Verizon GB usage - Montana Owners Club

JandC · 08-17-2014, 05:41 AM

Been using a 3.5 year old MiFi. We have always been pretty satisfied with coverage as we travel, even though the speed is pretty slow. Starting a couple months ago our data usage started going up, from about 4 or 5gb a month to 6 - 7. We increased our package to 10gb per month so we wouldn't go over the limit. This month we chewed through 10gb and were barely half way through the billing cycle. Verizon claims one of our computers may have a virus running. I think it is something either they are updating through our MiFi or our old MiFi needs replaced. We had our computers off and the printer off yesterday but turned on the MiFi. We still used almost 1 whole gb of data!

warren0620 · 08-17-2014, 06:33 AM

Hi, our mifi is about the same age as yours. We have 5 gb. Never go over and I use it a lot. We do not download anything. If we do we go to a free place. We turn off the mifi when not using, the computer is off and the two iPads are off. Seems strange that you use so much.

8.1al · 08-17-2014, 07:15 AM

We get ours from Mellenicom 20 gig for $89/month including taxes, etc. Uses the Verizon mifi and Verizon service. With 20 gig we never worry about going over.

hookman · 08-17-2014, 07:49 AM

When we are south We use Mellenicom 20g plan also. We tried Verizon 3g plan and it was using it up in 2 weeks so we switched and have not gone over.

Trailer Trash 2 · 08-17-2014, 08:13 AM

I always disconnect or turn off my WIFI on my phone when away from my WIFI source and go to the 4G network. too many bad guys out there that try to access other peoples stuff for there gain.

**DQDick** · 08-17-2014, 08:19 AM

We had the same problem and it had something to do with Facebook. Joyce changed something on her Facebook account and now no more high usage. Since our cell phones can access the hotspot on WIFI we could rack up the usage without even having the computers on. All we needed was her Facebook app running in the background.

WeBeFulltime · 08-17-2014, 09:40 AM

About 2 months ago my usage went up in a similar way. I tether to my Samsung S3 and the customer service rep at Verizon replaced my SIM card and no more problem.

**Carl n Susan** · 08-17-2014, 10:37 AM

I have been away from troubleshooting these kinds of problems for a while, but here are a couple of observations.

You wrote the computer and printer were turned off. How about any smartphones, particularly one running Facebook? Facebook changed things so videos posted by your "friends" automatically play. This can eat a lot of bandwidth and you don't realize it. http://videos.komando.com/watch/6189...playing-videos

Smartphones can have background apps running that you forget about yet they use data.

Are you using I-Phones and sharing pictures through the cloud? This one can chew through data plans in a big hurry.

Most of the ghost data uses are attributable to hidden process on devices connected to the the MiFi. If the MiFi is truly unconnected to anything (logon as Admin and verify) and it still burns data take it to Verizon and have them replace it. The MiFi is not supposed to use data.

hookman · 08-17-2014, 10:58 AM

Thanks Butch

JandC · 08-17-2014, 11:23 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by carl n susan

I have been away from troubleshooting these kinds of problems for a while, but here are a couple of observations.

You wrote the computer and printer were turned off. How about any smartphones, particularly one running Facebook? Facebook changed things so videos posted by your "friends" automatically play. This can eat a lot of bandwidth and you don't realize it. http://videos.komando.com/watch/6189...playing-videos

Smartphones can have background apps running that you forget about yet they use data.

Are you using I-Phones and sharing pictures through the cloud? This one can chew through data plans in a big hurry.

Most of the ghost data uses are attributable to hidden process on devices connected to the the MiFi. If the MiFi is truly unconnected to anything (logon as Admin and verify) and it still burns data take it to Verizon and have them replace it. The MiFi is not supposed to use data.

I have checked all your suggestions. Cindy is on Facebook and changed her settings about a week ago so it wouldn't "auto play" everything. Since yesterday I have kept MiFi off and just used my I-Phone as the hotspot, running my laptop, her I-pad, and our printer. We have barely used any data. I will be going to Verizon Monday. Thanks for help and suggestions from all.

drknapp · 08-18-2014, 05:05 AM

We just had a issue with ours also, but when I used my laptop via the phone hotspot. Turns out I had my laptop set to automatically download Microsoft updates. As soon as I fired up my laptop it apparently had a lot of updates scheduled. I now have it set to just notify me and I wait until I can do it on a regular WiFi connection.

jimcol · 08-18-2014, 06:45 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by drknapp

We just had a issue with ours also, but when I used my laptop via the phone hotspot. Turns out I had my laptop set to automatically download Microsoft updates. As soon as I fired up my laptop it apparently had a lot of updates scheduled. I now have it set to just notify me and I wait until I can do it on a regular WiFi connection.

McAfee will do the same thing. I assume other antivirus software will also. So you might want to check those settings. Jim

Doberman · 08-18-2014, 11:49 AM

JandC: Don't know if you have Garmin Express (GE) installed on your computer or not but, if so, it is designed to download updates automatically once map updates have been released by Garmin. As luck would have it, Garmin released another Lifetime Map update a couple days ago. One update is usually about 3gb. I uninstall GE until I know there is an update and I have other access to the internet to download the large files.

**Rondo** · 08-18-2014, 12:03 PM

Like Jim said the antivirus apps are notorious on eating up space. Norton is a real hog when it comes to space and downloading automatically to your computer/laptop! I've experienced more usage according to Verizon on our MiFi and I need to check this out with them and see what is going on. Working on the Fall Rally on the laptop may be using more and there may be some app on that I don't know also. Going to have it checked out also.

JandC · 08-19-2014, 01:12 PM

I dumped Norton years ago. It allowed my computer to get two viruses. I have had extremely good luck with Trend the last couple of years and it doesn't eat up much data. I have talked to a couple other local folks about Verizon MiFi data usage and they claim theirs have been updating like crazy lately and eating up the GB's. We are going on the 3rd day with just using my I-phone as a hotspot and our usage has stayed under .3 GB per day. I was going to visit Verizon yesterday but I think I will wait for the end of the billing cycle.

CRUZIN 2 · 08-19-2014, 02:45 PM

Thanks Carl for the info, we slowed our GB down.

PackerFan · 08-20-2014, 09:48 AM

Maybe we should go back to writing letters, it doesn't use any GB's....only a piece of paper, a little ink or pencil lead, and a stamp.

DonandBonnie · 08-20-2014, 10:49 AM

We had the same problem. We started doing three things that have helped significantly. First when we are not using the computer we turn off the MIFI. Don't know how true this is, but we were told that it is possible for others to figure how to log their computers into our MIFI even without the password. That would suck up the GB's. Second, we regularly close all of the aps on our smart phones. And third, closing aps, does not close internet pages and programs. When you do an internet search on your phone, there should be a small flag somewhere in the upper right with a number in it. That is the number of open pages you have. Tap it to bring up all of the open pages. In the upper right should be a small circle with a minus sign. Tap each minus sign until all pages are closed. Doing all of this will reduce GB usage.

Mudchief · 08-20-2014, 03:15 PM

I was having the same problem with MIFI and date usage. Now I turn it off when not using it and now no more data usage problem.

JandC · 08-21-2014, 04:28 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by PackerFan

Maybe we should go back to writing letters, it doesn't use any GB's....only a piece of paper, a little ink or pencil lead, and a stamp.

OMG....have you bought stamps lately? As the USPS continues to go broke they will probably raise the price again. Plus, not sure I could write a decent letter without spell check!!!!!

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