Internet Usage Meter Discrepancies

[bertiewooster]

Documenting my issues with the Internet Usage meter.

1. I switched from a Docsys2 Moto Surfboard to a Docsys3 Cisco DPC3825 on Nov 1 2011.  I do not believe my usage patterns changed drastically after the switch.  With the D2 modem, we consistently used 25gb-35gb per month.  After the D3 switch, our usage patterns reported in the rogers tool are between 46gb and >90gb (much higher variance), and we have received 2 of the "75% of capacity" notices.

2. Current configuration:

    rogers network -> DPC3825 in bridge mode -> Cisco RV220W gateway -> everything on the home net

    So all my traffic goes through the Cisco RV220W.  I turned on the WAN Traffic meter in the cisco

    box so I could get a second measurement to compare to the Rogers tool.

3. Today we got a "75% of capacity" notice so I check the usage.  Rogers says this:

Daily Usage             Download Upload Total (MB)
  March 02, 2012     596      144     740
  March 01, 2012     18,624      407     19,031

The WAN traffic meter in the Cisco gateway says this:

WAN (Internet) Traffic Statistics
Start Date / Time:    Thu Mar 1 00:00:39 2012    
Outgoing Traffic Volume:    248 MB    
Incoming Traffic Volume:    2623 MB    
Average per Day:    957

About a 17gb discrepancy for a 2-3 day period.

4. I contact chat support to report this.

2. Streaming/Gaming
Online gaming can use surprisingly large amounts of data. Similarly, streaming media such as TV On Demand (Netflix, Youtube, etc.) and e-sports events can use amounts of data similar to file sharing. Make sure that the people who use your internet connection are aware of your data cap.

3. Wireless Network
If you have a wireless router or a wireless modem, it is advisable to protect it with a password and periodically change the password in case it is compromised. Without a password, anyone within range of your signal can use your bandwidth (some routers have a far range).

4. Viruses/Malware
If your computer has contracted a virus or other malicious software, this could be using up your data cap as it transmits information to it's originator. Ensure you have sufficient antivirus protection and scan your computer.
 

Seems like a big waste of time but I was curious if Rogers can substantiate their usage figures.  If this is going to be used to generate overage charges, then I would expect as much detail as I would get from a mobile phone provider.

A meta comment: this whole usage cap and overage charge thing seems counter productive.  I work in the marketing / customer relationship management space and this is a textbook way to alienate customers, destroy customer loyalty, and increase churn for minor increases in revenue.

***edited labels***

[skinorth]

@bertiewooster:

nice transcript of the entire interaction with Rogers on your issue!  And a nice illustration of Rogers' corporate attitude to us as consumers.

What we need to face up to as Rogers customers is that Rogers has demonstrated no intent, zero, period, of worrying about this issue.

In the first place, we as customers know nothing about how Rogers measures our usage.  For anyone that is even a little technical, it is obvious that there are many different ways of measuring usage, and then of interpreting that data.  Rogers has to the best of my knowledge published absolutely nothing on how they arrive at our usage numbers.

If we, for example, purchase any other metered commodity or service, (cell phone/mobile services which you mention are a good example) we are given some kind of a breakdown of how the provider arrives at the charges on our billing.  For Internet usage apparently this is not required.

In most other cases when we purchase measured commodities, gasoline, food, whatever, our government has in place weights and measures legislation and enforcement mechanisms to ensure the consumer gets what they are paying for.  Not so with Internet usage.

Are we the consumer so stupid that we will accept this situation to go on for much longer?  Perhaps the better question is: how can we get changes in this situation?

Just what is going on here?

Where is the CRTC and our government when the need for their oversight and intervention is so clearly required?

skinorth

[mhannan]

I too have found that since "upgrading" to the Hitron modem in January 2013 my usage has skyrocketed. In Dec. with only a 60GB limit I went over by a few gigs. Now since switching to the new modem I am regularly (according to Rogers) going between 80 & 90 GB even though my general usage patterns have not changed. I don't really understand the technical issues as some people on this board do, but is there anything I can argue with Rogers about this? I will try the "how is the usage monitored" argument but I wonder if there are any other technical issues that I can argue? 

[Pips]

Why is this topic marked as solved? Where is the answer for all to see? I just see that the OP's post was edited by a mod.

[Gdkitty]

Only the op or a mod can mark that, so don't know, original thread was a while ago.

My metering appears accurate (within say 100ish mb) based on what my usage patterns are (what i downloaded, amount of Netflix, gaming usage , etc).

I don't 100% monitor it seperately to the mb at the moment, so could be further out, but I do not see a 10,20,30+ gb increase as reported above.

That is not to say, some others have reported the same.

All I can suggest is to go in best armed (just to make sure it's nothing on your end that may be doing it without you knowing)
Take a day, turn off the wireless at the source, only have a pc wired. No Netflix, just basic Internet usage. Should be a small amount, and see if it tracks properly. If it's very far off you 100% know that it's a metering issue.

(Just to explain the without you knowing, Rogers apparently supports super HD on Netflix now. If your playback device does as well and quality settings are on the top, you may be getting this. One side effect, an HD show will use more slightly more bandwidth.)