I have been told by BT that my usage limits have been exceeded over the past two months and they are now charging for it. As i have a single pc and dont download videos and music and my anti virus is up to date i suspect the real reason is to upgrade my package. When i speak to them all i get is a lecture on how much downloads take up in data. I asked them to prove my usage as i know they are wrong but they cant.
They wont give me details behind the charge which is wrong.
Any ideas?
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I presume your network is secure and someone down the road isn't tapped into your wifi connection?
What's your monthly data limit, btw?
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 12 May 12 at 19:23
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10G per month and no other devices connected to the hub.
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>> 10G per month and no other devices connected to the hub.
>>
But is your WiFi secure?
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Has the charge actually been written down somewhere eg. paper or email, or is it just a threat? If it has, how much is it and what is the wording?
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If they are going to decide to charge you for excess usage, then they have to be able to provide you with the amount of data you have used. Otherwise how the hell do they know?
Tell them you won't pay ANYTHING till they have provided the details.
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I struggle to use 10GB / month and two of us use it. We don't do any big downloads but my wife does catch up on maybe 1 or 2 TV programmes a week on BBC iPlayer. So it sounds unlikely that you're busting the limit by much if at all.
Have you ever signed up to any peer to peer websites that could be using your bandwidth eben when you aren't using them? BBC iPlayer used to be one such, though it isn't any more. Not sure about any other catch up TV type things as we don't use them.
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If you bring up the Windows Task Manager while you are using the PC, you can see how much data is being transferred over the connection. You might also be able to login to your router and see some cumulative totals.
Last edited by: Focus on Sat 12 May 12 at 20:08
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>> If you bring up the Windows Task Manager while you are using the PC, you
>> can see how much data is being transferred over the connection.
So for example, does it show usage (more than a trickle) when you aren't doing anything?
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I think I average about 40gb a month.
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I had similar issues a while back. I was on BT 10 GB per month and went over this a couple of times.
I installed NetMeter, free software, downloadable from tinyurl.com/7r3ajv7 which monitors all traffic up and down and gives daily, weekly and monthly totals. It sits at the bottom of the screen and can be hidden at will.
You can also sign up for MyBT, which includes a usage meter, although this is updated only at midnight each day. Sign up here: tinyurl.com/c589sy7
I concluded my wi-fi had probably been piggy-backed and changed the wireless key on my router - maybe it's a good idea to do this from time to time anyway.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Sat 12 May 12 at 20:25
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Netmeter will only show the traffic from your PC ( not anything piggybacked on the router), and there is something in the back of my mind that says it is possible for it to be bypassed by some software, - although I have no documentary proof of that!
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you don't have to conclude or guess if anyone has piggybacked your router, your router logs will list and show all the mac addresses that have been given an IP address, so you can check for sure.
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If you wish to investigate in greater depth, try reading this thread
hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1593264
But I would check out router logs first.
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Check Task Manager first to see if it's something on your own PC.
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...while waiting for BT to provide some sort of evidence that your usage is high.
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Thats the problem. They just say their records show etc and I must be wrong. Before paying for anything I want to know how this limit was exceeded.
As far as they are concerned their records are accurate.
We have had several calls from them recently trying to get me to change to their Infinity package and I do believe that maybe the charging is a way to look on the unlimited (or larger) deals favourably.
I changed from Talk talk because you would not believe the problems I had and for a year BT has been brilliant-now this.
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It wouldn't do any harm to use one of the methods mentioned above to check for evidence of high usage at your end.
Last edited by: Focus on Sat 12 May 12 at 21:46
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TalkTalk show your usage on your account pages.
In April I hit just under 62Gb download and my three month average is a fraction under 40GB per month.
Good job I'm on an unlimited package.
Last edited by: Roger on Sat 12 May 12 at 21:55
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>> BT has been brilliant-now this. >>
BT do cost a lot more for a reason.
As for the usage meter, they do provide it on their myBT account, and you can check it on your homehub. As for it being questionable, you are not alone, see:
bit.ly/JOXDpZ ( BT forum - broadband usage monitor )
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I'm with BT, with a 10Gb monthly limit. I use their monitor, check it daily, and sometimes find I'm over the limit, but a slap on the wrist for SWMBO puts it right. You do need to check the 'Last usage update' to make sure it's yesterday as I've found it's not usually updated until after 9.00am.
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Since being alerted of my usage I have monitored the situation and without doing anything different ended this month just under the limit. Maybe BT have changed how they calculate things?
Not getting any luck with customer service-basically their records showed I had excessive use last month and they want an extra £10. They cant show me what was downloaded etc and their records are "correct".
Apart form this I am pleased with BT but I still think there is pressure to get me to switch to infinity broadband.
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I went Plusnet this morning. It should've been tomorrow, but BT cut the broadband a day earlier than agreed. An hour in vain, on the 'phone to their cowboy, Indian, call centre. A quick call to Plusnet and it was activated.
When getting the MAC from BT, they tried to deter me by telling me other operators bundle a greater number of customers together, resulting in slower speeds. I'm immediately getting around 10% faster than BT provided!
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bt broadband charges - VxFan
