Network Traffic/monitoring

[Fixnabrick]

Been close to hitting my limit for data the last few months and after checking all the devices on the network I can't figure out which one is using all the data. Using my internet providers app I can tell when devices are on and "how much" of the internet traffic % is being used by the device but it doesn't give me a breakdown of gigabyte per hour or anything. Allowing an app to monitor all the traffic on the network requires me to have a fair bit of trust in the company.  It's kind of the same worry when it comes to the idea of a VPN. Any suggestions on a program or if comcast offers this service and I am just not finding it. Thanks so much

[HellRatte]

Opera browser VPN

[CUm_Laude]

I used to work in Tier 3 repair/support and on the engineering side of Comcast for a few years recently, so this is first-hand knowledge from having to trouble-shoot and support this tool from it's initial release until about 15 months ago.

 

Comcast does have their own app that tracks usage.  It's called the xFI app so you can download it on your android or iphone.  It's also available when you log into your acct online via their website.  Alternatively, here's the sign-in for xFi online, https://login.xfinity.com/

 

Going through that tool, go to Network > Advanced Settings > Data Usage and it'll give you a breakdown of the current month's usage as-well-as the previous 3 months of usage.  It only gives the total # of GB used.  However, using the percentages it gives for each device, combined with the current month's total, you can do the math and see how much data each device is using.  I know when it was first released you could get a breakdown by GB of use for each device but that was changed last year with some update so I don't believe it's still available without doing the math yourself.

 

One nice thing is you can create profiles for everyone in the house and use their devices MAC addresses to add that particular device to their profile.  This allows you to track if someone is using all your data (dang teenagers LOL).  You can track the use for today or an average use over the last 30 days.  You can track it for every device that connects to your network too.  One nice feature is that you can also use this app/site to setup a bedtime for the kids where it won't allow them to connect via wifi during specific hours.  You can also designate younger kids on the app and it will implement some website blocking on their devices for "innapropriate" sites.  Just remember that their phones are probably setup by default to use the phone's data and access even if you disconnect them from the wifi, so you may need to disable that setting if you have a kid who is eating up all your cell data and monthly data with Comcast.

 

Remember that the limit for usage is 1TB/mo.  That's 1024 GB per month, which is a pretty large amount of data.  Also, you get 2 freebies of going over that limit per year before Comcast will charge you.  IIRC it's something like $10 for each 50GB of data over the plan you go.  There's an unlimited data plan but it's $50/mo, so is only worth it if you're using more than 250GB per month or more above that 1024GB limit.  1274GB/mo is your break-even point where it's probably just worth it to get the unlimited data plan.  Anything over that and you're definitely gonna want that unlimited data plan.

 

EDIT

I forgot to mention that this app/site only works correctly if you're using the Comcast supplied gateway and it has to be a newer one that was released in the last couple years.  If it has a dual-band wifi router built-in, then it's compatible.

Edited November 13, 2019 by CUm_Laude
Forgot to mention one thing about compatibility