Spice300
Premium
join:2006-01-10
| Fictional FAP Usage
The FAP meter is acting erratically.
Similar to what it did a long time ago, it is adding a fictional usage spike at about 10:30 PM MST. These spikes appear to have begun on March 14, 2008 MST. Their duration is between 30 minutes and 1 hour, and their amplitudes range from 18 MB to 87 MB on my meter. The last time these types of spikes were detected, their amplitudes were larger for the Pro Pack, about 300 MB if I remember correctly. For those near your FAP threshold, these spikes could put you over the limit causing you to be FAPed.
In order to construct the following graph, I had to change FAPPeriod (the time interval for subtracting usage) several times to make the green curve (actual usage) line up with the red curve (WB FAP meter). The adjustments were only 1 hour or less, but they have not been needed in the past.
At 23:02 GMT on March 19, 448 MB of fictional download usage is subtracted from my WB FAP meter. Another unexplained subtraction occurs at 01:32 GMT on Mar. 20 when 147 MB is subtracted. Since I was downloading while this fictional usage was subtracted and the meter was adding that usage, the actual subtractions are likely larger. The quickest that the Value Pack can download data is 113 MB / (30 minutes) or 225 MB / hr. The FAP meter is clearly updating in less than 1 hour and often less than 30 minutes. My service package can not download 448 MB in 30 minutes.
For the graph:
delay = 30 minutes
2008-03-01 03:00 GMT FAPPeriod = 28.79 days
2008-03-09 12:00 GMT FAPPeriod = 28.75 days
2008-03-18 12:00 GMT FAPPeriod = 28.77 days
There is no significance to changing FAPPeriod at 12:00 GMT. I simply changed it early in the morning when there was little activity on my FAP meter.
The small gaps in the red curve are caused by Fapzilla returning "ERROR,ERROR" instead of the FAP readings. The larger gaps are caused by me turning my computer and WB modem off.
Since I put 216.126.204.65 in my hosts file at 2008-03-15 22:00 GMT, after the first fictional usage spike occurred, I do not think the use of the hosts file is related.
WB Download Usage Compared to Actual
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Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
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Vikingbabe2
@wildblue.net
| My son came in last night asking if I had downloaded any large files within the last three days. He found a spike of 300MB within the same time period you mentioned.
He went back to the middle package a couple of months ago. We have all been very careful what we do using the WB since. Then three days ago, I found a few short old movie segments on YouTube and some Irish dance ones. About 11 all total, were allowed to download to show but the total download size would not have come to 300MB! |
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Spice300
Premium
join:2006-01-10
edit:
March 20th, @03:00PM
| reply to Spice300
At 10:30 last night I had another fictional usage spike with an amplitude of 336 MB for download and 7 MB for upload. The large fictional usage that was subtracted on the 19th has not been added back yet.
My NRTC FAP meter shows the same readings as the ones Fapzilla returns. |
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Spice300
Premium
join:2006-01-10
| reply to Spice300
The fictional usage spikes continue to occur at 22:32 MST and last for two readings making their duration between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours. So far the amplitudes have always been positive and have ranged from undetectable to 336 MB.
Since the 20th, the download usage from my FAP meter is tracking my actual usage at about 99% even with canceled page loads making for unprecedented accuracy.
The FAP algorithm appears to have changed casting doubt on whether there will be anymore flat lines at the end of the month.
Since the large decrease near March 20 in the graph, FAPPeriod = 28.77 days and delay = 30 minutes.
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Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
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Qoiz
join:2005-06-26 | reply to Spice300
one possibility.. maybe your house is haunted. I have solid evidence that my house is so maybe yours is also. ghosts could be using your wb connection at night and up the usage. just a possibility worth considering |
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Spice300
Premium
join:2006-01-10
| reply to Spice300
Since April 17, 2008 17:32:32 MST, the past two days, my FAP meter has not subtracted usage. My meter stopped subtracting around the time that the large 448 MB unexplained subtraction on March 19 was due to be subtracted. It may be payback time for the usage "gift."
The fictional usage spikes have continued for the last month although some nights they are not present.
In the graph:
Delay is 30 minutes
March 19, 2008: FAPperiod = 28.77 days
March 30, 2008: My actual usage (green curve) is flatlined to match the FAP meter's flatline.
April 1, 2008: FAPperiod = 30.81 days
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Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
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alhanson
join:2006-01-29
Barneveld, WI
| Spice I don’t think FAP Usage is Fictional. I think it is quite Real. Over a year ago when my FAP began rising at an alarming rate I took a different approach. Instead of trying to monitor Wildblue’s monitoring of my FAP, I went to the source the log file on my computer. The fire wall on my computer logs all the IP address I go to or connect to my computer and bytes send and bytes received.
What I found was the Wildblue proxy server was sending me the same [amount bytes] again and again for six to seven times when I would first click a link to a new IP address. This corresponds to your slow page load. I stop using the Wildblue proxy and my FAP leveled out, and also I got the quicker page load.
I want to confirm and agree with you the Wildblue definitely has got a Bug in there FAP meter.
al |
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RitaCeleste
join:2008-04-25
| reply to Spice300
WildBlue has a big bug in my FAP meter. They know it. They have refused to do anything about. Therefore they planned it that way. If people would put 3rd party bandwidth monitors on their computer and compare their reading to the FAP meter, they'd leave WildBlue in droves. |
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alhanson
join:2006-01-29
Barneveld, WI
| reply to Spice300
Spice here is my theory on your fictional FAP usage.
• Wildblue began as a small company which out sourced most of all its services e-mail being one of them.
• The out sourced services exist on the out side of the NOC.
• They are connected to the NOC from an internal V LAN WAN tunnel (like a private back door).
• Originally the e-mail came over the Gateway at the NOC being counted only once.
• Then it was sent to the e-mail Server where it was sorted into two bins e-mail and spam.
• When you requested your e-mail it was then sent to you through the V LAN WAN tunnel minus the Spam.
• The spam was totaled up at the end of the period (month) and subtracted from the FAP.
• All cool so far, but I don’t think Wildblue estimated the magnitude of the Spam.
• The WAN tunnel became a bottle neck for the e-mail.
• The out soured e-mail Server began sent the e-mail back thought the gateway to the NOC.
• Now the email was being counted (e-mail + spam) + e-mail
• The spam was being subtracted at the end of its period (month).
• The e-mail need to have it own period (month) so it could be subtracted from it self to come out right on the FAP.
• Of course the calculations would happen at the same time – so your graph would be kind of crazy looking.
• And there is also the problem of where the e-mail Server is sending the Spam the recycle bin on the Server or the recycle bin on your computer.
•Just nasty little thinks virus and worms can do to an e-mail Server.
Al |
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RitaCeleste
join:2008-04-25 | reply to Spice300
Spice, have you ever used anything like Bandwidth Monitor Pro to see what makes it to your computer? I am curious about how much of my reported bandwidth usage is GARBAGE my computer never asked for, wanted, needed, accepted, used. |
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Spice300
Premium
join:2006-01-10
| reply to alhanson
Alhanson, except my email has always been provided by an NRTC which is out there in Internet land and has no connection to the gateway. I do not use email clients. I only use the webmail provided by my NRTC. Because I receive almost no spam, I have the spam filter virtually turned off. The varying amplitude of the fictional usage spikes in no way corresponds to any spam received by my computer. My FAP meter counts unsolicited Messenger spam directed to ports 1026 and 1027 that my firewall drops.
RitaCeleste, I have never tried Bandwidth Monitor Pro. I only use netstat -e to monitor my actual usage because I only have one computer connected directly to my modem. I do have Windows Firewall set to log failed connection attempts which shows a small amount of unsolicited usage, barely 10 kB / hour, coming to my computer. All of the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) traffic shown by Bandwidth Monitor could not possibly be counted against your FAP because it would be measured in gigabytes per month making it obvious. I suspect that ARP traffic is counted on your FAP meter only when the packet is addressed to you which is a tiny fraction of the total ARP traffic.
When you use WB's proxy (i.e. install the WB optimizer), most sites you visit on the Internet only see the IP address of the proxy, not your real IP address. If some site snatches the proxy's IP address while you are surfing the Internet and sends spam to it, I suspect the proxy will drop the connection without it ever counting against your FAP meter. If you surf the Internet without the proxy, your real IP address is presented to those sites. Any spammers who use your real IP address would send it directly to your computer making it count against your FAP.
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Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
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