VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

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xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:54 am

Hi guys,
I am hoping for some help, please. (I'm fresh new to SoftEther)

I have recently setup a VPN Server, so I can have 1 or 2 clients accessing the server remotely.
All windows machines.

I can get everything to work fine, the problem i'm having is that both client and server are using too much data.
Even when idle ("not having" file transfers ou remote applications access.
The data counter keeps counting on downloads and uploads.
I was able to monitor this with a network monitor application that filters consumption per windows application.

Please help, since my montlhy data is limited and SoftEther is using about 1.5 - 2.5 GB per day for each PC.
I don't know why this data usage. I attached a network packet usage (server), maybe it can enlighten.

Thanks in advance
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solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by solo » Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:21 pm

Ignore the server's stats as it includes all local L2 traffic.

As for the client, something is horribly wrong because an idle VPN connection normally consumes merely 35MB/day (total Received+Sent data). Perhaps your client was forcibly self-updating from Win10 to Win11 ;-) Run the client w/o default gateway or on high vNIC metric, so all apps/sys traffic goes elsewhere, reset the stats and check them again.

To further decrease idle traffic (may affect active performance), set these:
"Number of TCP Connections" =1
"Use Data Compression" =yes
"Disable UDP Acceleration" =yes

xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Fri Nov 11, 2022 12:07 am

solo wrote:
Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:21 pm
Ignore the server's stats as it includes all local L2 traffic.

As for the client, something is horribly wrong because an idle VPN connection normally consumes merely 35MB/day (total Received+Sent data). Perhaps your client was forcibly self-updating from Win10 to Win11 ;-) Run the client w/o default gateway or on high vNIC metric, so all apps/sys traffic goes elsewhere, reset the stats and check them again.

To further decrease idle traffic (may affect active performance), set these:
"Number of TCP Connections" =1
"Use Data Compression" =yes
"Disable UDP Acceleration" =yes
Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply.

I checked the settings on the client and nothing seems to be tunable to reduce the amount of data.
I've noted that when I disconnect it from the VPN server, the UPLOAD on the server thru SoftEther reduces drastically.

I have set the LAN metric to 10 and VPN metric to 15. To see if traffic flows there, and no gateway.
I will monitor, hopefully it hepls. Other than that, idk. Regarding updating to win11, I don't think so.

Could "internet" traffic be flowing through the VPN instead of the Ethernet? (Both networks show as "Internet Access")
If so, how can I block "Internet traffic" there, letting only FTP & App access through the VPN?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To further decrease idle traffic (may affect active performance), set these:
"Number of TCP Connections" =1
"Use Data Compression" =yes
"Disable UDP Acceleration" =yes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tried Data Compression before, and it lets the connection even slower. I already have limited bandwidth, with compression, access is even slower. Does UDP Acceleration and TCP Connections affect the same way? If so, it's a no-go because the client is using an application that accesses data on the server.

Could there be any sort of broadcast being sent constantly which is causing the traffic? If so, can you guide me to check and disable, please?
As of today (since I posted) traffic has been too high. Please see the screenshot attached.

Thanks in advance for all the support.
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solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by solo » Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:08 am

Well, you wondered about excessive VPN traffic while your Dropbox was syncing massive amounts of data in the background, lol.
Without default gateway on the VPN NIC you can redirect traffic to selected IPs with persistent static routes.

xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Fri Nov 11, 2022 11:02 pm

solo wrote:
Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:08 am
Well, you wondered about excessive VPN traffic while your Dropbox was syncing massive amounts of data in the background, lol.
Without default gateway on the VPN NIC you can redirect traffic to selected IPs with persistent static routes.
Lol. Nope. If you look closely, Dropbox only used 5MB Upload and Download combined.
Other than that, it was all or most of it, SoftEther.

I have tested with the configs as you suggested before, and nothing changed. (only a very small traffic reduction).
Any other ideas? What do you think about the Broadcasts?

How can I redirect traffic to selected IPs with persistent static routes? (noob here, lol)

Please see my config on the attached screenshots. (Maybe something is wrong)

Thanks for your help.
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solo
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Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by solo » Sat Nov 12, 2022 3:25 am

In your first post your client's stats show a low broadcast component. Let's kill the client's routing completely, switch its vNIC to an invalid static IP/subnet, and check the stats now. Later consider https://duckduckgo.com/?q=persistent+static+route

xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:57 pm

solo wrote:
Sat Nov 12, 2022 3:25 am
In your first post your client's stats show a low broadcast component. Let's kill the client's routing completely, switch its vNIC to an invalid static IP/subnet, and check the stats now. Later consider https://duckduckgo.com/?q=persistent+static+route
Hi,

I've changed the IP to 1s as suggested.
Traffic reduced drastically (01:00-01:59), as you can see in the screenshot below. But... I now can't access resources on the remote computer.
My Remote application can't find/acess the server somehow. But when I switch back to the same ip range, it works normally.

Could I have done something wrong? I've attached the config as well.

Thanks!
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solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by solo » Sun Nov 13, 2022 1:51 am

So, now you know for sure that SE itself isn't wasting your monthly data allowance. It's something on your system, if not (under-reported) Dropbox, then something else accounted for the "idle" 13+32MB in 10min.

That prior metric adjustment should have been just as effective for the idle test as an invalid static IP. Windows' metric logic is somewhat perplexing and _sometimes_ seems to require a change of an order of magnitude to work. Please set the vNIC back to dynamic and its metric to 999. Re-test data usage. If OK, then it's time for implementation of persistent static routes.

xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:31 pm

solo wrote:
Sun Nov 13, 2022 1:51 am
So, now you know for sure that SE itself isn't wasting your monthly data allowance. It's something on your system, if not (under-reported) Dropbox, then something else accounted for the "idle" 13+32MB in 10min.

That prior metric adjustment should have been just as effective for the idle test as an invalid static IP. Windows' metric logic is somewhat perplexing and _sometimes_ seems to require a change of an order of magnitude to work. Please set the vNIC back to dynamic and its metric to 999. Re-test data usage. If OK, then it's time for implementation of persistent static routes.
Hi friend.
Ahhh, no luck!

Same as before, data is ranging 1-2GB per day for SoftEther.
Funny thing, even if it was some software being rooted via the SoftEther VPN (using ethernet from there), the thing is: before I've installed SE VPN, my daily data usage was about 100-150MB (normal day ops), so there was no app accessing the internet before on such large data sizes. But since SE VPN was installed, "something" is using data in the network 24/7 via (I suppose) SE VPN.

Could there be something wrong in my configs or something?
Could the Network Bridge be the culprit, bridging the VPN with Internet? I deleted the bridge and lost all connectivity. lol

Additionally, please check the attachment: SoftEther Upload on the server is more or less Download on the Client, so this confirms that some info is flowing between them.

I am running out of ideas tbh :(
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solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by solo » Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:07 am

Very well, please make a VPN connection and post as code from both the server and client:

Code: Select all

netstat -r
ipconfig /all

xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Sat Nov 19, 2022 10:57 pm

solo wrote:
Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:07 am
Very well, please make a VPN connection and post as code from both the server and client:

Code: Select all

netstat -r
ipconfig /all
Hello dear friend.
Hope you are doing well.

Sorry for the late feedback. Been busy these days.

Somehow (I don't know what exactly) the Daily data usage has reduced drastically.
It's still high I know but, it reduced a lot compared to before.

Server side: SoftEther VPN 19/11/2022 77,2 MB 109 MB 187 MB
Client side: SoftEther VPN 19/11/2022 114 MB 84,5 MB 199 MB


I've been trying different things:
1. Deactivated Windows Update Delivery Option (Download from other PC's)
Note: I don't think it's this, because the OS between Server & Client are different versions of Windows (2019 & 10)
2. Blocked some high data consuming applications on the firewall. (I don't know which actually worked)
(Can you believe that SE VPN used 101.53GB since 25/10/2022?? Mostly on "Idle")
3. Changed Network Settings as follow:
==VPN== Metric: 999
IP: Static, the same IP/Mask assigned automatically previously
Default Gateway ==> LAN IP with metric: 998
DNS Random invalid dns 199.199.199.128

==LAN== Metric: 1
IP: Automatic (Assigned "Fixed" by router)

Do you think this had an impact on solving the issue?
Do you still want to see the results from the IPCONFIG & NETSTAT?

I will keep monitoring and report if anything changes as well.
I am looking forward to install more clients in the near future.

Thanks for all you help up to now! Very much appreciated.

solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by solo » Sun Nov 20, 2022 2:17 am

All good, thank you. Use freeware http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/app_network_counter.html to log and pinpoint data usage.
These routing adjustments are getting erratic and inconclusive. You need to decide if you want split tunnel or not.

xmpro9
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:24 am

Re: VPN Data Usage Too High on Server&Client

Post by xmpro9 » Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:27 pm

solo wrote:
Sun Nov 20, 2022 2:17 am
All good, thank you. Use freeware http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/app_network_counter.html to log and pinpoint data usage.
These routing adjustments are getting erratic and inconclusive. You need to decide if you want split tunnel or not.
Thanks. Will do.
I will monitor with the Nirsoft Freeware and see.

I'll keep you posted.

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