Bandwidth Overused - HELP!

[eaglescout]

My internet has recently been going VERY slow, so I called my ISP. They said that we have over-used our 60GB monthly allotted data plan, and have used 160GB that month.

I would really like to know WHAT has used up all my allotted memory for the month. My Wi-Fi network is password protected. I have NEVER gone over before, so when my average jumps from about 40GB to 160GB it concerns me.

I would like to know how I can see what has used up all of my monthly bandwidth, as well as what device (and who) has used it all. In our house we have an iMac, a few windows XP computers, as well as 5 iPhones/iPod touch's.

Could 1 iPod touch do all of that, or would it have to be some application on my mac that is somehow running overnight?

Sorry if I confused you, and please correct me if I am using the wrong terms.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[keysersoze]

Someone's downloading... a lot... of "stuff"

 

[angelwatt]

You can install SurplusMeter on your Mac so you can see how much your own machine is using. You're not going to get a bunch of details about all the network traffic because that would be insanely large. You say your wireless network is password protected, but with what protocol e.g, WEP, WPA, WPA2? Also, is your password very strong. There's a number of tools for cracking wireless networks. WEP is very easy to crack while WPA/2 are harder as long as you have a strong password.

Also, you have Windows machines on your network. Do you run virus / malware / spyware software on them? If they've been infected with a trojan or the like they can become a part of a botnet and be used for any number of things including causing the extra bandwidth issue you're seeing.

 

[gatepc]

If you have a supported router you can install tomato firmware on your router and it can tell you what device uses the internet and how much. I used it on my router ( thankfully I don't have caps I use about 450gbs a month on average )

 

[alphaod]

I'd change your WiFi password for starters and make you're using WPA and not WEP.

Did your usage patterns change? If not, I'd call your ISP is to see if it's a mistake. Or maybe talk to a neighbor?

 

[xparaparafreakx]

i remember seeing a router that shows the bandwidth use on the router. Try that out.