Forum Discussion

Harley6's avatar
Harley6
New Contributor II
6 years ago

High data usage

In early December I ditched DirecTV and decided to stream live TV (PlayStation Vue through Roku) using Cox's Preferred 100 data plan, mainly in order to reduce the $160/month I was paying for DirecTV.  All was well the first month of streaming, but about halfway through the second month I was notified I had used  more than 1TB of data.

This baffled me because our usage was hardly any different the first half of January than it was all of December.  We stream live TV on two TVs (no movies, no gaming) and also have an iPad and two iPhones that we occasionally use for email and internet.  These are the only devices we have that would consume any data (that I'm aware of).  Our usage went from about 30-40 gb per day to more than 100.  I changed the wireless password and usage dropped back into the 30s, but this month it is regularly at 70 or more per day.  And yesterday, when I was away from home and one TV was in use for no more than three hours, my data usage was 91gb.

Am I missing something?  Is something constantly running even though the TVs are turned off that is burning so much data?

Appreciate any feedback.

  • vegasmisty's avatar
    vegasmisty
    New Contributor II
    6 years ago

    Last several months we are exceeding our data limit even though our viewing habits hadn’t changed from months prior to the overage months. But now suddenly each month since around Dec. we are exceeding. 

    • Parrothead's avatar
      Parrothead
      New Contributor III
      6 years ago

      My increased data usage also started the last week of November. None of our behaviors changed and we went from using approx. 10 gigs a day to 50 gigs a day. No one can tell me why but in the last few days, it has come down to 35-36 gigs a day so hopefully we won't go over the 1T we are allowed.

      • BrianM's avatar
        BrianM
        Moderator
        6 years ago
        Have you been streaming 4k content by chance? (Netflix, Youtube, etc.) 4K content uses a lot more data than 720p or 1080p.

        Brian
        Cox Support Forum Moderator
  • lillybherr's avatar
    lillybherr
    New Contributor
    6 years ago

    Mine did the same in just the last 2 months!!! I’ve had cox for years and nothing has changed. And all the sudden my bill is $20+ a month the last couple months. 😡

  • Harley6's avatar
    Harley6
    New Contributor II
    6 years ago

    Thanks for the responses.  Something definitely is weird.  Yesterday, I watched two hours of TV in the morning and was gone most of the rest of the day (I did work some on my laptop, including some work online with a wireless connection).

    I just checked my usage and it shows I used 56gb.

  • Harley6's avatar
    Harley6
    New Contributor II
    6 years ago

    Today's update from the makes-no-sense dept:   Two days ago I used 56gb despite being away from home nearly the whole day and streaming TV for only two hours.     Yesterday, I was home all day working online with one TV on much of the day and the second TV on in the evening, and my data usage was 51gb.

    • Parrothead's avatar
      Parrothead
      New Contributor III
      6 years ago

      Something changed, my usage is now where it should be. For the last four days, I'm only using 4 gigs a day which is where it should be for my usage. There were times in the past when grandkids were here watching netflix and streaming on their iPads that we used 10 gigs a day and that too, was acceptable. I would still like to know how I used 50 gigs a day for over 2 months, though.

      • Harley6's avatar
        Harley6
        New Contributor II
        6 years ago

        According to the data usage estimator, I should be using 662gb per month. That is very close to what I used in my first month with the service (785).  My second month, usage was 2068 with no real change in my data use habit. As I wrote earlier in this thread, I changed the router password and usage immediately dropped from more than 100gb per day to less than 35gb per day. But since then it has crept back up to between 48-75gb per day, with a high of over 90 gb one day. Again, usage habits have not changed from when we first started the service in December.  It simply should not fluctuate so much.

  • Parrothead's avatar
    Parrothead
    New Contributor III
    6 years ago

    I'm having the same issue, it started at the end of November. For at  least 2 years, I didn't use more than 10 gigs a day and then it jumped to 50 a day. I changed out my router and modem and changed my password but it continued. Cox technicians have been to my house twice, one installed a filter on my modem but again nothing helped. I only had 1 desktop computer hardwired to the modem and don't stream video or music. The tech said to unplug my computer ethernet cord when I'm not using it and that did stop the crazy usage but I know something is wrong and Cox can't figure it out. My husband got a new computer Saturday and is using wifi on it and our data usage somehow went down a little! I wish I could give you some advice but I'm still using almost 40 gigs a day and no one knows why. 

  • Michael_Evancoe's avatar
    Michael_Evancoe
    New Contributor III
    6 years ago

    I am having the same issue, I don't believe I could have used 1TB last month, just doesn't make sense.

    COX support told me they can't tell me what was taking up all that bandwidth because, apparently, the government doesn't let them?  COX support also basically told me there is no solution, no way to track, etc.  I am very concerned because this month is looking similar, and they're charging me extra due to this.

    • Parrothead's avatar
      Parrothead
      New Contributor III
      6 years ago

      I don't understand how a company can charge us for something that they can't prove that we used. I've been dealing with this for 4 weeks and it has cost me a lot of time as well as money to replace my modem and router. For some reason, adding another computer on my wifi seems to have reduced my data usage???? I wish you luck getting this straightened out. Please post if you find out what's happening.

      • KevinM2's avatar
        KevinM2
        Former Moderator
        6 years ago
        Hi Parrothead, here is a link with some additional information regarding data usage, www.cox.com/.../how-online-activities-impact-data-usage.html. As Chris previously stated, viruses and malware can increase your usage without your knowledge. Cox offers free virus protection, the Cox Security Suite. Streaming video typically accounts for the highest data usage. We would recommend checking the settings of what is being streamed. For instance, switching from 4K to HD or HD to standard definition. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator
  • lisaboehmke's avatar
    lisaboehmke
    New Contributor II
    6 years ago

    I'm having the same problem beginning Dec 18th. My data has doubled from the last 2 months and I'm not doing anything different. We have a PS4, 2 iphones, a mini ipad, an iMac, and a few other small wifi devices. I'm also having to pay extra and have five more days to go! Yesterday, we used 26GB! I have no idea what's going on. 

    • CarolLM's avatar
      CarolLM
      Former Moderator
      6 years ago
      Hi there, you want to first ensure that your router network is password secure - you may even want to change it to see if that makes a difference. Also, make sure any apps accessed on any device is properly logged out of when it's no longer being utilized. You may also log in to check your data usage throughout the day. I'm including a link that includes tips on how to optimize your data usage www.cox.com/.../data-usage.html . -Thanks, Carol
      • lisaboehmke's avatar
        lisaboehmke
        New Contributor II
        6 years ago

        I changed my password a few days ago and left most devices offline. Only 1 computer, 2 smart tv's, an iphone and a ps4 have been online. Hardly used any internet yesterday and still used 26GB. I have checked all options at cox.com and nothing will tell me where all the data is going, just that it is being used. It seems that something is awry with Cox.

  • jmcforum's avatar
    jmcforum
    New Contributor
    6 years ago

    Hey all on this forum - new routers typically have an app that will let you see exactly how much data is going in and out through a device and overall - devices get identified by MAC address and IP on the local network (your house) - if you can’t get the app check the manual - you should also be able to log in directly to your router from a locally connected device via web browser - typically you type into the browser https://198.168.1.1 this should get you to the routers login page  but read your manual - you can see the traffic from there and should narrow down the cause

  • kj78's avatar
    kj78
    New Contributor
    6 years ago

    I am having the same issue, I upgraded service to giga blast and decided to ditch dish network and go with cox cable.  The service was nice for about the two weeks I had it, then I got my first email ever saying I’m about to go over the data limit.  I was stunned, I didn’t even know there was a limit, I’ve had cox internet for about 15 years this was the first time ever hearing about a limit.  Well since the only thing that had changed as far as my usage or service was concerned was me upgrading to giga blast, it had to go. I was for sure that would be the end of my issue but the data usage kept increasing along with the overage charges, and this is after the downgrade and going back to all my previous equipment that I was just using 2 weeks prior with no problems. I was about to drop the cable because I had also started that service the same time these overages started, but I found this thread and see that it looks like it is a problem on cox’s side

    • kj78's avatar
      kj78
      New Contributor
      6 years ago

      Also, my bill has gone up in January, in overages only 120$ and February 100$.  Since receiving these emails and now overages, I have put limits on all my kids devices and then at night those devices are all paused through my router, me and my wife have also turned our WiFi off on our phones. So the way I see it, I should see lower data being used because I have never monitored or cared about the amount of data being used, but now I have my kids thinking they are being punished and me and the wife had to up our data on our phones because of this whole no wifi at the house thing.  But still the data usage is going up, and every time I call I get transferred about three times and have to explain the problem every time, and then get to hear about how streaming videos uses data..... I haven’t changed the way we have used any of our devices so why is my data usage changing. If anything now I use less and pay twice as much, wish I would of just kept my old internet (that I’m back on now) and stayed with dish, thought I was going to save about 50 bucks a month, boy was I wrong.

  • nyc2socal's avatar
    nyc2socal
    New Contributor
    6 years ago

    I experienced this a few months back, and as usual, cox was of no help. Nothing appeared unusual on my router or logs, and the data didn't match. Cox has no traffic analysis available to verify or validate against. I usually max out at 30GB a day, but during this issue was seeing 70-80GB a day. Eventually it "fixed" itself.  Once again, nothing changed. Not sure if it's related, but my modem died a couple of weeks later.

    I wonder if the modem was experiencing issues and began "beaconing" thereby spiking the data?