Avast free and Firefox downloads

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hello,

I have recently installed Avast free on my laptop.

I am on a limited internet data plan and hence I have to monitor my usage carefully. To do so, I have installed a software called NetLimiter which monitors incoming and outgoing traffic and also has provisions to kill connections.

Now, whenever I use Firefox, Netlimiter shows that Avast is downloading data. Why does this happen ? Does all traffic have to pass through Avast before reaching Firefox ?

Thanks in advance.
Regards.

2

all incomming web traffic is checked by avast webshield

avast updater check for updates when turned on and it detect a connection
if left on it check every 240min

3

So inspite of disabling updates, Avast will check for available updates every 240 minutes ?

Apart from these, does Avast upload or download anything from the internet ?

4

hi dcomx,

You can set the free version to check for updates as frequently as 120 minutes. Default setting is 240 minutes. If you check manually, downloaded data usually ranges from 3-7 KB if no additional data is downloaded as when an update comes in. Each main vps update is incremental, the full vps update will run you over 50 MB for that day should you ever need it.

  • Features such as reputation services and streaming update (Summary>Cloud Services) are enabled by default; these services are optional, but streaming updates will get you all the updates between the main updates for Avast! if and when you first connect to the internet. The main vps update (issued two or three times a day) is put out roughly every twelve hours or so. Format for this is always yy/mm/dd-version number. So, the current version for today would be 121114-0.

  • Streaming updates I would leave alone and disable reputation services if bandwidth is a concern. You can also turn off automatic vps updates and check it manually twice a day if that would work for you. (Settings>Updates>Manual Updates)

  • Every time you run a program with reputation services enabled, and use Avast! Pro or AIS, data about that program (especially if new on your system) is checked against the cloud; thus that would mean some data transfer. Works with the Avast! Sandbox.

Seems maybe the real issue is data plan, and not Avast! The above is a workaround for you until the data plan is changed?

5
So inspite of disabling updates, Avast will check for available updates every 240 minutes ?
not sure if the check is disabled....but it will not download any update but as mchain say, the check is close to zero kb
6

Yes, as avast! acts as a local proxy.

7

It needs to do it to scan the traffic.

8

So every time a program is run in the sandbox, data usage is done ?

And yeah, Avast is not the problem, my data plan is :slight_smile:

Thanks everyone for helping me out.
Regards.

9

You’re welcome.

Other aspect is that all web traffic goes through Avast! web proxy before it goes through FF; this is so you get the protection against .js and flash malware on-the-fly. This is responsible for some of the data transfers you are seeing.