Capped while offline. Can an adsl line become a data black hole?

L

linuxgal

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When Telkom restored my broken landline on Saturday afternoon, the adsl wouldn't download and showed 80% packet loss. I reported it and shut the computers down. Imagine my surprise when thereafter I got repeated usage messages.... the isp (myisp/interprise on IS backbone) claims I used 1.7GB within a few hours, and I got capped. This is while everything was switched off.
I'm connected now to a local-only account which shows a normal usage pattern, and Myisp won't restore my lost data.
Technical gurus - please explain if there is any way a dodgy adsl line itself could have guzzled data with no computer activity.
And anyone else ever had this problem? How did you get your data allowance back from the ISP?
 
Someone possibly stole your credentials off your router/modem and used it on their ADSL line.

You should be able to ask your ISP for the telephone number(s) that the account was used on.

A few of the ISP's that I'm using provides that info on their client status pages.
 
The ISP says it is trying to get the line number for me, but that it is the same port as my usual connection. My stats page shows the data gobbling started only when I tried the internet at least an hour after the voice line was restored. The router was unplugged until then and the password is changed from the default. Would the Telkom technician be able to grab it off the line?
 
The Telkom technician can only get it if he had access to your modem's web/telnet/ssh interface.
 
No, he didn't repair the fault at my house, and the ISP says the adsl line that connected was indeed my number.
Is there any way the line itself could have gone crazy on its own? Or the monitors at the ISP?
 
The line can't go crazy on itself, because it has to authenticate via the ISP's server and only your router is supposed to have those credentials.

If it was indeed from your number, then there's possibly a virus/autoupdate application on your PC that used up the cap OR someone else connected to your router via wireless and then used your cap.

Perhaps someone else have more insight into this situation of yours, but for me it looks like the fault is at your place (and your responsibility).
 
Pada, thanks for your feedback so far.
The ISP has suggested a DoS attack, which I don't quite know how it works, but the bandwidth usage (which was 99.9% downloading and 0.1% uploading) continued after I shut the box down. It is a Linux box so I do not suspect a virus. My router is an old-fashioned ethernet-only. So the mystery remains and I still wonder if the ISP's meter could have been at fault?
 
i'm no guru but i have to side with pada on this one that a faulty line couldn't be the cause. even if the high packet loss resulted in packets being sent over and over 1,7 gig in a few hours is a lot
 
Assuming the line is not faulty, can the ISP's usage meter go haywire?

And can IS see in their logs to see what I supposedly connected to during that period? Via Myisp, they have proved unhelpful so far.

On further examination of my usage reports shortly before this incident I found connections with small amounts of data usage on days when I was away on a business trip, having left everything switched off.

If anyone can offer a reasonable explanation I would really appreciate it.
 
A few years back my cybersmart account went crazy, over 3gigs in a day on a 384k line. There were problems with the voice + data on the line from telkom's side that day. Cybersmart removed that day's data usage from my monthly usage after I called the help centre.
 
DanH, sounds like your experience was identical to mine and I'm happy I am not unique. I was not as lucky as you to get all the uncommanded usage restored, but after a lengthy correspondence with Myisp they have now made a gesture of giving me half my lost data back.
Since I still don't know what caused it and how to prevent, I just have to say my prayers it doesn't happen again.
 
I thought the same bizarre thing happened to me a while back when I checked my data usage and 3GBs of my precious cap was used when I came back home from a family lunch... Turns out my sister had her PC on with Limewire open.

I have however seen cases where bandwidth disappears into thin air and it's unfortunate that some ISPs are not as kind about it.
 
HavocXphere said:
That is exceedingly unlikely. Nobody goes around DoSing random (dynamic) IPs. No point.

Sounds like a broken b/w monitor to me.
Click to expand...

I did it to a friend for fun :D when I told him to download a torrent I was seeding on some unknown international site... I compensated him for the bandwidth tho.
 
Simple solution: change your dsl account password, and to be safe change your router password too... whoever it was that was using your account won't be able to do so anymore - it's not like you need to claim that bandwidth back if you weren't using it anyway, so there's really no point at all wasting un-necessary effort with tracing and stuff
 
yep, and use alpha-numerals. other words letters and numbers as automatic dictionaries got quite good at guessing nouns
 
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