Concerns About Data Use with Bitcoin Nodes

Hey! I've been running a core node for a bit, and I just realized I’m moving terabytes of data. Kinda worried my ISP might reach out about it. Anyone else had issues with their provider?

Honestly, I don’t think the privacy concern is that big a deal. Lots of businesses use tons of data, and their ISPs don’t bother them. I burned through 2.5 terabytes last year, and no one contacted me about it. Just use Tor for extra privacy when running your node.

I’m not really worried about privacy either, just the data side of things. You said you hit 2.5TB last year? My node’s already shown almost 2TB in just a week! That seems way too high for smaller ISPs. Guess I’ll keep an eye on it.

Are you talking about upload data? If so, you can cap it with a command line option. I keep mine set to a max of half a terabyte a day and haven’t even come close to that. It really depends on your ISP though. Maybe check with them about their Fair Use Policy. My ISP doesn’t even meter it.

Not sure what happened there. I’ve got 115 inbounds and 10 outbounds, and my Network window always shows a steady flow of data.

Thought the default was 10 connections. You sure that doesn’t slow down your internet?

Nope, no slowdown at all. I’m on a 1GB fiber connection. Even running the node on a VPN, I still get decent speeds.

Have you checked for malware? That could cause high data usage if your Bitcoin node isn’t hogging the resources. If you're on default settings, connecting to 125 peers could be the issue. You could use -maxuploadtarget to limit it or disable listening.

No malware here, I keep my system secure with Bitdefender. I’ll just chill unless my ISP gives me a shout. Thanks!

Simple fix, man. Reach out to your ISP first. Check if they have data caps. Going over could mean extra fees and they might wonder why your usage is so high. They might even offer better service options.

Yeah, right, if it can listen, 125 is the max. If not, you’ll only see 10 or 11 for a bit. In the Network Traffic window, it resets after a restart.

You could Google your ISP’s fair usage policy. Some unlimited plans still come with limits. I doubt he has a malware issue since his node's reporting 2TB.

Malware usually doesn’t generate that kind of traffic unless it’s making you run a proxy or DDoS attack. You’d notice a slowdown.

Honestly, ditch Windows and antivirus bloatware like Bitdefender. No malware on Linux, and you won’t have those hidden uploads. Also, getting a separate device for the Bitcoin node is a good idea.

Interesting. My node shows it connected 2 days ago. In that time, I’ve seen 4GB received and 2126GB sent. Is that normal? Why is mine so high? I’m just trying to figure this out!

That’s pretty standard. Peers disconnect for a ton of reasons shutdowns, bad connections, whatever. The time in the information window is the actual startup time.

Thanks! I didn’t think about how often peers connect and disconnect. So maybe it’s not as much data over a week as I thought. But hey, got any tips for this price drop? Just curious.

I usually upload around 2TB a month. Makes me wonder why your node is so popular. Is that really only 1TB in 3 days? You’re probably helping a lot of people sync.

Yeah, that data flow is way less than I thought. The 2TB was over a week. Glad to hear it! Happy to support this tech.

Where are you from? In my place, people have been using torrent sites forever. Lots of users upload terabytes each week, and nobody ever got in trouble. Running a Bitcoin node is legal, so no worries on that front. ISPs usually don’t care about upload/download limits.