If you work under the burden of an ISP-covered data cover, tracking “bandwidth vampires” using all your valuable data will save you from excessive fees and hassles. Here’s what to look for.
What are bandwidth vampires?
A few years ago, there was a lot of talk about “energy vampires.”
One of the most notable examples of this problem, and one that attracted attention in the country at the time, was the cable boxes – some devices used more energy per year than the refrigerator.
In the same way – we think we’re going to double vampire references today – bandwidth vampires are devices that use information around your home when you’re not actively using them.
Sometimes the use of this information is part of the functionality of the device, even if it does not seem to be an active use on your part, and you will have to live with it. At other times, this is non-serious (or at least out of time) use, and you may want to limit it.
If you have unlimited internet, this article will ultimately be more interesting for you than anything else.
However, for people who deal with ISP data caps and are concerned about being overcharged for passing these caps, it is worthwhile to hunt down any wasteful data use on their networks.
Placement of bandwidth vampires
Before moving on to the list of common (and often overlooked) bandwidth vampires in the home, we need to say this in advance, noting something that is important to your research efforts.
Although we have extensive knowledge of the computers, gadgets, and programs used in and around the home, there are simply many variables between devices, services, and their configuration so that we can eliminate everything that is connected to the home network. absorb all your information.
If you read the list of potential culprits below and feel that nothing has disappeared as the probable cause of your problems, you can always roll up your sleeves and check the information yourself by monitoring your internet usage.
In some cases, especially at the router level, this is the only way to understand exactly which device in your network is responsible for your bandwidth.
Your ability to track data usage at the router level is severely limited by your router and installed software, but most new routers depend on the type of service (e.g., Netflix, Steam, etc.) and individual devices (such as your gaming computer, newly installed security camera, etc.). )
Start your search with these common bandwidth vampires
Although, as we mentioned earlier, there is an almost endless combination of devices and software that can do their best to exceed the monthly data limit, there are some common suspicions that are worth looking at from the beginning for no apparent reason. to exclude them.
Streaming Devices
You may be thinking, “Do streaming devices use too much bandwidth? This is nothing new. ” Obviously, if you use an Apple TV to watch 4K video streams for hours, it will use a lot of bandwidth, as HD and UHD video transmission is intensive.
When it comes to bandwidth vampires, we can say that among all the things that surprise people, streaming devices like Chromecast and Apple TV, as well as smart home devices like Google Nest Hub are at the top of the list. Of course, they use a lot of bandwidth when you’re actively broadcasting, but they’re also hungry for a lot of information when you’re idle.
Most people just don’t realize how much these devices are getting lower day by day, but when you look at the statistics, it’s pretty amazing. The problem is that on most streaming devices, screen saver modes work 24/7 and consume a lot of data.
For example, I have four Nest Hubs and five Chromecast in my house. Each of them consumes about 450 MB per day in idle mode. With only one on the network, this means using 13.5 GB of free data every 30 days. Increases to 121.5 GB with 9 different devices. Fortunately, with a fiber connection and no data cover, this has never been a problem for me. But if I had 1TB of data, about 12% of my monthly limit would be chewed up by idle broadcasting and smart home devices. You don’t actively use Netflix or others, you just need to keep your devices open all day.
While you can avoid the problem by disconnecting your devices when you’re not using them, it’s very inconvenient (and on Home Hubs and other smart displays, it violates the purpose of owning them).
We recommend that you adjust your settings instead. While this varies between devices, there are usually options to turn off high-resolution screen savers (Apple TV 4K screen savers are nice, but require a lot of information) or to replace slide show photos with something simple and low-quality. Chromecast data usage.
Smart Security Cameras
Old-school security cameras record their images in local memory and only use the ability to transmit when you remotely access shots away from home.
While some newer smart security cameras also have local storage options, most of them, and undoubtedly the most popular options like Google Nest cameras and Amazon Ring cameras, are cloud-based and have enough bandwidth. Whether your home internet connection adequately supports smart security cameras is a serious issue.
For example, newer Nest cameras can be used anywhere from 100 to 400 GB per month. per camera, because both download and download are calculated by data limits, and cloud cameras load a lot of data. So, if you’ve recently added cloud-based smart security cameras to your home network, and you’re shocked that your ISP’s control panel’s bandwidth meter shows you chewing your data at record speeds, this is a good place to investigate.
You will not be able to fully control the use of data for a cloud-based security camera, but you will be able to make adjustments such as changing it only to download data when motion is detected or during other such settings.
Windows Updates
Windows, by default, uses a peer-to-peer system to optimize Windows updates. In short, Windows computers will connect to each other like a single-purpose torrent cloud to quickly share Windows update information on the Internet.
For people with limited bandwidth and knowledge, it is wise to turn off Delivery Optimization with a small warning. There are two types of delivery optimization: global (where you share with Windows computers everywhere) and local (where you share with Windows computers only on your local network).
Prefer to use Delivery Optimization only for your local network, and you really will remember bandwidth because one computer will download the update and any other local Windows computers will remove the data instead of reloading it.
While you’re at it, you may want to turn off automatic updates in general, so you can take the time to update your computer when you have the extra bandwidth to turn it on.
Automatic Game Updates
Game sizes are growing, especially for AAA titles. When assembling your game library, you should not only consider the size of the original download – people with limited connections should not try to download a large Steam or console library at once – you should also consider updates.
Updates are great for many games, even small ones (in terms of features and bug fixes). Updates Call of Duty The franchise, for example, often weighs 10-30GB or more for each update. April 2022 update Call of Duty: Warzone was a large 40 GB.
If you’re not actively playing games and constantly monitoring your data usage, even if you’re not playing games, there’s no good reason for one or more games to drop data from month to month. Turn on 4% of your 1TB data limit Call of Duty Even if you don’t play, the update doesn’t make much sense.
To avoid this trap, we recommend that you access your game clients’ settings menu and consoles to turn off automatic updates. This is a substitute to be sure, if you forgot to update and really want to play the game after a few months, you may have to sit there for a spell during the updates, but on the contrary, you will not go in vain. your information.
“Adjusted” Updates
We separated it because it can happen in almost any application or device and is not specific to Windows or gaming.
Thankfully, this is relatively rare, but it can be very frustrating when it happens. Sometimes the software or device will download the update and will not be able to install it or will otherwise encounter an error. Instead of simply canceling, the same auto-trigger that forces him to download the update indicates that the expected update is not complete and everything is done again.
If you’re really losing all your data, dig up your router and narrow it down to a specific device that compresses your connection, as mentioned above about deploying bandwidth vampires on your network. Then, look for anything on the device that is trying to update that might get stuck in the circuit. This includes operating system updates, large software package updates, game updates, and more.
And if you’re really having trouble narrowing it down, don’t forget to check for updates for the apps or games you’ve deleted. Sometimes a partial or incorrect uninstall of a program can put it in a kind of uncertainty, where the update utility tries to do its best despite the removal of the parent application.
Malware
Fortunately, malware that chews your bandwidth is relatively rare, but you should not assume that this is not the source of your problem.
If you’ve ruled out cloud-based security cameras, giant game updates, and the like, it’s worth double-checking that your computer and even your router are free of malware. Not all malware requires bandwidth, but some do.
Scanning for malware and being aware of security updates will help protect your personal devices and home network.
If none of the common bandwidth vampires are to blame, go back to the basics to determine the source of all this data use – review router logs and check individual devices and applications.