When ISPs Turn on Meters Expect “Unexpected" Traffic

How much Internet traffic is your house using?

If your ISP starts metering your Internet connection traffic, chances are you will see unexpected bytes register on your meter. That is because if you are like most Internet users, you don't know how much traffic your household produces.  Here is a sampling of traffic sources that may surprise you.

One likely surprise is the number of traffic-generating devices and users in your home.  Most subscribers have a wireless (Wi-Fi) router that provides access not just to PCs, but everything from smart phones, digital video recorders and printers, to game consoles and cameras.  Many of these non-PC devices "phone home" to a manufacturer or support service, and for convenience, these automated connections are transparent so you may be unaware of the traffic generated.

In rare cases a PC could be hijacked and generate traffic that has nothing to do with any user in your home.  Also, a neighbor or wardriver may use your connection without your permission or knowledge.

The most likely source of unexpected traffic, however, is PC software.  Windows and most popular software have automated update features which download and install updates.  This transparent automation is for your convenience and protection, but the traffic it generates may come as a surprise.

Although each program update download may be small, when you multiply a modest download by the number of programs calling for updates and the number of PCs in the house, such traffic can be substantial.  Furthermore, in some cases vendor default settings are aggressive, checking each hour and downloading every possible option even if they aren't needed.  For example, a software program may automatically load its interface in a dozen languages for a monolingual household.

Another possible "surprise" traffic source is online file backup, uploading to photo sharing sites, etc.  Again, the backup software or service settings may be more aggressive than needed.

In addition, many news and information services preload content onto a subscriber's PC.  The content often arrives overnight for convenient early morning viewing.  Of course users don't read all the content every day, but they probably do enjoy the speed with which content appears on the screen.  Fresh content may also be sent overnight to a smart phone or MP3 player to be viewed or listened to during the morning commute.

Assume each night's upload is only 1GB, which takes up a modest 1GB on the device's storage--and assume that it never consumes more than 1GB because it overwrites the old content with fresh content each night.  As modest as this may seem from a device storage point of view, that 1GB did consume bandwidth each night, adding up to 30GB over a month on the meter (plus protocol overhead).

Finally, there may be unexpected traffic to non-PCs.  For example, traffic may be going to digital video recorders such as TiVo.  A user in the home may have rented a movie from Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster, etc.--and you may get more bits than you pay for because many services also preload the start of other movies, as well as trailers to make them instantly available should they be called for.  As in other situations described above, the traffic is generated for your convenience but without your knowledge.

Most of these traffic sources are low, but some can be unexpectedly high if they aggressively load content.  You should check your software settings and align update size and frequency to your needs, bearing in mind the amount of traffic generated.

We would like to hear your comments about other "unexpected" traffic sources you would add to the list. For more information about usage meters and testing their accuracy, check out our recent report on the subject here.