A washing machine used 411 MB in 19 hours: what is it sending out?

The report set off a heated discussion. Some assumed automatic firmware updates were behind it, others feared that smart appliances collect personal data in the background. The argument quickly outgrew a single model: hundreds of megabytes a day does not match anyone's intuition about what a washing machine needs.

For comparison: hundreds of megabytes is the size of a short video. Control commands and status messages are measured in kilobytes.

Midea's washing machine division published a statement saying it takes the discussion of data transfer in its smart washing machines very seriously and has carried out a comprehensive technical review.

According to that review, the volume transferred per wash cycle is 100–200 KB and is used solely for core functions such as smart control. The company says no personal information is collected or uploaded, the whole process is encrypted and complies with national regulations. It contacted the user who reported the problem in advance to arrange an on-site investigation.

Until the investigation is finished, every explanation is a hypothesis. But the gap between 100–200 KB per cycle and hundreds of megabytes per day is technically explainable, and the candidates are the usual ones in the internet of things.

First, a firmware update: a single package easily weighs tens of megabytes, and a failed download can be retried repeatedly. Second, a reconnection loop: if the cloud connection drops, the device reconnects again and again, and the traffic comes from the attempts rather than the payload. Third, verbose debug logging that someone forgot to switch off in a production batch.

Your home router knows more about an appliance than the appliance's own app.

• Look at per-device statistics in the router interface: traffic is shown per MAC address, not just in total.
• Put smart appliances on a separate guest network. It limits their access to your computers and makes counting easier.
• If the router can log DNS queries, check which domains the device contacts and how often.
• Check in the app whether automatic updates are on, and what breaks if you turn them off: some functions may stop working.
• Ask whether you need the cloud features at all. Starting a wash from your phone and starting it with a button differ in convenience, not in result.

The story is useful not because it convicts one brand but because it exposes a gap: a buyer has no way to learn how much data an appliance transmits and why. It is not in the specification and not shown in the app. Until such a counter exists, the only way to answer the question is to measure it yourself at the network level.

The company's statement and the user's observation do not yet agree, and the investigation is ongoing. The reasonable position sits in the middle: do not treat appliances as spies, but do not treat them as mute either. A separate network for smart devices and a monthly look at router statistics settle the question better than any comment thread.