Local connection icon problem

Hello, sorry if i have missed this somewhere but it is driving me crazy and i believe it is eating up my internet time.

I have for the past 2 months noticed my internet icons on my XP desktop stays on all the time.

When i am browsing it flashes and it tells me I am connected but even when i am not on the internet it still tells me i am connected. The flashing has stopped but when i check it it gives me the connect and duration time and it shows that it is still running.

Is this normal? Now i do have a netgear router for my ipad but i even shut the wifi off when not using the internet.

Not sure what to do if anything all i know is that I have not been doing anything different and my internet is being eat up.
Can someone help me please.

 

My guess is it is showing you are connected to your "network" (your router) and not necessarily the Internet. Even if you disconnect your computers and tablets from your network, your router is still communicating with your modem and the modem is still communicating with your ISP.

Your router should have a logging feature to monitor your traffic. You need to look there. Also, you might want to change the wireless credentials (passphrase) if you think you might have a neighbor that is using your wireless connection to access the Internet. You should be able to see "connected devices" in your router's admin menu too.