Internet packets sent is greater than packets recieved

HyperAquaBlast

So I was glancing at my network status and noticed that my sent packets is a hell of a lot more than my recieved while idle and doing nothing.

At this time
sent:150,000 recieved:90,000


shouldn't it be the other way around and not growing if I'm doing nothing? All I have on is Firefox and Trillian and probably some Microsoft thing that are internet related turned on.

devoir

It all depends on how you're connected to the internet, whether there are any other devices in your LAN, firewall, background software, etc. Packets shown in Windows doesn't necessarily translate into traffic to the internet.

FyreWulff

Depending on what protocols your programs use, and how many you have, but it's almost always more sent than recieved. Don't worry about it.

Also, LAN traffic is also counted, even if you are the only computer on the network. Windows will keep sending out broadcasts looking for other devices, and not getting replies.

Pheezer

As fyrewulff sort of mentioned, there are some services that are default enabled in Windows that will repeatedly send broadcasts out to try to find devices on the network that may or may not exist. Regardless of how many failures, it'll keep searching. This results in a bit of traffic.

That aside, there are two basic modes of connection you'll see, those that do require acknowledgment on data sent and those that do not. On those that do, you're repeatedly sending request and confirmation packets at a ratio of two to one for all data received. On those that do not, you're going to see a lot of dropped packets anyhow, resulting in multiple requests to the point where you're not really receiving all that many before you have to repeat your request all over again.

Finally, if you have a home router, the vast majority of unsolicited packet traffic isn't even going to hit your PC.

It's in no way alarming that you're sending more than you're receiving. The key is, the packets you send are typically much smaller than those you receive.

Scrublet

If you're really, REALLY paranoid about this, there is a program called Wiretap you can download. This would require a beginning to moderate level of understanding about network packets to interpret, but it will show you what's going out on your connection (and coming in). Google it and install if you're really curious about what's on your network.