How to stay below your 75% download Max?

[jjstar1999]

We have been on Wildblue for 2 months and have the maximum uploads and downloads and it took us all of a week to hit 75%. How is this possible, we went from 32% to 75% in one day. There was not excessive computer use.

[wm4bama]

Originally Posted by jjstar1999

We have been on Wildblue for 2 months and have the maximum uploads and downloads and it took us all of a week to hit 75%. How is this possible, we went from 32% to 75% in one day. There was not excessive computer use.

The only accurate usage data is from Wildblue...you can access through your personalized home page, or the easiest way is to download the WB utility called "Pulse". Install Pulse and run it first thing every morning and look at your bandwidth usage...jot down those numbers and keep a log from day to day.

WB updates this info sometimes after midnight each night...your total is a sum of the previous 30 days of use...remember, the data from WB can be almost 24 hours old...depending on when you check it..so first thing every morning is a good habit to get into.

Don't know how many computers are on your network but every bit that goes through your WB modem (hence satellite) is counted, no matter which computer caused it...if you are using a router you can't track usage by monitoring one computer with a bandwidth measurement tool...it's the sum total....web surfing, emailing, file downloads, audio/video streaming add up quickly. If you just download one movie it may eat 35% of your 30 day FAP allowance...peer-to-peer programs (file sharing) is a no-no because users can eat up your FAP overnight.

You can call WB customer support with your account number and they can give you a day-by-day usage number if you don't believe you've used that much...

[YellowHammer]

Originally Posted by jjstar1999

We have been on Wildblue for 2 months and have the maximum uploads and downloads and it took us all of a week to hit 75%. How is this possible, we went from 32% to 75% in one day. There was not excessive computer use.

A few questions:
1. Which plan did you buy? Value, Select, Pro?
2. How many computers do you have on Wildblue.
3. How many different users are there?
4. What are the surfing habits? (forums, videos, online games).
5. Do you have a wireless router? Is it secured?

[Spice300]

jjstar1999 indicated that he has "the maximum uploads and downloads" which probably means the pro pack with thresholds of 17,000 MB download and 5,000 MB upload.

If you mainly download data, then your upload usage should be much smaller than your download usage. My upload usage is about 40 times less than my download usage. If your upload usage is at 75% and you have not been uploading data, then you may have point-to-point (P2P) software installed that is uploading data to other P2P users.

Until you figure out what is happening, you should unplug your Wildblue modem when not using the Internet to prevent any unauthorized use and minimize your chance of exceeding your FAP limit.

You could also have malware, a computer virus, on your computer that is using your Internet connection.

[jjstar1999]

We are now at 33% it went down. I installed a surplus meter for my Mac but I am going to look for other software. Thank you everyone for your help.

Going from DSL to Wildblue has been a real learning experience for us.