Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
downwithverizon
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have many instances of billings for usage that could not have possibly happened.  I live out in the forrest with no neighbors.  When I have been away, gigabytes of usage have been billed with no possibility of anyone or anything requesting it.  I have been billed for Gigabytes  of usage when I have been home and not using the internet.  What is the deal?  I see this is a common problem.  They have a standard reply when faced with complaints.  Is this something we have to get a class action suit established to resolve?  It is too endemic for it to be simply user error.

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Re: Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
MiiHere
Champion - Level 3

When you go away for long periods of time what do you turn off and leave on?

Usage is NOT reported immediately and takes even longer if you're in an extended area of coverage, what is your zip code?

You could use the internet at 12:00pm, but it might show up at 6:00pm or 1:00am the next day etc.

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Re: Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
downwithverizon
Enthusiast - Level 2

I know all that.  The problem is that there is nothing accessing the device that would initiate continuous 1.5 GB downloads for hours at a time.  It does not matter is the usage is reported a week later, there has been no traffic that would require that level of usage.  It seems that this is a very common problem.  If anyone else has  or has had this problem, let me know.  I have contacted some class action attorneys in downtown Los Angeles and would like to hear from other people.

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Re: Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
MiiHere
Champion - Level 3

The only way to prove you're not using any data at all is to leave the device unplugged for an entire billing cycle and see what happens. Or at least for a long period like 14 days, but you'll still show usage from the previous weeks on the same cycle, which might be reported while the device is unplugged.

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Re: Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
downwithverizon
Enthusiast - Level 2

No, my friend, you are apparently not reading what I'm writing.  I have done all that. Do you work for Verizon? You sound like the corporate line they give everyone. I have turned things off.  I have disconnected things. I live remotely.

There is no other way for someone to access my network. I restrict who uses it and what is downloaded. I have not been invaded by a Tor robot. Verizon is simply over reporting usage and making money.

Re: Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
MiiHere
Champion - Level 3

I do not work for Verizon. What length of period did you unplug the device completely from power?

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Re: Why does Verizon's Home Fusion routers always report more activity than is being used?
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

Data usage is the #1 reported problem on the forums.  You can randomly search around here and find tons of examples where people claim VZW is cheating them one way or another.  At the end of the day we rarely ever see any conclusions as to what is going on.  Such is the nature of the beast with all ISPs and metered networking accounts at this time.

> Do you work for Verizon? You sound like the corporate line they give everyone.

Please keep it civil, your peers are here to offer assistance.  VZW reps have Verizon symbolage next to their names.  You can always identify a true VZW rep from another volunteer like myself who happens to be a Community Leader.

> There is no other way for someone to access my network.

Don't get hung up on the idea that "someone" is out there stealing your dataz.  In fact the majority of the time data usage when properly tracked goes back to a run away device or service that users simply are not aware about.  Just because you are not actively downloading or at your computers does not mean those devices are not chatting up a storm on the internet behind your back.

>  I restrict who uses it and what is downloaded. I have not been invaded by a Tor robot.

How do you know this for sure?  The only way to know is to install data usage and network monitors on your devices and routing equipment.  Monitors are the only way to expose what is going on, who is consuming data and where it is going.  VZW does not give consumers the tools to see the raw transactional data to arrive at such conclusions, you have to do the work yourself.

> Verizon is simply over reporting usage and making money.

Well yes, that is their business model.  Verizon provides you with a pipe to the internet.  How you drink from that pipe is entirely up to you and the devices that connect to your VZW device.  If someone is connecting internet VZW is going to provide it because VZW has no way of knowing who is malicious and who isn't.

Think of it like leaving a hose running in your yard.  At billing time the utility company will bill you for how much water was pumped to your house, it doesn't matter if you used it for drinking, filling a pool or building a moat. If you ask them to tell you what happened they will shrug and suggest various ways to pay the bill.

A suggestion:

The only way that we have seen on the forums to nail VZW is to turn off your VZW device and leave it off when you do not intend to use it.  There is some delay with data usage reporting but a powered off device cannot consume data, period.  If your device is off and VZW is still billing you then you have a tangible problem that is very likely to be resolved.

>  I have contacted some class action attorneys in downtown Los Angeles and would like to hear from other people.

Feel free to explore this option, we aren't lawyers so we wont offer legal advice.  However, keep in mind that the contract you have likely signed has strong wordage protecting VZW against CALs.  We don't often hear of any kind of success in this area on the VZW forums and there probably is a reason for that.

That being said some folks recently found a way to CLA against VZW:

https://www.verizonfspclassaction.com/Home.aspx