DSL NU 849 over charging?

[agent.zeroone]

Hi guys, I've been an MTNL Triband customer since February 2009. I've subscribed to the DSL NU 849 package which offers unlimited download at night (22.00 hrs to 8.00 hrs) and 1.25 GB (1280 MB) during the day. I've always been careful and never exceeded the 1.25 GB limit... in fact I check my usage logs everyday to see if I'm nearing the limit.A couple of days ago I checked the log and found my daytime usage to be somewhere near 850 MB. The next day the usage shot up to 1250 MB even though I don't remember downloading anything huge. I decided to stop using the Internet altogether during the day until the end of this month. In spite of this I found that my usage had increased to 1281 MB even though the router was turned off the entire day. Today it is at 1301 MB.Any thoughts on why this is happening?p.s. My username ends with @a and I keep the router off when not in use.Update: 27 Oct 2010, 22:50 hrs: Router has been powered off all day. No increase in usage statistics since yesterday. Usage = 1301 MB

 

[Daddycool]

First check the connection on/off times in your usage logs. It may give you some clue.

 

[agent.zeroone]

Thanks for replying Daddycool. I've checked the logs for the days when the router was turned off during the day and as expected it doesn't show any usage... no connection on/off time. The Accounted Volume column shows 0 MB.But here's the strange part... The grand total keeps increasing.For e.g.On the 25th, at 23:00 hrs the grand total was 1281 MB.On the 26th, I made sure the router was switched off the entire day and did not turn it on until after 22:00 hrsThe usage logs do not show any activity (during the day) on the 26th. No connection on/off time. Accounted Volume column show 0 MB... this is the expected behaviour. But the strange thing is that the grand total has increased to 1301 MBI hope this is making sense. Explaining this situation is difficult.

 

[Daddycool]

^ I understand what you mean although I cannot understand why it happens.Two things to do. First I suppose there will be a mismatch of the total of usage since the total increases without the actual usage increasing. Once you confirm that, take screenshots to keep the record. That is what will be invaluable to show MTNL if there is wrong billing.The one possible thing that could be happening is that your night usage is being misapplied to your day quota. You must be aware of the need to switch your modem on and off at the start and end of the free usage period respectively. You must also note that the time is not necessarily the actual time but the time set on the servers. This too you'll be able to confirm by a careful examination of your usage logs.

 

[sumeet]

I had a similar situation some time back, and I realised that some softwares were autoupdating themselves, like Windows Defender and others. Almost 300 MB downloaded without me knowing, files like KB323232 blah blah. But luckily I came to know that. So just check, that some software is not running in the background and downloading updates without you knowing it. Of course that will show up in the usage.

 

[agent.zeroone]

@Daddycool: Thanks for the advise. I'll take screenshots if I notice any discrepancy.I'm aware that the router should be power-cycled at the start and end of the free usage period. I never really trusted MTNL to keep correct time on their servers. That is why I make it a point to keep the router switched off from 21:45 hrs to 22:15 hrs and from 07:45 hrs to 08:15 hrs.In case anyone is interested... as of today, the time on the MTNL server is 2 minutes 41 seconds behind the actual time. The time on the MTNL server is gradually drifting behind and I suspect it will go behind even further as days go by. MTNL should synchronise their severs with a reliable ntp server.@sumeet: I'm certain nothing is being downloaded in the background without my knowledge. By the way, I'm using Linux. Thanks for your help, though.

 

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[Daddycool]

^ With the care you are taking, I'm sure your problem will be resolved to your satisfaction. I have found that people are generally reasonable if our approach is right.