Forum Discussion

hdavis71's avatar
hdavis71
New Contributor II
2 years ago

Extreme Data Usage

About October 15 my data usage went up 300 to 400% in one day and has not gone down.  Three days of the month I was out of town and still had exteremly high data usage.  There is a problem with Cox data usage monitoring.  I called Cox and they said there is nothging they can do about it.  I asked for them to send a tech out to investigate the problem and they said they do not send techs out to solve this type of issue.  I have no choice but to drop their service.  I have been a customer for over 20 years and they have no loyalty.

  • SabC's avatar
    SabC
    New Contributor II
    2 years ago

    Im having the exact same issue. I almost went over my data in October and im not doing anything different in my house. Only have a smart tv, roku in sons room (barely uses), and will work on my lap top maybe a couple hours a day.  I downloaded the Cox wifi app to make sure no one else was on my wifi. I unplugged all devices minus my tv. I turned off my wifi on my phone and it says I was still using a lot of gbs.  I then started to unplug my wifi and only plug it in when I want to watch tv or use my computer. It says I used over 40gbs from watching 6 hours of tv. I only watched Disney and I think Netflix. I think that is absurd. I'm doing nothing different in my house than before and my average monthly usage was between 500-600gbs. I'm only 5 days in my billing cycle and it says I've used 157gbs. Something is definitely wrong. My neighbors work from home all day, stream their tv in the background, will also play video games daily and some days they don't even get to 40gbs with all that. But me watching 6 hours of tv did. 

    • hdavis71's avatar
      hdavis71
      New Contributor II
      2 years ago

      According to the forum this is happening to many cox customers.  Cox has to own the problem and fix it.  I did not start using 300-400% more data in one day.

      • SabC's avatar
        SabC
        New Contributor II
        2 years ago

        I just got off the phone with them. They can see the huge increase in data and agree watching 6 hours of tv shouldn't be over 40gbs. All I got was they will send it to network engineering and get back to me and told me to keep my wifi unplugged when not in use. Which is kind of a pain. 

  • Ks1994's avatar
    Ks1994
    New Contributor II
    2 years ago

    I want to echo a similar issue I'm having. I haven't ever exceeded 100gb/day over the last 2 months (as far back as you can see online). I typically use around 50gb or less per day, and have not exceeded my monthly limit in 10 months of using the service. Yesterday, I get an email saying I'm at 90% of my data usage for the month but that my cycle would be resetting the next day. Coincidentally, the day before the cycle was going to reset, Cox is saying I used 258gb in one day - the equivalent of streaming 4k video for 33 hours - and now I'm over my data limit for the month. 

    Support suggested someone may be stealing my WiFi (there are no unauthorized devices on my router) and I should reset my password. No way to check which devices are using THAT much data. 

    Maybe it's a crazy coincidence and a WiFi pirate logged in the day before my cycle reset and used 400% more data than usual, or Cox is artificially inflating the numbers at the end of the month in order to collect "overdraft" data fees. If there's an attorney or other customers interested in investigating this, I would be interested to see what you find. 

    • SabC's avatar
      SabC
      New Contributor II
      2 years ago

      Yeah maybe that's what their doing. I never heard back from network engineering but magically now my data usage seems to have gone back done to normal usage but still seems a little high. Also now it's saying 60% of my usage is in the Other category when previously it was streaming that was using the most. I have only been watching my tv, nothing else. Still seems fishy

      • LisaH's avatar
        LisaH
        Moderator
        2 years ago

        Hi SabC. This appears as if you may need someone to look into your account personally. We would definitely be able to assist you with this. Please reach out to us on Twitter at CoxHelp via DM, visit us on Facebook via private message, or email us at cox.help@cox.com. Provide us the name on the account with the complete service address with a link to this thread so we can get started. - Lisa, Cox Support Forums Moderator

  • Squirrel1's avatar
    Squirrel1
    New Contributor
    2 years ago

    We're experiencing the same issue, with a very large spike in data usage in the "Network Management and Testing" category just a few days before our billing cycle ends. 

    Cox support was not helpful at all in identifying the issue. 
    If anybody reading this has further information for how to resolve, we would be very grateful. 

    • hdavis71's avatar
      hdavis71
      New Contributor II
      2 years ago

      Monitoring and verifying are two different actions.  My usage has not increased 300-400% in one day and the usage when I am out of town should be less than 50-60.  to refuse to send out a tech to investigate the problem is a great lack of customer service and concern. 

      • MichaelJ's avatar
        MichaelJ
        Moderator
        2 years ago

        hdavis71, 

         

        Data usage reflects the amount of data used by online activities, not the amount of time spent online. If you have any devices online even while you are away from home, they can receive updates automatically. I suggest checking your Anti-Virus settings and check for any programs running in the background automatic operating system updates. 

         

        Sending a tech to the house would not determine your individual data usage. The Data Usage Meter is the best way to check your Data Usage. You may also use the Cox App: https://www.cox.com/residential/learn/cox-app.html  

         

        I recommend checking daily, keeping in mind the usage updates up to 24 hours later. 

         

         

         

         

         

  • CurtB's avatar
    CurtB
    Honored Contributor
    2 years ago

    You didn't provide any information about devices you have, but if you have Wi-Fi, maybe you should change your password.  Your neighbors could be pirating your broadband.

    • Becky's avatar
      Becky
      Moderator
      2 years ago

      Hi Hdavis71, CurtB brings up a very good point. Changing the password to your home network to a password that you've never used before is my very first suggestion. Also, what MichaelJ said about automatic updates is very important. Automatic uploads to back up files to cloud-based storage services, automatic syncs between tablets and other mobile devices, and internet-connected security cameras all drive data usage. Streaming video is typically the largest driver of usage for many customers. Updates to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu can sometimes alter the default video settings. I also suggest to check each of your devices for viruses and malware. These programs may run in the background and increase data usage. If you have a Cox Panoramic Wifi Gateway, you can use the Cox Panoramic Gateway App to view your network devices, view your Data Usage Meter, and see the type of data activities are generating the most data usage in your household.

  • WillD's avatar
    WillD
    New Contributor
    2 years ago

    I am also experiencing extreme data usage (now up to 140+ GB per day) that appears to have started in September, increased in October, and exceeded my data cap in mid-November.

    I was able to trace the problem to a process running on my Mac Pro (late 2013) called “newsd”. I have found posts about this process and its behavior that go back to 2020 and occur on several versions of macOS. The work-around was to disable iCloud syncing for the Apple News application. After I did this, I still had one instance of the newsd process running wild. I am still experimenting to see what might set the process off. The only sure work-around for me is to logout of my account on my Mac. I am also able to force-quit the newsd process using Apple’s Activity Monitor application, but the process is eventually relaunched and may go wild. Windows offers similar tools (e.g. WireShark) similar to Activity Monitor to look for processes that run wild by downloading excessive amounts of data. The Cox app’s Data Usage Activities, Usage by Category section shows the data as “Unknown” which is consistent with encrypted data being downloaded from iCloud.

    Post on “newsd process on Big Sur downloading MASSIVE amounts of traffic”
    < https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252209292 >

    The Cox techs tried but could not help much with this kind of issue. I even got a call back from tech, Kyle, who left a detailed message about information he could determine. I appreciate their effort.

    • CurtB's avatar
      CurtB
      Honored Contributor
      2 years ago

      In Window, look for Startup, Services or Scheduled Tasks that launch the process.