WIFI in overdrive w/o data

My wifi card is showing large amounts of data transfer, yet Utube won't run a simple file w/ a single image. i.e. it's like large amounts of data are being passed w/o my knowledge/consent when my computer wakes up.
How can I check the information on the packets?

 

You can check what processes are using memory and CPU in the task manager (ctrl-alt-del).

I would also suggest that you go over to the malware forum and run through READ AND RUN ME FIRST to be sure it's not malware that has compromised your system.

 

Thank you for the response, I started w/ task manager(no clear indication of cpu use), and then asked in malware. They ref me to networking.
Any good tutorials on cisco router setup?

 

The new cisco for home use hasn't been the best at documentation but it depends on the model. Since you ask about setup, you do have encryption and a password on your network? You don't have any drives or folders shared? You don't have sharing your wireless connection enabled in the wireless network connection property page?

If you are more interested in shutting it down the traffic than tracing it I would recommend a program like ZoneAlarm but only if you have no other software based firewalls running on your computer. It will tell you what is trying to access the internet or come in to your computer and you have the option of denying it.
Majorgeeks download for ZoneAlarm
I haven't used ZoneAlarm in years and at the time it was the new great program. I see the geeks haven't rated it that high now so if you want to see what other similar programs Majorgeeks has in it's spyware free downloads, go to the list here.