Getting capped without down loading anything.

dave_bass5

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Im not sure whats going on here.
Ive arrived home two nights running to find my speed is being capped. No one is in during the day and my router log shows nothing has come through it during this time other than my son browsing the internet just before i got home. Certainly nothing has been downloaded.
I just called VM and they said there has been more thna 3GB downloaded and so the capping has activated.

I dont know what to do. I cant argue with them but cant see how this has happened.
Any ideas or things i could try?

Cheers.
 
threaten to leave to another isp if they nt gunna find what problem is and is your wireless router protected from wireless use
 
threaten to leave to another isp if they nt gunna find what problem is and is your wireless router protected from wireless use

Im pretty sure the wireless is protected enough. Certainly im using a secure key but im just putting a wiress filter in place to block anything other than my laptop and phone and will monitor it over the next few days.
My problem is that i would need to prove its not me or anyone in the house doing it, even though its showing as my modem.
Before i call them again i need to try a few things.
 
why not turn the modem off during the day. That will soon prove if it's actually something being downloaded at your house or from your connection at your house.
 
I cant because my girlfriend needs a conecton to her works VPN.

Today i turned all Internet access of for the LAN, and restricted WiFi to just our laptops.
Speed is good tonight. This leads me to beleive that MAYBE it was my son downloading something like a demo although i cant find any signs of anything.
Still going to keep an eye on things for a day or two.
 
I dont believe it.
Today i didn't block internet traffic and got home to find im capped again.
I cant see any way my son could download 3GB without me knowing, he cant use Newsleecher and my router is not showing any activity for today other than from very early this morning.
This has me puzzled but ill have to keep a record of what's happening before getting on to VM again.

:mad:
 
sounds like the MAC address of your modem is being cloned on the network, ie someone is getting free cable on your exchange/UBR and using your modems MAC address to authenticate on the network.

they might give you a new modem if you complain enough & that's the only way to stop it.
 
Im not so sure as its only happening when the router is on. The modem is normally left on.
Today and one day last week i kept the router off and all was fine.
Its been a nightmare getting the router back up and running but ive changed the key to a very long, complicated one, turned off broadcast, dropped the signal level and given the router a new, longer name.
Re set the MAC filters and set a timer to keep wireless off untill 6.30Pm.

Lets see how that goes.
 
well in that case it could just be VM, sometimes i've noticed myself getting capped when i know fully well i haven't used anything close to 3GB .....doesn't happen often but it happens.

you don't sound like a noob so i presume you are using WPA/WPA2 for your wifi? ;)
 
My first thought was it was VM, and still not 100% sure its not but seeing as they have a list of times when the data was being downloaded im assuming its not just a system error.
Im not a noob but only slightly higher than that when it comes to network security.
I did have a key in place but it was only 9 letters (three words joint together) so maybe that was not the best idea.
Ive now got a 32 character long string of rubbish in place so hopefully that might help.
I got everything back up and running last night but ive left the WiFi off for now, I dont need it on all day anyway and this will also help to narrow the problem down.
 
Can you not limit your router down to specific mac addresses?
This would help prevent anyone piggy backing into it wirelessly whether they knew the password or not, also I take it unlike 2 networks near me you don't have the router with the default password :(
 
I do have MAC filters on for all my devices but have been told it can take as little as 5 mins to clone one of the addresses so its not as secure as i thought.

Im now using a very secure password and ill have to see how it goes.
Last night was ok although the wireless was off untill around 6.30. Still, it was running at full speed until i was capped due (i hope) to my own studiedness just before 9PM.
 
I do have MAC filters on for all my devices but have been told it can take as little as 5 mins to clone one of the addresses so its not as secure as i thought.

MAC filtering is completely useless unless you're allowed clients are always connected 24/7, but even then a savvy person can bump them off the network and get the clone connected before your machine can actually get back on itself ... + it takes all of 10 seconds to clone a MAC address from their end.

but you didn't answer what encryption you are using WEP/WPA/WPA2 ?
 
Just get off virgin, they are crooks offering an "unlimited" service which they then limit by capping. You dont have to download anything, just a bit of video streaming like youtube or sopcast etc will get you capped. If people leave they will have to stop doing it eventually. Try o2 broadband, they dont cap you.
 
Mod Comment:quoted post removed

Yeah, my feelings as well but other than the capping issue i don't have any speed problems. 2.34MB/s constant and I always have had the advertised speed, ever since Blueyonder.

Not sticking up for them (just search for the amount of posts ive made saying almost the same as you) but the grass isnt always greener and most nights the capping doesnt affect me anyway.

And this seems to have been my fault fo rnot securing my router properly.
 
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Mod Comment:quoted post removed

cable > adsl (even with the caps) for most ppl unless you're within a few hundred yards of the exchange.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cable > adsl (even with the caps) for most ppl unless you're within a few hundred yards of the exchange.

Yep, from experience in this flat nothing is as reliable as Virgin cable.
Been here for 7 years and tried a few ISP's but Virgin is the only one to give me advertised speed alomost 100% of the time other than the capping periods.
 
dave, the speed is definitely capped by VM. i have left them for this reason.

I used to use torrents, and it was slow in any cases. and i notice my speed goes down pretty much soon after my torrents started. the speed actually halves. and i don't think it's got anything to do with usage. I reckon they have profiled me as a heavy user and if i start traffic on ports other than 80,81 they start capping me. the reason for me saying this is that i know my torrent downloaded a mere 100mb over 1 week (it was a very rare file) and thus i shouldn't be capped due to usage.

anyways, leave virgin and move onto BT you get a better package if you shop around a bit.
 
dave, the speed is definitely capped by VM. i have left them for this reason.

I used to use torrents, and it was slow in any cases. and i notice my speed goes down pretty much soon after my torrents started. the speed actually halves. and i don't think it's got anything to do with usage. I reckon they have profiled me as a heavy user and if i start traffic on ports other than 80,81 they start capping me. the reason for me saying this is that i know my torrent downloaded a mere 100mb over 1 week (it was a very rare file) and thus i shouldn't be capped due to usage.

anyways, leave virgin and move onto BT you get a better package if you shop around a bit.

I believe a few ISP's are targeting P2P users now. I don't use P2P but i do use Usenet. Ive never had any trouble with speeds as long as i wait until outside the capping zones. If they did start messing with my line because I'm using Usenet then i will go elsewhere but Ive had no problems downloading 20GB+ over night so as long as they leave me alone I'm happy.

I was getting capped as Ive said and VM told me how much had been downloaded. There was no question that it had to do with someone hacking in to my router as far as i can tell.
Since Ive tightened up my security all has been fine.
 
well at the moment i am still on virgin and waiting for BT activation. But my usenet is still capped with SSL and port 80. althought i do leave the download on during the day :thumbsdow
 
they cap on amount downloaded not traffic type so although your ssl stops them from telling what type of data your downloading they can still tell how mean megs or gigs you have downloaded and when you reach the limit they slap the limiter on
 
Anyone else having problems with virgin broadband tonight? My pings stupidly high and U/L and D/L are both **** poor - have noticed this for the last few evenings - making playing on LIVE impossible :(
 
well at the moment i am still on virgin and waiting for BT activation. But my usenet is still capped with SSL and port 80. althought i do leave the download on during the day :thumbsdow

Im using port 563 in Newsleecher and i have no problems with getting capped before i reach my limit..
 
Do you watch iPlayer or 4oD a lot as these use P2P technology and can quickly rack up gigabytes of usage?

Steve
 

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