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bmesc's avatar
bmesc
New Contributor
4 years ago

High data usage from a wi-fi cam?

I am using a D-Link wi-fi cam and it *appears* to be using 10GB a day. This cam IS NOT set to constantly send recordings to the cloud. It is not being monitored all the time. It is not even recording to its SD card. I checked all the settings and nothing appears to be set to stream or otherwise use the internet (expect when I check in on my app, which is rarely). I monitor the devices connected to my wi-fi and see no unknown devices (that may be tapping into the stream). I have tested this phenomenon twice by turning it off/on with more than a week between switches. Each time, when the camera is on the daily data usage jumps around 10GB per day. I do not rent a modem or wifi from Cox. Does anyone have any idea if the camera is the cause?

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  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III
    4 years ago

    What's the app do?  Can you only watch real-time footage or can you watch recorded footage?

    • bmesc's avatar
      bmesc
      New Contributor
      4 years ago

      I only use the app to watch real time, and I don't look at it much. The camera has a SD card to record, but I am not using it. I do not record anything to the cloud. It would seem to me the only time internet data would be used is if I streamed a live view, which, again, is very infrequent. D-Link support was no help.

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III
    4 years ago

    Relatively speaking, HD (720 or 1080) uses 1-3 GB per hour and 10 GB per 24 hours would be about 450 MB per hour.  450 MB per hour is equivalent to streaming very low-quality video (240 or 320).  I'm not saying this is the video format but the equivalent data rate of 10 GB per day.

    I think your app points to a server on the Internet.  When you use the app, you're not logging into the camera but into a D-Link server.  Although you're not constantly recording, streaming or using the app, the camera(s) must send something to the server to keep your service (connection & app) "alive" 24/7.

    I don't know what the camera is sending...perhaps an image every hour or an image after a massive change in pixels...but it's the cost of a web-based service.

    widermouthopen is correct:  You need to ask on the D-Link Forum to configure your camera to only transmit data when you're logged into the app...if possible.

    • bmesc's avatar
      bmesc
      New Contributor
      4 years ago

      Thanks for the feedback, It has been helpful. But, the mystery is still there. As far as I can see in my settings, I am not sending anything back over the internet, i.e., no cloud storage. I would think the only time data would be used is when I log in to view what the camera is pointed at, and I do that very rarely. BTW, I have security software on my router that shows all connected devices and warns of any attempts to connect from outside sources and nothing has been detected. I also turned the camera off 2 days ago and again the data usage dropped significantly.