High data usage when connected to VPN

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Hi, not sure if this is the best place to post this but here goes.

I noticed some high data usage this month when connected to my work VPN (Cisco Anyconnect). Roughly 1GB per hour that's constantly being drained. I'm on a mobile data package with Vodacom. The usage falls under DTLS. So it could be two things:

- I got a new router at the start of the month (Alcatel hh72v). So it could be some setting in there? I didn't notice this issue in previous months but I did have a 300GB package so I never really monitored my usage.

- It might have something to do with the VPN settings where IT changed something? I don't see how 1GB per hour usage would be normal or expected of employees though.


For the last 30 days (which is as far back as the history goes) I've used 118GB on DTLS. Way more than any other usage. I only work from home for 2 days a week where I'm connected to the VPN. So that's just 8 to 10 days of VPN usage.
 
Last edited:
Forum Reader said:
Hi, not sure if this is the best place to post this but here goes.

I noticed some high data usage this month when connected to my work VPN (Cisco Anyconnect). Roughly 1GB per hour that's constantly being drained. I'm on a mobile data package with Vodacom. The usage falls under DTLS. So it could be two things:

- I got a new router at the start of the month (Alcatel hh72v). So it could be some setting in there? I didn't notice this issue in previous months but I did have a 300GB package so I never really monitored my usage.

- It might have something to do with the VPN settings where IT changed something? I don't see how 1GB per hour usage would be normal or expected of employees though.


For the last 30 days (which is as far back as the history goes) I've used 118GB on DTLS. Way more than any other usage. I only work from home for 2 days a week where I'm connected to the VPN. So that's just 8 to 10 days of VPN usage.
Click to expand...
Check shared folders / files, Windows updates and distribution settings etc.

and if you are on mobile, set the "metered" flag on your wifi connection.
 
Kosmik said:
Check shared folders / files, Windows updates and distribution settings etc.

and if you are on mobile, set the "metered" flag on your wifi connection.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't those things use data when not connected to the VPN? This is just a steady constant usage. Seems to be roughly 1GB-2GB per hour, but only when I connect to the VPN. As soon as I disconnect from the VPN the data usage stops. Plus it seems to have been happening for weeks. Just noticed it a few days ago when I realized my remaining data was so low.

I'm connecting with my work laptop.
 
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Forum Reader said:
Wouldn't those things use data when not connected to the VPN? This is just a steady constant usage. Seems to be roughly 1GB-2GB per hour, but only when I connect to the VPN. As soon as I disconnect from the VPN the data usage stops. Plus it seems to have been happening for weeks. Just noticed it a few days ago when I realized my remaining data was so low.

I'm connecting with my work laptop.
Click to expand...

Can the work IT not see what traffic is occurring while on VPN?

Do you have mapped network drives?
 
supersunbird said:
Can the work IT not see what traffic is occurring while on VPN?

Do you have mapped network drives?
Click to expand...


I haven't spoken to IT yet as I'm not sure if it is related to the new router. Will try and use my old router tomorrow when my data gets refreshed. Got to get by with like 600Mb for the rest of the day. If the data still gets drained fast then I know it's got to do purely with the VPN and not my router.

There are mapped network drives on my laptop but I generally never use them as I don't do much directly on my laptop. I connect to the VPN and then remote access our much more powerful servers which I work on.

I did some googling on what DTLS is when I first spotted the high usage. Seems to be related to encryption so I disabled that in my router settings. However the issue still persists.
 
Forum Reader said:
I haven't spoken to IT yet as I'm not sure if it is related to the new router. Will try and use my old router tomorrow when my data gets refreshed. Got to get by with like 600Mb for the rest of the day. If the data still gets drained fast then I know it's got to do purely with the VPN and not my router.

There are mapped network drives on my laptop but I generally never use them as I don't do much directly on my laptop. I connect to the VPN and then remote access our much more powerful servers which I work on.

I did some googling on what DTLS is on Friday when I first spotted the usage. Seems to be related to encryption so I disabled that in my router settings. However the issue still persists.
Click to expand...

Just thinking that maybe the network drives are trying to sync (aka Offline Folders) while on VPN, something to check.
 
supersunbird said:
Just thinking that maybe the network drives are trying to sync (aka Offline Folders) while on VPN, something to check.
Click to expand...

So it looks like it's this. Network drives trying to sync up. The data only gets consumed when my explorer is open while on VPN. I got rid of all the network drives that were mapped (don't use them). There is however one mapped drive that keeps coming back... I just realized just now that my explorer was open today and checked. 7GB gone just like that.

Not sure how to stop it from eating my data apart from not leaving windows explorer open. My WiFi was not set as a metered connection. Changed that setting in Windows. maybe it will help.
 
Last edited:
Forum Reader said:
So it looks like it's this. Network drives trying to sync up. The data only gets consumed when my explorer is open while on VPN. I got rid of all the network drives that were mapped (don't use them). There is however one mapped drive that keeps coming back... I just realized just now that my explorer was open today and checked. 7GB gone just like that.

Not sure how to stop it from eating my data apart from not leaving windows explorer open. My WiFi was not set as a metered connection. Changed that setting in Windows. maybe it will help.
Click to expand...

Does it come back after doing a reboot?

Check your windows startup folder for a .bat file that does auto mapping.
 
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