Why does ISP count transfers between computers against data cap?

[mjslakeridge]

I had an online chat this morning with my ISP, which is AT&T U-Verse. He confirmed to me that any data transfers from computer to computer on my home network count against the monthly data cap of 250GB. I have read on the AT&T user forum that they don't currently enforce the cap, but they could. The rep I was chatting with couldn't answer whether they do or don't enforce the cap.

Is there a technical reason data transfers between computers are counted against the data cap? Maybe the router can't distinguish between that and downloaded data?

Not a huge problem for me, but I do want to copy about 100GB of data from one computer to another as a form of data backup, so that will be well below the 250GB monthly cap. (I know I could remove the HDD from one computer and temp. install in the other computer, but don't want to do that). I know I could also use external HDD to do the transfer, but that is slower, I am assuming.

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows the answer to my question.

 

[why_wolf]

It should not and I suspect that whoever you were talking to was an idiot (did some call center work myself once. They'll hire anyone as the turnover rate is insane 80%+). However I can see any of the ISPs deciding to screw you if you are renting your router from them.

 

[mjslakeridge]

I could tell from the timing of his responses that he was referring to a manual or something. He also said that when data usage goes over a certain level (65% or something), I would receive an email, and another email as the % increases, etc.

I am not renting the router/modem from them. They "gave" it to me when I signed up for the service. In fact, when I got the current router, they told me to do whatever I wanted with the old router. But I get your point.

I am going to do a test in a few minutes to see how long it takes to transfer a 1GB file over the LAN.

 

[ahnilated]

Your internal transfers should never count against your internet totals as they never leave your house. The only thing I could say is that person was an idiot is the previous poster states or they are just trying to screw you out of money.

 

[maddogfargo]

Normally you set up your ISP modem as the single shared gateway for your home network to the internet. You put all your home computers behind your own firewall/router and block all unnecessary traffic in/out. That way you can do whatever you want on YOUR network and your ISP isn't involved.

When you use THEIR device as your router, firewall and home network switch or wireless AP, they can do all kinds of funky and devious things with your traffic. You should be in control of that, not them. They are a service provider. Never trust them to manage your home network. That's like hiring a consultant to manage your budget...of course they are going to recommend you increase your consulting budget.

XD

 

[mjslakeridge]

Maddog-I don't have a very sophisticated home network, 3 pc's, 1 printer, 2 wireless cams, and a HDHomerun TV tuner. But, I see your point about using the ISP router only as the gateway. I don't do much file sharing, but thought about backing up all of my Pro Tools audio session files (about 83GB now that I checked) to my 2TB HDD on my "internet" computer for additional safety. They are already backed up to an external USB HDD.

I just ran a test, transferring a file of 2.02GB from computer to computer and it took 3 min 14 sec. Per my math that is a transfer rate of 10.195 MB/sec. Is that a decent transfer rate?

Correction: 4 min 14 sec, resulting in a transfer rate of 8.590 MB/sec

 

[jsmithepa]

1st rule about computer and calling tech support in general: (1)They are the lowest paid employees, nobody with any chops want a job dealing with the public, and (2)Even if they known stuff, they are obligated to give you the "company's line" rather than truly help you because of liability.

So... you spoke to an idiot. Scratched it as wasted time.

Short answer: They only cap what happens to the WAN port. You can distinguish between WAN and LAN I hope.

Longer answer: PC to PC is LAN traffic. Go ahead, unplug the router from the wall, your PC are still able to talk to each other. This is LAN traffic and you have just disabled your ISP ability to see you at all.

 

[mjslakeridge]

I just did another test. Before doing so I logged into the router and noted the number of bytes transmitted and received on Port 4 (the connection to the Pro Tools computer). Then I transferred another file and the number of bytes received on Port 4 increased by slightly more than the 1.8GB file I transferred (I assume larger because of the transfer process itself used some additional resources).

Edit: Jsmith, do you mean to unplug the power to the router or unplug the telephone line connection?

I don't see any WAN statistics on the site map, only LAN stats. Maybe it is there and I can't find it or maybe AT&T doesn't want me to see the WAN stats.

 

[mjslakeridge]

Ha! I tried to download the AT&T UVerse service agreement, but their site is down. I think you guys are right, but wanted to see if there was any fine print in the agreement that "could" allow them to count the LAN traffic. If I find out anything definitive, I will post here.

 

[jsmithepa]

You are just being paranoid.

The ISP doesn't care about your LAN. In fact if you call them with a technical issue they don't want to know about your LAN because that's not their responsibility, their responsibility stops at the modem's WAN port, and if your modem/gateway die, they will replace that, but they won't touch anything beyond, except maybe you VOIP phone.

All that tests you are doing, there are always some house keeping traffic. If you are copy a 8GB DVD and your WAN count seems to have gone up by 100MB, don't lose any sleep over it.

 

[mjslakeridge]

I think you guys are correct. I probably did chat with a lazy or uninformed help desk guy. The only reason I first contacted AT&T is because there was a lot of misinformation being tossed around on their forum, which is where my Google search initially led.

I will be transferring all of the files that need additional backup tomorrow.