 levity
join:2008-09-19
Toronto, ON | [Internet] Bell charging for wireless "intranet" usage In the last few days my internet usage jumped to as high as 51gb uploads a day and so I have gone over my limit in a very expensive way. I suspect it is the Foscam security camera that I set up and had left open a streaming wireless connection to my laptop. I did not use an internet address (dyndns) but used port forwarding on the intranet (192.168.2.16:2442) to access and view the camera.
Both Bell Level 1 tech and the billing department confirmed that my internet usage charge comes from activity recorded by the modem (Sagemcom Fast2864) and that despite the activity being "intranet" not "internet", their charges are valid. The billing department staff stated that if the connection to the camera had been via ethernet cable instead of wireless, apparently I would not be charged.
Interestingly, the Bell website does not refer to intranet activity, but only to internet use.
»service.sympatico.ca/index.cfm?m···_id=6661
»service.sympatico.ca/index.cfm?m···_id=6666
I can connect the camera to another wireless router on the network and so avoid the charges in the future as the router is ethernet connected to the modem.
Any suggestions on how to contest the charges? Bell is quite insistent that the charges are valid even though their website only refers to internet use?
Richard |
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resa1983Premium
join:2008-03-10
North York, ON
kudos:7
2 edits | Re: [Internet] Bell charging for wireless "intranet" u |
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| reply to levity
Where are you viewing the camera from? If you need a port forward that implies you are coming from outside of your LAN which would certainly be internet traffic. If you are inside your LAN then why do you need a port forward?
It sounds like you are viewing this camera over the internet and as such are streaming a lot of data as an upload of your modem's point of view. |
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 ukd
@teksavvy.com | reply to levity
» Bell Usage Meter counting LAN data? |
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 HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:17
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| reply to levity
Wow, this is brutal...
In any case, you can just buy your own router, and use the sagemcom simply as a bridge modem. Turn off the wireless, remove your B1 login from it, and plug any of the LAN ports into a new router's WAN port, set it to PPPoE, enter you login info and off you go. |
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| reply to levity
Not funny ...
But one question for you.
Did you ever considered changing to an indie ISP which allows more usage or even unlimited?
Bell is going to increase their prices in January again. $3 for internet, $3 for TV and $2 for phone ...
Just saying ... |
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 dillyhammerA. Good. Start.Premium,MVM
join:2010-01-09
Hamilton, ON
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| reply to HiVolt
said by HiVolt:Wow, this is brutal...
I'll say. I've seen a lot of disgusting things from Bell over the years, but that's right up there.
Mike |
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dillyhammerA. Good. Start.Premium,MVM
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| reply to levity
1. Switch to an indie ISP on another pair using your own router and modem, cancel ALL Bell services.
2. Never go back.
3. File complaint with CCTS. Internet usage is packets that move across the WAN port. Even the dumbasses as the CCTS will be able to figure that out.
Mike
--
Cogeco - The New UBB Devil -»[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare
Cogeco UBB, No Modem Required - »[Niagara] 40gb of "usage" while the modem is unplugged |
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resa1983Premium
join:2008-03-10
North York, ON
kudos:7 Reviews:
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| Actually, since caps & overages are economic ITMPs, you'd wanna file an ITMP complaint with the CRTC.
»www.crtc.gc.ca/RapidsCCM/warning···m&lang=E
Add as much info as possible with ticket numbers, CSR names, any conflicting info CSRs gave, including the fact that the CSR stated intranet usage was counted.
Chances are it'll be a bug with the firmware or something that Bell will 'suddenly' have found & fixed.
--
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dillyhammerA. Good. Start.Premium,MVM
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| said by resa1983:Actually, since caps & overages are economic ITMPs, you'd wanna file an ITMP complaint with the CRTC.
»www.crtc.gc.ca/RapidsCCM/warning···m&lang=E
Add as much info as possible with ticket numbers, CSR names, any conflicting info CSRs gave, including the fact that the CSR stated intranet usage was counted.
Chances are it'll be a bug with the firmware or something that Bell will 'suddenly' have found & fixed.
Great info. This should definitely be pursued by the OP.
Mike
--
Cogeco - The New UBB Devil -»[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare
Cogeco UBB, No Modem Required - »[Niagara] 40gb of "usage" while the modem is unplugged |
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levity
join:2008-09-19
Toronto, ON | reply to nokiatech
said by nokiatech:Where are you viewing the camera from? If you need a port forward that implies you are coming from outside of your LAN which would certainly be internet traffic. If you are inside your LAN then why do you need a port forward? Hi Nokia,
I setup port forwarding to allow the possibility of accessing the camera from the internet, but was careful not to use internet access except to test the connection. I was aware of the bandwidth issue. What was open frequently and may have been left open was the intranet address. It may be that just setting up portforwarding on this modem triggers any traffic to be counted as internet usage for my account. |
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levity
join:2008-09-19
Toronto, ON | reply to ukd
thanks ukd. I had done a search of the forums before posting, but did not see that one. Haven't had a chance to read all posts. I had always assumed traffic data was read at CO not from the modem, but the Bell staff were clearly saying it was from the modem. I tried within both depts to speak to higher level staff. |
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| reply to levity
The way to contest these charges is to tell them go f themselves.
They are not allowed to charge you for traffic on your internal (local) network.
Unless the traffic is being bounced over the internet and back (which is harder to detect because 10mbit upload is FAST), they have absolutely no case. |
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Seb851
join:2010-07-12
Sainte-Marthe-Sur-Le-Lac, QC | reply to levity
Bell no charge intranet Usage
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| reply to levity
Port forwarding your camera basically opened up your firewall... now all the bots probing IP address ranges know your IP is "live" because they are getting a response on the port you are forwarding... not a smart move.
Basically you had all your doors and windows locked before port forwarding and now you left one window wide open with the light on for all the baddies out there to come peep through... they might not have video access to your cam , yet, but they know there is a device responding.
Turn off your port forwarding and educate yourself on firewalls and Internet security...
You are probably getting probed up the yinyang from the sounds of it Cartman... |
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2 edits | If he has 51Gigabytes/day, it would be surprising that the ports are only probed. He should check for some trojan, his cam might be controlled from someone else on the internet. It's also surprising that a vga cam, even if running 24/7 would consume 51Gigabytes of downloads in 1 day.
At vga resolution, his security cam would consume roughly 400MB/hour or 9.3Gigabytes/day. |
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| You don't believe it possible that 5 bots or persons could already be streaming video from the cam?
Or maybe the cam's embedded web server server has a well known vulnerability, or default admin/password, and there is other software running on it relaying spam to the masses? |
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| reply to levity
If you uploaded 51gb from one machine on network to another machine on your network you would see 51gb of download as well... video traffic is a two way street...one person sends and the other receives. |
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resa1983Premium
join:2008-03-10
North York, ON
kudos:7 | Maybe it still is streaming via intranet, but its also sending to bell?
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 vitesse
join:2002-12-17
Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, QC
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| reply to Seb851
said by Seb851:Bell no charge intranet Usage
So how do you explain the situation? and I'm still waiting for my answer about density on another Thread  |
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