Keurig Coffee Maker Sends 1TB of Data in 10 Days
An IT pro's parents' smart coffee maker caused network saturation, prompting him to investigate and resolve the issue by rebooting the device and segregating it from the rest of the network
A Keurig smart coffee maker has been found to have sent a staggering 1TB of data over its owner's Wi-Fi in just 10 days, causing network saturation. The issue was detected after the owner's parents reported slow network speeds, prompting an investigation by their son, an IT pro.
The coffee maker, a Keurig K-Supreme SMART with BrewID model, was found to be the culprit behind the network congestion. According to a UniFi screenshot shared by the IT pro, the device uploaded 1,008.45GB of data over a period of 10 days and 9 hours, with an average upstream data transfer rate of about 9 Mbps. This works out to approximately 97GB of data per day.
Most of the traffic generated by the coffee maker did not leave the home network, but it was still enough to saturate an access point on its own. The IT pro, who has over 10 years of experience in the field, was puzzled by the amount of data being sent by the device and speculated that it could be related to digital rights management (DRM) or other features of the coffee maker.
The Keurig K-Supreme SMART with BrewID model uses 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for connectivity and comes with features such as app control, remote brew, and scheduled brews. It also supports voice control through Alexa and Google Home. The device's BrewID feature recognizes Keurig-made pods over Wi-Fi and applies the roaster's recommended settings.
## What happened next The IT pro resolved the issue by rebooting the device and placing it in a segregated VLAN, which prevented it from causing further network congestion. He also considered scanning the device's packets with Wireshark and other tools to understand what data it was trying to send, but ultimately decided to unplug the device and replace it with a new one.
## Why it matters The incident highlights the potential for smart devices to cause network congestion and saturation, even if they are not actively transmitting sensitive data. As more devices become connected to the internet, the risk of network overload and security breaches increases. This incident serves as a reminder for users to monitor their network activity and take steps to secure their devices and networks.
The average user may not be aware of the amount of data being transmitted by their smart devices, and this incident highlights the need for greater transparency and control over data usage. As the number of connected devices in homes increases, it is essential to ensure that they do not compromise network performance or security.
