Forum Discussion

clma23's avatar
clma23
New Contributor
4 years ago

Cox High Data Usage Doesn’t Match Router Traffic Meter

Cox shows ridiculous amounts of data usage but my router traffic meter shows normal usage. It started last month. I changed my wifi network name and password and limited the devices as well as turned...
bandwidth
internet
BurnedByCox's avatar
BurnedByCox
New Contributor

My wife and I average 20GB a day. Can you explain how Cox can report 712GB used on April 6 alone? That's the equivalent of streaming four UHD TVs the entire day. We don't even have that many TVs in our home.

BenS1's avatar
BenS1
Former Moderator
4 years ago
Hi @BurnedByCox

There are numerous factors that impact data usage. I’d first suggest that you change your home network password to something new. We’ve heard from several customers recently, who—after noticing spikes in their data usage—were able to restore their data usage to what they considered ‘normal’ for their household simply by changing their network password. Have you checked all of your household devices for viruses and malware? Spyware running in the background can cause sudden spikes in data usage.

Ben S.
Cox Support Forums Moderator
  • BurnedByCox's avatar
    BurnedByCox
    New Contributor
    4 years ago

    Change password? Done. Monitor usage? Daily. All devices which can be protected from viruses, malware and spyware are running Norton for a number of years now. May 9 usage? 97 GB. And we were out of the house most of the day.

    • CrystalS's avatar
      CrystalS
      Former Moderator
      4 years ago
      Hi @BurnedByCox

      You may want to check to see how much data Norton is using to protect the devices. Also, you may want to check to see if any of the devices are updating anything in the background. I have included some links for more information. If you are still unsure of what could be causing the spikes and would like the signal check to your account(Our team can check snapshots of your signal to the modem, not data usage). You can also download data monitoring apps. We would definitely be able to assist you with this. Please reach us on Twitter at @CoxHelp, visit us on Facebook, or email us at cox.help@cox.com. Please not personally. Provide us the name on the account with the complete service address with a link to this thread so we can get started.

      www.cox.com/.../data-usage.html -learn about data
      www.cox.com/.../understanding-data-usage.html -understanding data
      www.cox.com/.../unlimited-and-500-gb-additional-data-plans.html -data plans

      Crystal S.
      Cox Support Forum Moderator
      • Milliki77's avatar
        Milliki77
        New Contributor
        4 years ago

        Q for Crystal S:  Which data monitoring apps do you recommend?

    • Superbigwaff's avatar
      Superbigwaff
      Contributor
      4 years ago

      I had a similar situation occurring and discovered my kid was turning off the TV but leaving the AppleTV YouTube app running. The YouTube app had been cycling through videos for hours. Using a feature of my router, I limited the AppleTV device to 4 hrs of "internet time" per day. Problem sort of solved.

      • Milliki77's avatar
        Milliki77
        New Contributor
        4 years ago

        Q for Superbigwaff:  Is your router a separately purchased router or is it a feature within the Cox panoramic combined modem/router?  If its the latter, is it a feature under parental controls and where?