Downloading capacity

Mumto2

Am looking at changing my broadband provider, so trying to get an idea of how much downloading we do etc.

It shows that I've received 9,850,723 today and sent 2,672,241. How much is this in terms of GB or MB? Is it 9.8MB?

Sorry for such a basic question but don't want to get a package with a limit which is unrealistic.

Thanks

totalsolutions

Yep 9.8Mb (not 9.8MB b=bits B=bytes) nothing really
If you are a big family and all downloading music and video ect then 20 Gb/month maybe a lot less, me 30Gb-40Gb is normal I'm not "normal" then.

Mumto2

Thanks TS - now can anyone tell me the difference between a dynamic IP and a static IP?

It says you have a dynamic one unless you choose to have a static one???? There's no 'help' button with it to explain what they mean!

sporedude

"As the name implies Static IP addresses are the same every time you connect. dynamic IP addresses may change each time you connect to the network (e.g. Internet)."

Hope that helps.

Mumto2

sporedude wrote: »

"As the name implies Static IP addresses are the same every time you connect. dynamic IP addresses may change each time you connect to the network (e.g. Internet)."

Hope that helps.

Thanks but I still don't understand which one I need. Computer used for internet access mostly, little gaming/downloads etc.

Thanks

nickcardwell

dynamic will do for you.

See here for explantion between the two: http://www.zytrax.com/isp/faqs/static.htm

sporedude

Think they both just do the same thing, I do a bit of gaming/downloading, Think mines is the one that stays the same. Dont really need one more than the other.

andy2004

You didnt state who you are currently with.
But I would recommend staying well clear of BT Broadband they just sent me a letter trying to get me to change over. But their downloads are only 10gb per month,
and for the difference of £6 its not worth it, currently i'm with virginmedia, they have just upgraded me from 2mb to 10mb connection for free. my package is roughly £26 a month - calls to mobiles are extra, we pay for an addon package to get all calls FREE forget how much think its £7.99, so broadband and telephone is £18, you must redial at 55-60min length on phonecalls, but if your only speaking to someome for 20min then it dont matter, so anything upto 60min. if you dont you have to pay for that call, broadband in unlimited, this is where is gets interesting, according to the broadband monitor i have installed this month alone i have downloaded and uploaded 52gb,
now on BT you would be charged per GB over the 10gb you have used in that month, use to be £1 per gb
virginmedia also gives you 55mb of webspace as a homepage which you can put anything on it you like within reason no commerical software, they also have a free newserver, BT dont, where you can download music, games, movies, etc all for free. content depends on what people have uploaded.
If your going to use limewire or any other peer2peer software definately dont go with BT, uploads count towards your 10gb.

Static IP is the computers / isp supplied address which never changes
dynamic IP is the computer / isp supplied address is one that changes everytime you reboot the computer. virginmedia use Static Ip addresses, you will on have one or the other.

Most people get the idea that Mb means Megabyte when it comes to connection when its actually megabits there are 8bits to 1bytes so 10mb = 10 / 8 = download speed 1.25megabytes max, do a 2mb connection would give you a download speed of 256kbytes max per sec. not 2mbytes per sec, so 1 mp3 file at 4mb <megabyte would take 16secs at max speen on a 2mb connection, not 2sec's

Rich44_2

There is more to an ISP than just the amount you can use it. Some ISPs use traffic management to restrict your usage at certain times of the day.

Some ISPs save money by overcrowding their "pipes" to the internet so it's hard to get a fast speed

www.thinkbroadband.co.uk have forums for all the big ISPs try to find an ISP which matches your usage patterns.

ie if you're a light user but heavily into gaming then Plusnet may be a good ISP for you.

If you're a heavy downloader then an Entanet ISP might be a good option

Just DONT use BT whatever you do

Oh and in reply to the previous poster than tariff is only one of the options from BT and is very expensive for heavier users at it's aimed at browsing and email users only

Mumto2

nickcardwell wrote: »

dynamic will do for you.

See here for explantion between the two: http://www.zytrax.com/isp/faqs/static.htm

Thanks, that was helpful.

Have just remembered that OH occasionally works from home and has his software on the PC to access files etc. Am going to get him to check with his tech support whether he can do it on a dynamic ID.

Rich44_2

Static doesn't always have to cost more there are a few ISPs that will give you one as standard