"System" internet data usage. What causes this? (See Screenshot)

[GANI482]

 

 

I had noticed System using most data but never thought anything of it.  Today I saw a post on Reddit of someone having the same issue, but none of the comments seem to understand why it is happening. 

Can anyone here explain this?  Is is caused by using vpn?  Thanks!

[Porthos]

Post your settings from these 2 screens

[Porthos]

See you are on Win 11 so find the same screens there.

[GANI482]

 

 

I am on Win 11.  I believe these are the correct screens you want but I do not think they will be of much use. 

[Porthos]

What is your default browser? My browser in this VM does not get much use. But is still more than system.

The "because you use a VPN" might have some merit.

[Porthos]

This seems to be the answer.

[GANI482]

I use Firefox every day.  The data usage on my Firefox has to be much higher than the 49mb it shows in my screenshot.  I watch a lot of Youtube videos on Firefox too, so it must be a few gb every day.  It was worrisome because nobody else on Reddit could for sure explain it either.  I would assume somebody else out there is using NordVPN or another vpn, and can check what their data usage looks like so we can confirm for 100% what is going on.  It is also concerning in that I am unable to differentiate what programs are using how much data.  800gb seems like a lot of data for my Youtube videos because I only watch videos in 480p specifically to try and save on data.

[GANI482]

7 minutes ago, Porthos said:

This seems to be the answer.

 

I am hoping someone here, an expert, can confirm this for sure or not.  That Reddit post has been seen hundreds of times, and only 1 person says it is vpn caused. 

[Porthos]

3 minutes ago, GANI482 said:

 

I am hoping someone here, an expert, can confirm this for sure or not.  That Reddit post has been seen hundreds of times, and only 1 person says it is vpn caused. 

I live with FF open but do not use a VPN in several months. This is my win 10 usage,

[GANI482]

What we need is someone who is using a VPN to show us their data usage page so we can see if it says system.  My Firefox must be hundreds of gbs too, and the only way that makes sense is that data is going under System.

[AdvancedSetup]

Open the Settings App
Go to Update and Security - Windows Updates - Advanced Options
Click Delivery Optimization
Turn off all options you find there.

 

You can also use this free utility NirSoft NetworkUsageView
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_usage_view.html

There is also this utility that monitors usage
You can use a short trial but it has a cost to keep using advanced features
https://www.glasswire.com/

Can I use GlassWire for free, and what are GlassWire's free features?

GlassWire 2.0 comes with a free 7 day trial so you can try out all its paid Basic, Pro, Elite features. After 7 days GlassWire will revert to its free version. The free version of GlassWire includes its extreme network monitoring functionality where you can see your live and past network activity in detail. You can also set Data Alerts to stay under your data limits, and scan your network related apps with VirusTotal. GlassWire's free version also allows you to monitor one PC remotely. The free version of GlassWire has no firewall functionality, and none of our security features are activated with the free version of GlassWire.

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by AdvancedSetup
Updated information

[AdvancedSetup]

From an elevated admin command prompt you can run the following for current Firefox usage (same as the UI but via command line)

 

tasklist /fi "imagename eq firefox.exe" | sort /r /+60

 

The following will show what is running under the SVCHOST program

tasklist /svc /fi "imagename eq svchost.exe"

 

[GANI482]

On 10/3/2022 at 2:59 PM, AdvancedSetup said:

Open the Settings App
Go to Update and Security - Windows Updates - Advanced Options
Click Delivery Optimization
Turn off all options you find there.

This was all turned off. 

 

Is this traffic something I should be concerned about?  I have no idea what is supposed to legitimate normal traffic under svchost to know what any of it all means. 

[AdvancedSetup]

You're the one that asked. We simply provided methods to possibly see what might be causing it.

Maybe try the Glasswire program. It seems to be a nice User Interface and collects the data for history.

See if it matches or tells you where most of that data is going.

My guess is probably the VPN