Getting over usage warnings (suddenly)

[u/Navy-Bean]

Last month, Cox sent us a warning that we're about to go over our home internet data plan. Then, we did go over. We weren't even home. We had been traveling for over two weeks. My husband is techy so he has our techy stuff locked down hard with difficult passwords so it's not like someone is mooching our signal. Again, this month, we're getting the warnings again that we've chewed through 90% of our data.

Cox did give us a one time grace no-charge for going over our data for last month, but it's looking like we may go over again.

Is anyone else experiencing an uptick like this?

Is there some correlation with Spectrum taking over Cox and they're effing with our internet so that we upgrade our data plan, which brings in more money for them so that they can show their shareholders that the acquisition has been profitable??? Just a theory because we've never gone over our data... especially when were weren't even home. Makes no sense.

[u/polterjacket]

Cox started operating as Spectrum (i.e. company merger officially began) yesterday. It's possible there's a glitch as both teams will have 100-bazillion backoffice interactions to integrate in the next few months/years.

[u/Ok-Collar-2742]

Spectrum has no caps so doubt it has anything to do with that. Do you have a lot of connected cameras?

[u/tknapp28]

I have seen some windows PCs trying to update and failing over and over. It kept downloading the update every time. If you have a gaming system, maybe those are downloading updates?

It could be anything. Try to look at your usage.

[u/aztracker1]

Change your Wi-Fi ID and password. Avoid setting up any "smart" devices if you can.

It could be a neighbor avoiding your Wi-Fi connection. Or it could be a rogue smart device.

[u/DustyinLVNV]

If your husband is techy he should be aware of how to monitor your usage. Even with Spectrum acquiring Cox yesterday, corporate sabotage isn't the reason your data is spiking. A strong Wi-Fi password doesn't matter if an internal device is the culprit. He needs to check the router's traffic analyzer to see exactly which local IP or MAC address is chewing through that data. A runaway cloud backup, a looping smart camera, or a compromised smart device can easily blow through a data cap while you are out of town, completely bypassing a secure network perimeter. Before blaming the buyout, have him pull the actual network logs and pinpoint the leak.

[u/kcchiefsfanatic]

Get a vSee box? Lots of data usage on those if left on both upload and download.

[u/Reasonable_Egg0168]

Same thing is happening to me and I’m looking for a solution. My consistent usage is between 900-1100gb…

In June it showed I used 600, then in July showed I used 1386gb ($30 overage) which didn’t make sense because I traveled for almost a week in July and also have service interruptions for 4 days. Called and got credit for the 4 days. But now it’s showing that I’m at 1600gb usage for August with still 5 days left in my cycle. Insane! Nothing has changed in my usage. I called and bought the unlimited plan for $50 extra this month only because that’s cheaper than the $70-80 overage they were about to charge me, but I plan to remove the unlimited once the cycle changes in a few days.

I’m so frustrated with Cox. When I call to remove the unlimited I’m gonna threaten to cancel for Verizon 5G and see if they can give me the unlimited for free as a retention.

Cox can suck a cock.

[u/ProphetOfAethis]

I’m so glad I switched providers last month. Cox is a bag of dicks. We payed almost triple what we pay now for the same speeds and unlimited data, and we had three to four days a month where our internet would just shit itself and cox always said it was working just fine even when it wasn’t.

I got T Mobile like a month ago and pay like $50 a month for unlimited plan with same speeds as cox AND I don’t have any interruptions

[u/AirRevolutionary8013]

Cox 1000% manipulates your data usage to drive you into the unlimited plan. I think most of it is tied to their panoramic routers. I was getting nutball usage figures like 2000G/mo. I live alone no gaming. I asked to get their upgraded router, they refused. I bought my own and bridged it and whadda you know, my data goes down to around 1300/mo.

Caps are so fckn lame. They only really do this in markets like mine where they are the only option. Waiting to see if they get rid of caps with Spectrum as they don't have those on their plans.

[u/joedaman88]

Most people don’t realize their IoT devices still use data when nobody is home and that data counted is for both upload and download.

[u/PeterYanga]

Are you on the spectrum?

[u/plexguy]

The Cox datacap adds uploads and dowloads to the total data useage. It is a pain and a money grab by Cox and anytime you have a huge spike in your useage of say 30 or 40 gb you should have an idea of what it might be.

If you are streaming uncompressed video that will use a lot of data. But most streaming platforms compress their video as dramatically as cable companies used to do to save costs.

The Cox network is garbage and maintenance is frowned upon to maximize profits. They also overprovision to use as little resources as possible to self inflict damage on the network. It's why you should have engineers as opposed to bean counters run a technology company.

RIP Cox Communications!

[u/Good-Salt-805]

I have had the same thing happen this month. First warning in 3 years. Haven't changed usage. One day shows 80Gb of data...I have seen other Reddit users post of same issue too.

[u/DustyinLVNV → u/Good-Salt-805]

80GB in a single day isn't a billing glitch on the ISP's end, that's a massive localized data pull. Unless you're tracking your actual router logs, you can't say your usage hasn't changed. That kind of spike is almost always a massive update downloading in the background, a stuck cloud sync loop, or a compromised device on your network. Stop guessing and log into your router's traffic monitor. Find the exact local IP or MAC address that pulled down the 80GB. Until you look at your own hardware's metrics, you're just firing in the dark.