Extreme data usage nightmare

ondarvr

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I have Verizon and our data usage is out of control on the jet pack.

We have a family package with three phones and the jet pack for internet on the laptops. The issue is over the last year or so our data usage has gone up even though our lap top usage has dropped to almost zero to keep it within our 30 gig package.

For years we had a smaller package and never went over, as my wife watched more stuff online we increased it to 30, but never used it all. Over the last year she has stopped watching stuff online and our laptops are used very little, but now we hit or exceed 30 gigs, we hit 50 gigs one month knowing that we needed to keep it turned off.
We noticed this trend starting at about the beginning of this year.

I have spent many hours on the phone with Verizon tech support, we have even monitored the usage with them to see what's going on. On one occasion my daughter logged on, checked her emails, looked at some stores for sale items before going shopping, then logged off, total time was just over an hour. This used .64 gigs.

In the first ten days of our last billing cycle the automatic warning said we had used 75 percent of the 30 gigs. Knowing this, and using it as little as possible, we shot past 30 in the next ten days, rocketing right past 40 by the end of the billing cycle.

The data usage on the phones is about normal, and they each get used at least 20 times more than the jet pack.

So far Verizon has no solution to the problem.

Whats interesting is I had a jet pack for company use for many years with a 4 gig limit, the company got rid of them at the end of last year for the same reason, after 5 years of normal data usage it skyrocketed in some locations, going up 5 fold in some places.
 
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ondarvr

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The first things always mentioned are, hacking by a neighbor, software updating automatically, computers and the jet pack being left on, etc. These are not the issues, the jet pack averages almost a gig a day over the billing cycle with downloading videos, music or anything, only emails and typing responses on sites like this. I'm actually doing this from my tablet right now, and hate typing on it this much without an actual keyboard.

I have been less active on this site because of the this data usage issue.
 

ondarvr

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No other internet connection alternative?

Nope, I live 1 mile from town on a river between two large ranches, only a couple of houses on this road, with no other source of Internet access.

I should have included that info in my prior post.
 
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MTboatguy

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Do you have a regular land line? If so, you do have internet availability, I am 16 miles from the closest phone switch and 24 miles from the main office and I have a landline and a 1.5 mps DSL internet connection. That said, if that connection is open all of the time then you are transmitting data, I can sit and watch my modem and it is always transmitting and receiving. That is one of the problems with internet over cell, if open, it is using data, it does not have to be you surfing, checking email, checking anything and it is still transmitting and receiving data. Networks are really never quiet, there are many things that go on in the background that most people don't even know about, at the least, the internet is always checking your status if you are hooked up and the connection is open, almost all websites are always checking cookie data, update status, etc. So when you purchase a plan from these companies, remember some of it, is going to be used and it is not by you.
 

ondarvr

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No land line, haven't had one for more than ten years.

Computers are off when not in use and so is the jet pack. Tracking time of usage shows the high data usage is only when we are online. It's the extreme amount of data in such short amounts of time that's confusing.

I've been over all the typical causes with their tech support many times, so far it is only getting worse.

If I use my phone or tablet as a hotspot this doesn't happen, it's aslo a faster connection.

The jet pack has become so slow that it will time out just loading a new page from a thread here. It's to the point where you almost can't watch a video it's so slow. This is with two different jet packs.
 
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southkogs

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Sorry ondarvr - wantin' to make sure I get it: you don't currently have a land line? OR, you can't have a land line because there isn't a phone line close enough to connect to your house?

If the wires are there, I'd look into DSL. Some of those services are getting fairly quick.
 

ondarvr

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I can have a normal land line reconnected, but they haven't upgraded the system due to so few possible customers, so all you get is old school dial up. There are no cable options for tv, only satalite. And there are no high speed options other than something like what I have now.

It had worked well for years, I would be happy to get back to where I was a year ago.
 

southkogs

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Bummer - DSL is an often missed option for folks. That's why I asked.

I had some friends who were struggling with the same sort of thing around here a few years ago. Fortunately for them AT&T Uverse landed just a couple of months ago. Up until then, he would pirate any wireless connection he ran across :)
 

jaymoussy

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Do you have line of sight with a neighbor? Wifi can be optimized to carry pretty far.

Other: What is VZ saying about that situation? They have the tools to sniff out traffic, you would think.
 

ondarvr

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No neighbors close enough to high jack the signal, plus the usage corresponds with the time we have it turned on and using it.

They can track time and data usage, not which sites or software are the offenders.
 

bruceb58

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Need to make sure anything hooked up to email isn't constantly trying to pop email from the servers. Set it up to manually sync.
 

MTboatguy

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I can have a normal land line reconnected, but they haven't upgraded the system due to so few possible customers, so all you get is old school dial up. There are no cable options for tv, only satalite. And there are no high speed options other than something like what I have now.

It had worked well for years, I would be happy to get back to where I was a year ago.

Even old school dial up lines will handle at minimum of a 1.5 mps DSL line. The oldest copper lines in the country will handle 1.5 at minimum! The landline, that I have at my place was installed in 1967 and it handles 1.5 mps. Now my cell coverage is very poor, but that is another story.
 
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ondarvr

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We originally had three land lines for office use and satalite TV, went from dial up to satalite internet because the phone lines weren't set up for more than dial up, then went to the jet pack when it became available because it was so much faster. The phone company crews said the equipment servicing this road was maxed out and high speed anything wasn't an option, every time we've asked the phone company since then they say the same thing. All our friends and neighbors have the same issues in trying to get high speed internt access. One friend that my wife just talked with said they are having similar data usage problem and they're going to talk with Verizon about it this month.
 

MTboatguy

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Ok, I give up...I am telling you what I am telling you because every single day, I work with our local phone company on people who live in remote locations to get DSL service. Monday is a holiday for many people but I have 3 install appointments for remote DSL connections. But, What ever. I am saying, if I can get a ping from my toner, I can get you DSL service.
 
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ondarvr

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I'm not someone that has a great deal of knowledge on this subject, and can only rely on what my neighbors and I are being told.

The reason I'm asking here is because so far Verizon and the local phone company can't seem to come with a reason for what's going on, nor a solution to the problem.

I appreciate the suggestions and possible solutions. If it was that simple it seems someone would have gone that route already.
 

bruceb58

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I can't get DSL service at my house but I can get fiber based U-Verse. Go figure. You have to be so many feet from the the hub to get DSL so some areas that you would think you can easily get it you can't.
 

MTboatguy

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I am 29,040 feet from the switch, they tried to tell me I had to be within 15,000 feet and I showed them I did not have to be that close, I am the third person from the end of our road and now all of us have DSL, including the last person at the end of the road, who is 34,320 feet from the switch. It can be done with the technology and signal boosters they have these days.

Who do you guys have for a phone company where you live?
 
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ondarvr

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So how do you convince the provider that being over their claimed maximum distance from the hub is OK. I'm not sure how much over that distance we are (can't remember), but I know we were well outside it.
 

MTboatguy

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So how do you convince the provider that being over their claimed maximum distance from the hub is OK. I'm not sure how much over that distance we are (can't remember), but I know we were well outside it.

Which landline provider do you have in your area, I do know is some of the smaller areas of the country, that certain providers have tried to stop supporting landlines, but that is now back in the hands of the FCC to see if they are going to be allowed to continue to stop services.
 
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