Unusually high data usage megathread

@ComcastTeds , add me to the list as well!

On Tuesday (11/19) at  8:55 PM Central, I received the message "You've used 90% of your 1024GB data plan."   Then, the following morning (Wed 11/20),  at 6:41 am, I received the "You've used 100% of your 1024 GB data Plan", and then at 10:56 am, I received "You've used 1128 GB, 104 GB more than your 1024 GB monthly data plan"

To supposedly use more than 200GB in a period of 14 hours seems completely impossible, even if I were trying to burn through it all.

I've examined every device for traffic / usage, and while my AppleTV 4K (which some people have reported as being a data hog, even when not being used) did appear to have several apps open (no shows being watched), that seems impossible.  (Note, the device is hooked up to a 1080P TV  - which was turned off the entire time) so even if it were streaming in the background, it should not have been at 4K sizing.

Please let me know if you need more information to investigate.  Not using X1 / Xfi - but do have an enterprise grade network system that allows me to examine individual usage by device.

I'm concerned that - based on what Comcast is measuring - I've now lost one of my free overage months - but given all that is being reported here - it seems that I've been a victim of the same situation that has been reported - a monitoring bug.

Please confirm and let me know how the overage "free month" will be restored.

Thank you.

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@midtenner wrote:

We are curous to know if any other customers have experiened this same issue.

 

We have been Comcast customer for 18 years. Our bills for home wifi (data) have always been consistent. Our data useage as been the same every month. Then on October 1, we switched our cellphone service from Verizon to Xfinity. (Much cheaper.) Suddenly our home data usage quadrupled. We went from around 300 MBs a month to 1300MB in one month.

We called Comcast to discuss. No one could help. Requested to speak to supervisor. Said there was not one working that day. Then we were told to call Comcast Security. We did. Again, no one could help us. The poor young man could not speak English and could only read from the prepared dialog. Asked to speak to supervior. Again told that they would have to check. Didn't know if one was on duty.

So, we went to the Comcast/Xfinity store and talked to them. They are just as baffled as we are. Nothing has changed. Same equipment. Same service. Same everything.

However, just to be sure, we changed passwords on anything that connects to the router.

Meanwhile, our data useage is excessively high again this month. And we can do nothing about it.

 

Has anyone here expereinced the same issues? Any suggestions of what we might be experiencing?

We appreciate your assistance.

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We also switched to Xfinity mobile, with service starting in September...

Same message "You've used 90% of your data plan this month". I logged into my account to find Data Usage by MonthData Chart Month Total Monthly Usage May 287 GB, June 269 GB, July 332 GB, August 369 GB, September 421 GB, October 363 GB, November 931 GB

November is reporting 3 times more than my average. Makes no sense!

So I looked up Traffic Manager on my router and found out I've only used 105.69GB in the past 3 days. Is Xfinity/Comcast trying to rip us off?

Same issue here @midtenner. Also same "help" from xfinity

My data usage sky rocketed in Oct and Nov of 2019. My average usage prior was 650 gb per month with the information the usage calculator can provide. I almost went over in October and this month I have went over and it is not over. There are less devices being used since September in the house then these two months.

I asked the SQA CSR what applications will Xfinity/Comcast agree about the usage logs? The tech said only if I rented their modem. I stated I bought an Xfinity approved modem Arris. Since, I have redone all passwords and ran virus scans. I am still using massive amounts of data according to the data usage monitor.

The tech also stated it was my ondemand and DVR usage that could be causing my issue. I asked how is coax affecting my data usage to my modem? She began stating my smart TVs were the problem if they are connected. I stated RX/TX handshakes are not going to get me 200 to 400 GB increase on my data consumption. How is my ondemand and DVR recordings affecting my data cap they are on co-ax. I could have a DVR with no internet. She told me to clear the recordings and to quit using my computer, tablets, phones, etc. to view my DVR. We do not use our devices to view the recordings we use the DVR.

Again, I ran my anti-virus and my devices are clean. This all began when I was going to sign up for Xfinity Smart TV application instead of having boxes to save money. To find out not all Samsung 4k Smart TVs can download or find the Xfinity application. We had to cancel and continue to use the same boxes. To find out they had to perform a firmware update to get my boxes to work again. Something is fishy with Xfinity and I want some assistance. This is the first time I have ever went over my cap. I have one free overage month. Can a representative who actually knows something contact me?

I reached a CSR with no knowledge on the subject. All they could do was constantly read responses from their console. Also does Xfinity/Comcast respect the findings of network usage from WireShark, McAfee, etc?

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@CD70 wrote:
Exactly what's happening to my account! There's absolutely no way I've used the data they've claimed and I never have in a year of service as suddenly the last two months way over a terabyte...No way!

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I think the other recent complaints have been from people who also have xfinity mobile accounts.  Do you have that in common as well?

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@midtenner wrote:

We are curous to know if any other customers have experiened this same issue.

 

We have been Comcast customer for 18 years. Our bills for home wifi (data) have always been consistent. Our data useage as been the same every month. Then on October 1, we switched our cellphone service from Verizon to Xfinity. (Much cheaper.) Suddenly our home data usage quadrupled. We went from around 300 MBs a month to 1300MB in one month.

We called Comcast to discuss. No one could help. Requested to speak to supervisor. Said there was not one working that day. Then we were told to call Comcast Security. We did. Again, no one could help us. The poor young man could not speak English and could only read from the prepared dialog. Asked to speak to supervior. Again told that they would have to check. Didn't know if one was on duty.

So, we went to the Comcast/Xfinity store and talked to them. They are just as baffled as we are. Nothing has changed. Same equipment. Same service. Same everything.

However, just to be sure, we changed passwords on anything that connects to the router.

Meanwhile, our data useage is excessively high again this month. And we can do nothing about it.

 

Has anyone here expereinced the same issues? Any suggestions of what we might be experiencing?

We appreciate your assistance.

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Apologies for the issue and the experience.

I have asked a colleague to review your account and contact you directly for any next steps. Thanks for your patience.

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/data-usage-avoid-overage-charges

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@vinny21 wrote:

I've spent most of the day on the phone trying to figure out how could I have used close to 900Gb of data in "one" day (November 15).

 

After doing some research online I've noticed that I am not the only person suffering with such discrepancy. 

 

Can anyone explain how the data is counted? I am planning to run my own Firewall to make sure I can compare numbers. 

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Apologies for the issue and the experience. 

I have asked a colleague to review your account and contact you directly for any next steps. Thanks for your patience.

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@JalalabadSCR wrote:

I am having the same problem with incorrect data usage reports.  Comcast is claiming that I used 70 percent on my 1024GB data allowance on November 12, an average daily rate of almost 60GB!  This is absurd since I am the only person at home the whole day (my two sons are at school and my wife works) and I do not use the internet for anything other than reading news on websites.  And then I received an advisory on November 15 that I had used 80 percent of my allowance, followed by another advisory on November 17 that I had used 90 percent of my allowance.  50GB per day of data usage?  I'm guessing that such a level of usage could only be reached by several people spending 10 plus hours per day of HD streaming.

 

And although I didn't think it through until I encountered this thread, Comcast also claimed that my October data usage went from 90 percent to 100 percent in only two days (from Monday to Wednesday), another alleged usage of 51GB per day.

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Apologies for the issue and the experience. I do see a credit recently placed on your account for this. Thanks for your patience. It will appear on your next printed statement and you can view the credit online via My Account.

I have also asked a colleague to review your account and contact you directly for any next steps. Thanks for your patience.