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charlieg17-Sep-15 3:04

17-Sep-15 3:04

Outside users. The router is setup as a secure WIFI. Password has been changed twice in the last two weeks. This weekend, I will restrict access to only MAC addresses I recognize (that's about as tight as you can get). However, I can see the list of MAC addresses accessing my router. There are only 3 that I have no identified. I think one is a roku, another is a phone, and another is a tablet somewhere. But they are not using any data.

Agreed on the sampling. Has been started.

Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

fglenn18-Sep-15 11:10

fglenn

18-Sep-15 11:10

It has been my experience that the default settings for a Comcast modem is to have an unsecured WiFi presence called xfinitywifi. If that hole isn't plugged, then you may have traffic that bypasses your router.

Fletcher Glenn

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/comcast-sued-by-customers-for-turning-routers-into-public-hotspots/[^]

jschell18-Sep-15 13:15

jschell

18-Sep-15 13:15

fglenn wrote:
If that hole isn't plugged, then you may have traffic that bypasses your router.

That is in fact a specifically a selling point of xfinity.

Cool | :cool:

fglenn21-Sep-15 5:25

fglenn

21-Sep-15 5:25

jschell wrote:
That is in fact a specifically a selling point of xfinity.

Yes, but the real question is whether or not the xfinitywifi traffic adds to his total usage.

Fletcher Glenn

charlieg17-Sep-15 4:50

17-Sep-15 4:50

"family members" - I have a fairly technically literate 18 yo. She's the main bw hog (my opinion). But her router #s are not unreasonable. I have a theory that Comcast gives extra credit to any streaming service that isn't from them. Just a theory.

Thanks787217-Sep-15 3:18

Thanks7872

17-Sep-15 3:18

Before investing much energy into wrong direction, take them here[^]

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning

charlieg17-Sep-15 4:50

17-Sep-15 4:50

good link! I'll save it.

Dave Kreskowiak17-Sep-15 3:26

17-Sep-15 3:26

Do you have X1? Most of the system is very web dependent, especially the DVR.

I just got X1 about 4 weeks ago. No problems but I also haven't tracked the data usage yet on the new system. Now you've got me curious. I used to use about 350GB a month before the switch so I have a good baseline to look at.

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Dave Kreskowiak

charlieg17-Sep-15 4:52

17-Sep-15 4:52

I do, and this is what Comcast "says":

Will live TV and/or XFINITY On Demand streaming on the XFINITY TV app or XFINITY TV website (xtv.comcast.net) count against my XFINITY Internet data usage threshold?

No. Live TV and select XFINITY On Demand streaming does not count against your Internet data usage threshold. Streaming XFINITY TV Go On Demand content, however, will count against your Internet data usage.

Dave Kreskowiak17-Sep-15 5:06

17-Sep-15 5:06

Yeah, that's live TV and select OnDemand streaming. You don't see a reference to DVR in there, do you? Smile | :)

Also, the last time I looked at my bill, there was a message that said the data caps we not being enforced.

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charlieg17-Sep-15 6:25

17-Sep-15 6:25

I'll check. We use the DVR heavily but not from a remote location. The way they have our house wired - we have cable that comes to my office -> cable modem. Also cable that goes to DVR and another set top box, so cable protocol, no Ethernet.

Dave Kreskowiak17-Sep-15 6:35

17-Sep-15 6:35

When you DVR something, it's actually being recorded "in the cloud", not on your local box. Play that back and you're using data.

You'll have to verify that, but I think that's what's going on.

[EDIT]
Well, I guess I was wrong. I just found this:

Quote:
Does the functionality enabled by X1 DVR with Cloud Technology count against the XFINITY Internet data usage threshold?
Downloading and/or streaming DVR recordings, live TV or XFINITY On Demand content will not count against your Internet data usage threshold if you are connected to your in-home XFINITY network. However, if you choose to stream or download DVR recordings outside of the home, this may count against your data usage threshold.

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Dave Kreskowiak

modified 17-Sep-15 12:42pm.

kalberts17-Sep-15 22:22

kalberts

17-Sep-15 22:22

Dave Kreskowiak wrote:
When you DVR something, it's actually being recorded "in the cloud", not on your local box.

Is that really true? If so, that's yet another reason to shy away from cloud services.

I do NOT want anyone, neither the cable company nor authorities, to have the facilities to monitor which movies I am watching, when I watch them, and how many times I watch them. (It is bad enough with the facilites for tracing which movies I am buying! I prefer to pay for DVDs in cash, over the counter...)

I do NOT want to risk that my movies (or music or photos) suddenly becomes inaccessible because someone in the Establishment points out, say, that one of the actors has declared himself as a communist. (I do have a collection of Chaplin movies...) Or that "for the protection of the children", a photo of my baby daughter at the changing table must be removed within 48 hours, or my account will be closed down.

I DO want to have full access to my movies, music and photos even if my cable connection experiences an 'excavator error', or the switching center experiences a power down, or if the cloud server is overloaded. If I go on vacation, bringing my portable, I want to have access to music and other entertainment on the trip, even when visiting places where 'cable' is something that carries AC only and the only wireless is the AM radio.

Nowadays, the disk costs for storing a movie is in the range of ten US cents - even less if you buy an internal disk for your desktop (rather than an external disk for your portable). That gives you privacy, reliability, independence of the network, stable quality, no risk of loss due to the contents of the movies or photos. No monthly fee - those 10cents/movie is a one-time fee.

Is there any real reason for using the cloud storage for anything? I can see a single one: I handle that by keeping a duplicate of my disk(s) at the office, in case my house burns down.

So: No cloud service for me!

Dave Kreskowiak18-Sep-15 1:57

18-Sep-15 1:57

It comes in handy when your recording something and the box crashes and restarts in the middle of the recording. When the box comes back up there's no break in the recording at all.

Member 7989122 wrote:
Is there any real reason for using the cloud storage for anything?

Yeah. I save whatever I want and can access the content from anywhere and I don't have to carry around anything other than my phone.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

Click this: Asking questions is a skill.
Seriously, do it.

Dave Kreskowiak

charlieg18-Sep-15 6:08

18-Sep-15 6:08

Might be too late for that... data is collected so universally. Cash might work. I have a recommendation for a Voyager Air. Looks pretty slick.

kalberts20-Sep-15 10:00

kalberts

20-Sep-15 10:00

charlieg wrote:
Might be too late for that... data is collected so universally.

Toll roads give such huge discounts for those that accept being traced (that is, charged to that chip glued to your windshield), and it is so convenient just driving on board that ferry, or whatever. So they do know roughly where my car is at any time - or at least when it last passed a toll station or used a ferry. And they can roughly tell where my mobile is located.

But my mobile is a simple GSM phone - no GPS, no smartphone with apps reporting my GPS position continously. I even tend to leave my phone at home when I visit friends, or turn it completely off when I bring it for emergency use (such as on mountain hikes). I do pay in cash whenever possible, and essentially avoid discount cards from chain stores - even if you pay in cash, they make a record of your preferred toothpaste and the amount of beer you buy; I don't want them to file such data about me! I do not have any Facebook or Twitter account (nor was I in Second Life a few years ago) and avoid any discussion fora requesting more than a semi-anonoymous email address. I am right now setting up another computer that I will use for most of my writing and photo/video editing; it will be off net. The old, net connected computer will solely be used for network communication, with no private information on that machine.

When I cannot keep my location private, such as when I'm driving on toll roads, I might as well use my plastic card at the gas station; that doesn't reveal more than they already know. My employer can tell that I come to work every day, so I let my GSM tells the same. But I believe that I have managed to reduce my electronic traces to a couple magnitudes less than the typical careless, young person today.

Maybe I am paranoid. Still they might be after me...

charlieg18-Sep-15 4:50

18-Sep-15 4:50

Well, I did a test yesterday. I still have my uverse service, so I unplugged from the Comcast cable modem. Network usage dropped to zero, and that is after watching multiple recorded shows.

Rough conclusion? The dvr is not counted against your data cap.

NickPace17-Sep-15 5:24

NickPace

17-Sep-15 5:24

I currently with Comcast and my family (2 adults, 4 teenagers) consistently uses about 400 GB each month, however Comcast has never enforced their cap on us (which is only 250 GB according to my account info). Been with them a few years now and I use them for TV, internet, and phones.

Their internet speed is great compared to other alternatives I've used such as AT&T. But I've found their internet is not as reliable as I would like. It goes down about once a week (and I hear about it from everyone in the family when it happens). Usually requires me to pull the router battery and power cable to reset it.

In this age of cell phones, I've decided using Comcast for phone service is stupid, however my wife does not want to give up the "home" phone number. Sigh | :sigh:

I'm currently undecided about their TV services. I love the search feature to find shows, and the on demand services are pretty good. But the X1 platform is buggy as hell, and the DVR hardware is slow. I hate pressing a button on the remote and then waiting a couple of seconds to see if anything happens on the screen. I just don't have enough patience to use their equipment. Whoever designed their software needs to be fired before they do any more damage. Popup screens with an OK button that takes over the whole system for a couple of seconds? Seriously? Just add a status string at the bottom of the screen so I can get back to my show. The DVR freezes up often (at least once a month) and requires a "hard" boot to reset the DVR by pulling the power cable and then waiting five minutes for the damn thing to start up again. Seems like that always happens right in the middle of a sporting event I'm watching. I've talked to Comcast service a couple of times now about these issues and though they are very friendly, they are pretty much useless. Nothing has changed since I've been with them.

I'd say there's a good chance I'll be dumping Comcast when my current contract is up. But who to switch to? I've been with AT&T, DirectTV, and DishNet. They all suck...that's why I keep switching. I've just about decided to switch to a local company for my internet, dump the internet phones (she'll get over it), and go to on demand services for TV (AppleTV or Amazon Fire or something similar). I'll miss my sports but some of those are on demand now and more will be that way in the future. One thing for sure, no more contracts. I'm sick of those.

-NP

Never underestimate the creativity of the end-user.

charlieg17-Sep-15 9:32

17-Sep-15 9:32

I haven't seen any reliability issues yet. And I have the same issue with cutting the land line - we use ooma now. $120 or so buy in, $4/month taxes and fees. For the 5 calls we get / day, it's about the right price.

TV services - I'm waiting for the breakup of the packages. If Netflix and the other companies keep rolling out their own material, it may happen sooner. I only watch maybe 6 shows other than an occasional movie, I'm tired of subsidizing all of the other garbage out there.

W∴ Balboos, GHB17-Sep-15 5:40

W∴ Balboos, GHB

17-Sep-15 5:40

Roku Warning: it can accidentally be left streaming whilst you aren't watching anything. Happens at home, although rarely.

Solutions for that: one Roku is in an energy saver power strip which has a master/slave relationship with several of the sockets. If TV off, Roku is powered off in about 30 sec.

I'm planning on doing the same for the other as it was on all day, no one home, on Tuesday.

Fortunately (for now) my ISP, CableVision, doesn't meter usage at this time. Possibly with ulterior motives, they're actually advertising to cable-cutters even though the supply telephone & cable TV along with internet. They do not have any kind of contracts.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

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"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

charlieg17-Sep-15 6:27

17-Sep-15 6:27

Good point about roku. But I know that mac address, and there is nothing going there. Might be I need to set up that suggested proxy server just to see who is using what.

Hooga Booga18-Sep-15 4:48

Hooga Booga

18-Sep-15 4:48

One way to get attention is to say you will begin legal action. I developed software for a call center here in Canada. As soon as legal action was mentioned, the issue was immediately moved up the chain to people who would listen. Who knows, it might really be a case for legal action.

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx

charlieg18-Sep-15 6:18

18-Sep-15 6:18

Well, so far it's a matter of whose data do you believe? I don't have enough yet in my arsenal to nuke them. But I'm working on it. Besides, it's a good exercise in technical skill development.

bytejockey18-Sep-15 4:58

bytejockey

18-Sep-15 4:58

I have the same provider and have been able to track and manage usage by installing software at the router. I'm using Gargoyle router management software https://www.gargoyle-router.com. If you have a compatible router, I'd suggest trying that. The software not only measures usage, but allows setting of quotas for usage. The usage totals from Gargoyle are within a couple of percent of those from the ISP, as there is some traffic that hits the modem that does not make it to the router (filtered at the modem).

charlieg18-Sep-15 6:19