What might cause Firefox to use too much bandwidth?
I use HughesNet, so I can measure how much bandwidth is used via their site. Recently, this browser began to pull down almost a megabyte a second, for no apparent reason. The only tabs I had open was a google search, and two full-text pages. I've had far more content on far more tabs before, and that never used up that much of the Fair Access Policy. I'm thinking it may have something to do with ZoneAlarm, since it happened not long after I installed it, but does anyone have any other suggestions of what it might be?
This happened
Not sure how often
All Replies (1)
The most likely cause of this problem is the BitTorrent addons that have been added to your copy of FireFox. BitTorrent allows you to download files from other users on the Internet, but also uploads files to users, which will consume a large amount of bandwidth. I would recommend you upload to the latest version of Firefox from the Mozilla Firefox website, then go to the Tools menu, click on Add-ons, click on the Plugins tab, select the BitTorrent add-ons and click the Disable button. If you didn't add these plugins to Firefox, you may wish to have a discussion with other users of your computer about the limits of your satellite Internet connection and how important it is not to add unnecessary software to your computer.
I also notice that you are using several outdated web plugins, such as old versions of Adobe Flash and Sun Java, that place you at significant risk of a virus infection while browsing the web. After upgrading Firefox to the current version, I suggest visiting the Mozilla Plugin Check website to identify which plugins may be out of date and update them.
Another useful site for helping keep your computer safe online is the Secunia Online Security Inspector, which will check your computer for dangerous software that could allow you to be infected with malicious software. You can run this check online without needing to download or install anything.