Bandwith Usage

[NovelT7]

@JamesVanderbErg

Haha sorry trust me I completely understand the name thing. My first name is TerrEnce and everybody, even after I spell it out for them, spells it TerrAnce. So I apologize.

Let's say I open up my faucet and let the water run for days. say the entire block does the same then yes we for sure affect not just the water pressure in the area, but what is available for practically everyone else.

Maybe the same can be said for bandwidth, except that what is being used, the actual data, is nearly endless. Unlike water there isn't a shortage on data. So you can't consume too much data. Now bandwidth as far as the flow itself, like water, yes I can see that, but I don't access nor use my conection on-stop to where it's a floodgate of data just pouring in at 1mbps continuously so no I am not affecting anyone else.

Now like I said I find it troubling that not only was my computer off, but we've had windstorms that kept me from connecting and getting service completely. So how can I go over in just a few days when I had never come close in over 5 years?

Matter of fact this almost exact same time last year I was deep into a video project and had uploads that lasted 10 hours and even then I didn't come close to either the download nor upload limit and yet in just about a weeks time when I'm practically not doing anything I exceed it? It doesn't make any sense. Well it does if it's a problem on the Wildblue end and they aren't investigating it.

Judging from these other posts I am not alone, but as I also stated the limit is near archaic anyway. It was set at a time when bandwidth usage was minimal and now with Youtube and other sites streaming video like Hulu and others bandwidth has increased more than 10fold from the time Wildblue started. So they need to adapt to the times if that is any factor into what is happening to other people. I just know right here with me. I hardly used my computer during the time in question and yet I go over 17gigs. That is really strange to me.

@wm4bama

Yes it was the download I called to verify. My upload isn't even close I think right now it's like 5% so even with that I find it truly odd that my upload and download are so extremely out of proportion. Yes I get that an upload can start a download say a 5k up can begin the download of 10 to or more gigs, but seriously to be at 5% upload and 120% down even if a virus was continually accessing something the upload figure would be higher. Plus while I appreciate the customer service reps they said that my router may be getting hacked into. I told them it's a hub and doesn't even have any way to receive or transmit wirelessly and they said it could still happen. Really? How?

For the record as of 4 days I'm at 170MBs. I've been accessing all kinds of sites trying to replicate anything that would give me practically 2,125MBs per day and I haven't come close. It's on their end.

@Marcel

Let me clarify. It's not business per se. For video I'm not hosting videos that any one can access. I exchange with other editors, special effects people, etc. It's just work. Send clips for screenings so there isn't any constant drain on hundreds of people accessing my clips for they are not streamed. Audio/Sound engineering same thing. I upload tracks and download tracks. It's not a constant.

As for my fnancial transactions. I manage my stocks online. It's wrong to use the internet to buy and sell stocks? Also with that said now can you see why timing is really important to me? I don't see why I would need an enterprise account to manage my stock portfolio. I think that's a bit over the top.

Anyway to reiterate I find it truly disturbing that I had never come close to the limit during the last 5 years and yet between April 23, 2011 and May 3, 2011 I go over 17gigs. Plus and you might find this hard to believe, but prior to April 21 my levels were at either 0 or very well near 0 because I hadn't used it at all. So for it to jump ridiculously in the matter of a few days is truly strange. From 0 to 17gigs and as stated off or no service. Matter of fact there goes the connection once again because of the wind.

They need to increase the bandwidth and raise the limits. We have 64bit processing. We have hi-def video and audio. People send video clips to each other a lot more now than they do pictures. Our technology continues to grow data sizes increase, data rates increase. It is high time that Wildblue raises its game.

[icats523]

I also live in windy Texas (northwest of Fort Worth), and on April 15, I got the email that said my usage was approaching the threshold. We had not been doing anything different, and had been below 70% for months. We started using our Verizon air card (for times such as these), and stopped using Wild Blue. If there was another option where I live, believe me, I would take it. I spend about $145/month between Wild Blue & Verizon.

[NovelT7]

@icats523

I wish I would have gotten a warning message which to me further shows they have a software glitch.

Today I calculated exactly how much data I would have to had access per day in order to reach the limit. From April 21 to May 6 the date of my email I would have to had accessed 1,133MBs per day. Which means about 47MBs per hour so far I'd say 40MBs is my actual average for a day's use. Right now I'm at 200MBs for the last 5 days. That's nowhere near 1,133MB.

Technically it could happen. If a person used the service at 1mbps for 8 straight hours then that would be 3,600MBs per day, but who does that?

Is it mathematically possible? Yes. Is it real world possible? Not really.

Another thing I have noticed that my upload averages 15% of my download. So for me to be over 17,000MBs for my download my upload, by the math, would have to be 2,550MBs and yet my upload usage on Wildblue shows 9% which is 450MBs which by the math would be 3,000MBs for the download and that figure makes sense. For over the previous 5 years that's the figure I would hover around.

So I strongly believe there is a glitch on their end and they need to investigate it, rework the software and more importantly restore my service. I don't need an apology from them, maybe a reduction in this month's fee due to their restriction of use would suffice, but I'm not seeking that either I just want my service to operate as it was and not face this ever again.

Right now I'm at 35MBs, but that started as of midnight. I will be leaving shortly so there will be no use til I return at or after 10pm later this evening right now it's 12pm. So there will be no use, all computers off, no one hacking in for the next 6 or 7 hours.

If I request the 40% deal and once again never come close to the limit. What then? It won't change anything. I'll go back to my normal usage and once again hover around 20% after a short time and the Wildblue people won't care.

By the way on their webpage and as noted by others here supposedly you can call and ask them to for which days you had high traffic use. Well I did and they said they didn't have that.

Strange? If you don't have the "evidence" how can you charge me with abuse?

[James E Vanderberg]

@JamesVanderbErg

Haha sorry trust me I completely understand the name thing. My first name is TerrEnce and everybody, even after I spell it out for them, spells it TerrAnce. So I apologize.

Let's say I open up my faucet and let the water run for days. say the entire block does the same then yes we for sure affect not just the water pressure in the area, but what is available for practically everyone else.

Maybe the same can be said for bandwidth, except that what is being used, the actual data, is nearly endless. Unlike water there isn't a shortage on data. So you can't consume too much data. Now bandwidth as far as the flow itself, like water, yes I can see that, but I don't access nor use my conection on-stop to where it's a floodgate of data just pouring in at 1mbps continuously so no I am not affecting anyone else.

No sweat, just pointing out that when someone gets insulting and uses the phrase "maybe you can't read," they need to make sure all their ducks are in a row. Otherwise it can be embarrassing.

And your analogy about the faucet is quite apt. Look at the "prime time" slowdown that occurs almost every day from around 5 PM to 11 PM. That's a perfect example of the effect that too many users has on everyone. So I'm standing by my statement that satellite is best for those of us who have no other options. Yes, you have the right to choose satellite, no one's arguing that. Just be aware that yes, your usage does affect others.

And it's not the nearly endless data that's limited, it's the pipeline that the data flows through. Would I like to see higher limits, too? Sure, and more speed, and less latency, and a lot of other things. However, understanding what the limits are at this time, I am able to keep my usage within those limits.

On another subject, I've never once had winds knock me offline, and I live in the mountains of East Tennessee where we get gale force winds on a regular basis. It takes a thunderstorm or extremely heavy rain to affect my signal. If wind is such an issue, you may want to get your dish checked.

[NovelT7]

No sweat, just pointing out that when someone gets insulting and uses the phrase "maybe you can't read," they need to make sure all their ducks are in a row. Otherwise it can be embarrassing.

And your analogy about the faucet is quite apt. Look at the "prime time" slowdown that occurs almost every day from around 5 PM to 11 PM. That's a perfect example of the effect that too many users has on everyone. So I'm standing by my statement that satellite is best for those of us who have no other options. Yes, you have the right to choose satellite, no one's arguing that. Just be aware that yes, your usage does affect others.

And it's not the nearly endless data that's limited, it's the pipeline that the data flows through. Would I like to see higher limits, too? Sure, and more speed, and less latency, and a lot of other things. However, understanding what the limits are at this time, I am able to keep my usage within those limits.

On another subject, I've never once had winds knock me offline, and I live in the mountains of East Tennessee where we get gale force winds on a regular basis. It takes a thunderstorm or extremely heavy rain to affect my signal. If wind is such an issue, you may want to get your dish checked.

You may be right as far as the dish itself because I have Dish Network and during these winds not once did it go out, but my Wildblue was off and on. So maybe it is slightly off alignment or something.

Now I agree with your statement about the time and usage, but that further strengthens my point. Right now it's 2am. I'm usually on here after 11pm or later and if during the day it's 10am to about 2pm or 3pm for work purposes.

But I think you misunderstand me. I understand the use of the service and as noted if a lot of people are on at one time that drains the system, but my point is so what if over any period I hit a sum of 17,000MBs. That itself doesn't hurt anyone because I could access and download 680MBs everyday for 25 days and that would send me over the 17GBs limit. I could download at 3am and not be a part of the primetime hit so how is my total data download affecting anyone else? As I stated elsewhere what if I download 5 4Gb movies during times when fewer people are on the system? I'll go over, but how is that an abuse?

Because let's be honest about what I've addressed. Wildblue instituted this policy when streaming video was not the norm. People were exchanging and sending jpg pictures that were way smaller than images that are now being sent between people, plus you have people now exchanging video clips which are a lot greater in size than the single images sent justa few years ago. Times have changed and Wildblue needs to change with it.

As for the policy oh I can stick to it when it actually happens, but like today my usage was about 54MBs. Even if under the restriction that was half of what it might be so 108MBs is still nowhere near the 1,133MBs I would need to reach the amount they say I did in about 15 days. And I am being generous with the 15 days because my service was off and on due to the wind.

I strongly think it's them.

I've had great service with Wildblue since 2005, Not once during that time did I have to call about anything (Except to go from the value pak to the pro pak) Everything has been great til now. I'm not really frustrated just trying to gget this worked out.

Actually I'm more upset I didn't get the 70% or 80% warning message that might've helped me deduce or at least question what was happening earlier because if I had received the warning message during my actual no service period then I'd have even stronger footing in what I'm saying, but right now I have no days to work with. I only know that between April 21 and May 6 my download grew exponentially.

Right now even though things are going slow it's still better than some other options.

By the way my parents have DSL and strangely enough if no one answers the phone and the answering machine picks up the modem loses signal. So you have to wait a minute or so for the modem to reset.

As for cable the charge would be about $200 per month and probably more if I got the features I have with Dish just a tad too high. Right now Wildblue, Dish and my phone are under that and I am about to drop $30 from Dish and $20 from my phone. My friend has cable and through it he has internet, phone, and cable and he is paying $250 per month for service and equipment fees.

So for some just because a person has access to cable doesn't mean they have to nor does it mean they want to pay extra just because it's there :-) I'd rather save money.

[James E Vanderberg]

You may be right as far as the dish itself because I have Dish Network and during these winds not once did it go out, but my Wildblue was off and on. So maybe it is slightly off alignment or something.


By the way my parents have DSL and strangely enough if no one answers the phone and the answering machine picks up the modem loses signal. So you have to wait a minute or so for the modem to reset.


So for some just because a person has access to cable doesn't mean they have to nor does it mean they want to pay extra just because it's there :-) I'd rather save money.

You definitely need your dish checked, your service shouldn't be interrupted by wind.

Your parents may need to check their filter and make sure it's installed correctly. When I lived in the city and had DSL, I never had that happen.

I think we're going in circles... you're taking the stance "I can, therefore I shall" while my point of view is more "Just because I can doesn't necessarily mean that I should." Neither of us is going to back down and we're not going to agree on this, so there's no point continuing. I hope you get your issues resolved to your satisfaction.

[NovelT7]

You definitely need your dish checked, your service shouldn't be interrupted by wind.

Your parents may need to check their filter and make sure it's installed correctly. When I lived in the city and had DSL, I never had that happen.

I think we're going in circles... you're taking the stance "I can, therefore I shall" while my point of view is more "Just because I can doesn't necessarily mean that I should." Neither of us is going to back down and we're not going to agree on this, so there's no point continuing. I hope you get your issues resolved to your satisfaction.

Wait. technically that's not circles because you actually made my exact point. You're saying that your view is "just because I can doesn't necessarily mean that I should" and that is my exact statement. Just because I can have cable doesn't necessarily mean that I should have cable.

By the way on that same note there are several people in my area, here in the suburbs of El Paso who have chosen Wildblue over cable. Mostly all for the same reason. Comparable internet service and a better price, but more so they grew ill of our local cable company. Customer service is horrid.

So in my own personal experience I have friends complaining about our local cable company on both internet service and customer service. The introductory price used to be $65 per month. So why would I pay $65 per month for something I know I'm going to have problems with ahead of time. Why even go down that road, becase it's available? That doesn't make any sense.

I chose Wildblue for price. I chose it because DSL and other phone options were unavailable. Matter of fact when I tried the other phone options it was AT&T that suggested Wildblue. This was 2005 and I knew nothing about it. I did an internet search and called AT&T back and set it up and have been completely satisfied even now. There's nothing wrong with Wildblue or my use just this glitch of them saying I'm over which to me is near impossible.

Like I said my upload should be proportional to my download and it's not even close. Right now for example over the last 5 days my download has been 279MBs and my upload has been 48 MBs approximately 17%. So in comparison if I hit 17,000MBs my upload should be around 2,890MBs which is over 50% of the upload limit. Right now the usage meter says I'm at 10% which is 500MBs and that figure makes sense. That is reasonable to me, but it definitely doesn't reflect the download nor is it proportional at all. At 500MBs and at 17% that would approximate my download at 2,941MBs and that figure makes complete sense because monthly since 2005 my usage would hover around 20% of the download which is 3,400MBs.

You know what now that I think about it when they changed this new usage thing from the old one I bet they changed the measuring parameter from megabytes to megabits and that's why people are going over.

[NovelT7]

Um proof Wildblue has a problem with Math is on this page. The thing says I've made 3 posts and yet there are 4 on this page alone(prior to this very message) and I know I posted on a couple of other threads soooooo...They might want to take the time and review all of their software.

I'm just saying...

[wm4bama]

Uploads are never proportional to downloads...they have no direct relationship to each other...

On the other hand, downloads can be very large and vary greatly from one day to the next.

I updated my Tom-Tom map (GPS) and it took about 2gb's on that one download, had nothing to do with upload...I marked it on my calendar and 30 days later it rolled off.

My download usage went up 20% that day, per the WB bandwidth monitor, but went down by that amount 30 days later.

No matter how many computers, play-stations, phones, or other devices uses your internet connection. the WB bandwidth monitor sums the total..so you only need to check that daily to keep an accurate accounting of how much, and when. you used bandwidth.

I've tracked WB's bandwidth monitor very accurately for over two years and have never seen an error...

And, your analogy about comparing when and how much time you used on a cell phone to why WB should provide you with more accurate daily numbers is flawed...although they will eventually supply a better monitor with that data available for the past 30 days.

But calling them and asking for more detailed data would be like calling your power company and demanding to see a daily breakdown of how many kilowatts you used on a day-day basis....they provide a daily average, and compare it to what you used the previous month and what was used for the same period last year, but I have yet to see a daily breakdown...

I'm sure you will eventually uncover what is/was using so much bandwidth on your connection, but the WB bandwidth monitoring system will not be the culprit.

[NovelT7]

Uploads are never proportional to downloads...they have no direct relationship to each other...

On the other hand, downloads can be very large and vary greatly from one day to the next.

I updated my Tom-Tom map (GPS) and it took about 2gb's on that one download, had nothing to do with upload...I marked it on my calendar and 30 days later it rolled off.

My download usage went up 20% that day, per the WB bandwidth monitor, but went down by that amount 30 days later.

No matter how many computers, play-stations, phones, or other devices uses your internet connection. the WB bandwidth monitor sums the total..so you only need to check that daily to keep an accurate accounting of how much, and when. you used bandwidth.

I've tracked WB's bandwidth monitor very accurately for over two years and have never seen an error...

And, your analogy about comparing when and how much time you used on a cell phone to why WB should provide you with more accurate daily numbers is flawed...although they will eventually supply a better monitor with that data available for the past 30 days.

But calling them and asking for more detailed data would be like calling your power company and demanding to see a daily breakdown of how many kilowatts you used on a day-day basis....they provide a daily average, and compare it to what you used the previous month and what was used for the same period last year, but I have yet to see a daily breakdown...

I'm sure you will eventually uncover what is/was using so much bandwidth on your connection, but the WB bandwidth monitoring system will not be the culprit.

You lost me on that cell phone thing. Where did I make that comparison?

Yes the two are proportional. It's an exchange of data. It's called a handshake. Your computer sends a request for data and then receives it. There is always a send even during a download. As you download your computer sends TCP/IP ACK packets to the other computer or server to continue the transmission. Which is how your progress bar works and gets its information from. So as you download there is a continuing feed uploaded (it's not significant in size) that keeps track of the data collected and continues until the transfer is complete. So yes the upload is proportional to your download because as you download your computer sends requests for the data during the transfer until it is complete.

I've spoken to customer service and I told them that yes I was watching streaming video. Trying to catch up on Stargate Universe, plus my normal video stuff that I produce myself, but and this is the key point. I've been doing that for the last 5 years. Watching TV shows. Watching video editing clips. Watching sports feeds and not once did I come close to the limit. So how in the world if it didn't happen in 5 years how the heck did it happen in about 8 days? Especially when my computer was off and the windstorms knocked out service, plus there were problems with the Laredo area satellite and yet during this off-time I go from practically 0GBs to 17GBs.

Matter of fact during this time period each time I called I got the canned "there is a potential service outage in your area" yes there was and I had no service and yet I hit mach speed during an outage?!?!?

I don't want to be too facetious about this, but I feel Wildblue is being just a tad too Michael Nifongish right now.

From 2005 to 2010 using my computer and internet in the exact same way not once coming close to the limit and yet between April 21 and May 6 of 2011 I go from 0GBs to 17GBs and go over. This goes way beyond prosecutorial misconduct.