
Or you could use their FULL free 30 day trial version http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware/
Kaspersky's TDSSKiller
&
Hitman Pro (Make sure you choose the correct version for your infected machine, eg. 32bit) also choose run on this computer one time (don't worry you can re-rerun it again )