sudden unexplained bandwidth usage increase.

[Gobo]

I have been using a ZTE MF275R router with my bell acct. since 2016. All of a sudden with bandwidth usage has gone sky high. I have not added any new devices nor changed any setting.  In an effort to sort out which device is using this bandwidth I have install Bandwidth + on both of my iMacs. The first thing I noticed is that I use bandwidth while streaming music stored on my iMac while streaming the music to my Apple TV box and home stereo.  Is it normal to use bandwidth while using the router on my home network ? I am streaming content that I already have store on a local drive. Thanks for any information and/or advice. 

[BellPatricia · Accepted solution]

Hey @Gobo. Thanks for your post, and welcome to the Community. That's a great question! 🙂

When streaming any form of content you will be using your internet/Wi-Fi.

An easy way to truly check if you're using bandwidth from your home network when playing music is to simply turn off the internet/WiFi and see if you can still play the music. If you are able to play without an internet connection then you know you are playing directly from the hard drive.

- Patricia.