Web error: Traffic blocked because of exceed session quota

[Layla]

I am having an issue accessing the internet. I don't know if I am posting this in the right forum category or not.

For the past week or so, I have sporadically been getting the following the error message randomly when going online. It will come up when trying to access a webpage, but it seems to have no relation to the page itself. It comes up on a wide variety of webpages.



"Traffic blocked because of exceed per IP shaper session quota. Please contact the system administrator. Your session quota is:512, further traffic will be blocked."

I get this message on both my computer (on both Safari and on Chrome) and on my husband's iPad. Usually, if I refresh the page, the webpage I was originally trying to go to will load. But sometimes this error message will just keep coming up when I try to reload the page.

I am using a MacBook Pro Retina, OS X El Capitan, version 10.11.4, Safari 9.1. My husband's iPad is an early iPad Mini (I'm not sure exactly which one) running the most recent iOS, I believe 9.3.1, and using Atomic web browser.

I have tried doing a search online for other people with this same problem, and I found lots of different complaints, but they were all in different languages from all over the world. And none of them had any actual fixes. The only one in English and that even made any sense is here: http://superuser.com/questions/550362/http-requests-met-with-traffic-blocked-bec ause-of-exceed-per-ip-shaper-session. But it doesn't really say how to fix it.

I called Dish Network, my ISP, and no one there had heard of this problem. Their only suggestion was to plug my modem directly into my computer, bypassing the router, and see if I still experience the problem, in order to see if the problem is originating from my AirPort Extreme. Unfortunately, my computer, a MacBook Pro Retina, does not have an ethernet port.

One thing I noticed: it seems like it might happen less when I quit Transmission. Could that have anything to do with the problem? But then why is it happening on other devices?

I am at a complete loss of what to do about this, it is slowly getting worse and coming up more often. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I would really appreciate any ideas on what this is and how to fix it. Thank you.

 

[chscag]

I've never seen that problem but I suspect it's coming from your ISP and is probably the way they're handling traffic. Also, since Transmission is a Bit Torrent client it uses quite a lot of bandwidth and may be adding to your session traffic. And finally, you can buy a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter from Apple or Monoprice.com.

 

[Layla]

Thank you for your reply.

I did call and talk to my ISP, and they said they had never heard of this problem. And I have nowhere near used up my quota with them. Also, I have had Transmission set to a schedule so that it doesn't allow any traffic during the day, when I am experiencing this problem. And I have been using Transmission for over a year with this ISP, and never seen this message before.

Is it possible that they are putting this up even though they say they aren't?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Who is your ISP? If you are on a capped plan (they can tell you if you are), they will usually provide you a way of tracking your usage.

If you get this message only one device, you could potentially suspect some malware, but if it is spread across multiple machines/users/browsers, then it is likely your ISP imposing the limit. You should seek out the highest possible technician level when you contact your ISP. The first-level frontline support folks are just reading off a canned playbook that handles most routine issues..

 

[Layla]

My ISP is Dish Network satellite. Yes, I do have a cap, which I have access to, and I am nowhere near the limit right now. In fact, it reset for the month just a few days ago.

I have sent them an email to see if that gets me a different response. I will try calling them again too. Thanks.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Ahh yes, OK. This problem usually arises with satellite customers because software/OS' today totally expect broadband-style Internet access with no limits and fast speeds. So things get downloaded at various times automatically and as far as I know there isn't a way of metering these transactions.

Some people have found value in using SurplusMeter to track your downloads/uploads. However, this app just gives you information about how much data is being transferred, but not necessarily by which app.

 

[lclev]

I had satellite once too. I feel your pain. From the error message it looks like what is triggering it is package size - 512. In other words, they are saying - yes, you have not reached your cap BUT you are demanding to much data in an allotted time period - session quota:512. In other words, I suspect there is a finite amount of bandwidth and what ever you are doing is exceeding it over a set period of time. So streaming HD movies, online gaming or just what ever they deem excessive over a period of time might be the issue.

Call them and as Raz0rEdge suggested ask for a top level tech person who does more than read a script.

Lisa

 

[harryb2448]

Looking at the error notice it is a real Windows format. Suggest downloading Malwarebytes for Mac and running the Scan mode. Only takes a few seconds and can be downloaded f.o.c. from here:-


https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

 

[Layla]

I think I am definitely going to have to call my ISP again. I have had them for over a year now, with more or less the same internet usage, and haven't come across this problem before. And because of the satellite internet cap, my family basically doesn't watch streaming videos (or barely at all), and nothing else to data intensive.

@harryb2448 I ran Malwarebytes and got the following result:


I don't really know what these are, but I assume that I should erase them. Presumably erasing them shouldn't mess anything up?

 

[Layla]

Woah! That image came out huge. Oops

 

[harryb2448]

That's okay Layla. Hit Remove Scanned Items? It will remove them and them alone as MBM is a safe program highly recommended here.

May well have been the problem that ZipCloud/Notify. Let's know if any better.

 

[Layla]

Okay, I have removed the items and restarted my computer. We'll see how it goes. Especially where the problem occurred on iPads. I have also switched from Transmission to uTorrent, and that seems to have helped. I'll have to wait through the evening though to be more sure, as that is when the problem has been most prevalent.

 

[chscag]

Be very careful using Bit Torrent clients as they are carriers of all sorts of malware. Even though your Mac is immune from Windows type viruses, there is malware which can tag onto uTorrent or Transmission downloads and wind up impacting your Mac. Why do you need to use a Bit Torrent client?

 

[lclev]

I am willing to bet this is your ISP's way of discouraging use of a service like Bit Torrent, uTorrent or Transmission. The 512 message looks like a number indicating the size of a chunk of data. I bet they have a monitoring system that watches for large packet sizes to discourage usage as it sucks up bandwidth. And chscag is correct - there are tons of malware/virus issues attached to those downloads. Most will only affect only Windows systems but there can be an impact on your mac.

I still say call your ISP and ask for someone who really knows what they are doing.

Lisa

 

[Layla]

SOLUTION to “Traffic blocked because of exceed session quota” error.

I seem to have found the solution for this error coming up when I am going to webpages. I am no longer experiencing it at all.

I did three things, any of which could have fixed the problem: 1) I ran Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac program and deleted the malware that it found, 2) I switched torrenting programs from Transmission to uTorrent, and 3) I ran ClamXav anti-virus scan. I also changed my wi-fi password, cleared all my web cookies and caches, and restarted my Mac computer and iPads.

I’m not sure what combination of the above fixed the problem, but I suspect it was the Malwarebytes program. It has been several days now, and I have not gotten any error messages.

 

[chscag]

Keep that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware program on your Dock and run it once a day at least. As long as you're using uTorrent, you're going to be picking up malware and probably some Windows type viruses which can't harm your Mac. Just letting you know. ;D

 

[harryb2448]

Option one solved things. As chscag points out, torrents equals malware.

 

[Layla]

Thanks, I will definitely run Malwarebytes regularly. I'm glad to have found it.