Something is using up my 10 GB Broadband limit

securityguy

macman wrote: »

Your 10GB allowance measures all data usage, up and down,

Or just down. It depends on the ISP: some (the one I have in mind is pretty niche, but I think there are mainstreams ones that do the same) only measure downstream.

But I agree with your basic contention: 10GB is ludicrously low, and given how cheap unlimited deals are, it seems a pointless way to save a couple of quid. I moved my parents onto an unlimited deal because I was fed up with their endless theorising about what was and wasn't going to "cost them".

macman

securityguy wrote: »

Or just down. It depends on the ISP: some (the one I have in mind is pretty niche, but I think there are mainstreams ones that do the same) only measure downstream.

But I agree with your basic contention: 10GB is ludicrously low, and given how cheap unlimited deals are, it seems a pointless way to save a couple of quid. I moved my parents onto an unlimited deal because I was fed up with their endless theorising about what was and wasn't going to "cost them".

Even Plusnet have ceased to offer their 10GB budget service at £5.99, all their packages are now unlimited. But for light users who just surf and email, 10GB is still fine, as long as they're only paying around a fiver..

DCFC79

Deleted_User wrote: »

gobbled up

Lol I just have to laugh at the gobbled up comment.

tyllwyd

macman wrote: »

Even Plusnet have ceased to offer their 10GB budget service at £5.99, all their packages are now unlimited. But for light users who just surf and email, 10GB is still fine, as long as they're only paying around a fiver..

I don't think that's right - their website still shows the broadband essentials package at 10GB for £8.49
http://www.plus.net/home-broadband/broadband-only/
I agree that it's not great value at that price though.

westwood68

Definately go unlimited with the prices you can get it for now:-

http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/compare/unlimited_broadband/

I have been with talk talk and sky in the past but would not touch them with a barge pole in the future.

Now on PlusNet and happy enough

[Deleted User]

tyllwyd wrote: »

We've been with PlusNet for over 10 years now, and they've always been pretty good. My main grumble would be that they don't tell you when they change their packages, so it is worth checking their website every now and again to see if you are on the best deal. 10GB is a very low allowance, so unlimited is a much better deal if you think you might go over it.

Thanks, tyllwyd - I haven't looked for a while but I'll check to see if it's going to be possible.


Crimson

[Deleted User]

psycodelicmonti wrote: »

Do you use Spotify? I'd been having some slow internet issues at home that turned out to be the 3 laptops in my home all sharing Spotify music!

I've since setup my firewall to block outgoing traffic for Spotify and all is well now, yay.

I'm afraid I don't know what Spotify is, psycodelicmonti, although I have heard the name. I'm sure I don't use it.


Thank you


Crimson

[Deleted User]

Thank you - I'll check to see exactly what I am paying for my 10 GB Broadband and look to see what options there are. I like the idea of just using my computer as I wish without being concerned about going over my limit.


Crimson.

[Deleted User]

DCFC79 wrote: »

Lol I just have to laugh at the gobbled up comment.

Yes, DCFC79, I was so surprised that something (under 'other') had used about 50% of my 10 GB allowance and it seemed to me as if 'something' in my system was just gobbling up my valuable, limited GB's!


Thanks to this forum I'm a bit more knowledgeable now.


Crimson

Weird_Nev

With more and more things on the internet, it really is time to get rid of 'allowances' to take full advantage of what's on offer. You shouldn't have to be worrying about limits and extra charges. I think I had £10 internet a few years ago that was unlimited! To get the most out of your shiny Windows 8 Laptop, you need to have an unrestricted internet connection.

Things like:

• BBC iPlayer (1Gb/hour in HD)
• Youtube (1Gb/Hour in HD)
• Automatic Software updates - as you found out can be big! Several Gb in the worst cases, generally only tens or perhaps hundreds of Mb. Many of the programs on Windows 8 do this in the background - Anti-virus, Win 8 itself, various drivers update in the background, and all htose weather widgets and news feeds connect to the internet to get their information. It's small bits of data, but it all adds up.
• Skype: An excellent way to stay in touch, but it can chew data.
• Backing up Data onto Skydrive or 'the cloud' - This will use as much data as the size of the files you back up, but it's an excellent way to keep cherished photos or importnat documents safe and accessible.

As for your categories:

• Usage before midnight plus the free usage midnight to 8 am Suggest you leave downloads overnight if you can! Until you get unrestricted broadband...
  
• Web Actual Web browsing generally uses very little data unless you like image heavy sites. Less than 1Gb/Month normally
• Email This uses a tiny amount of data, again unless lots of people email you photos or large files to download.
• BB phone calls This is 'voice over internet' calls including Skype, which can be quite data intensive - 10Mb/Min or so.
• Gaming Game downloads can be massive, but actually playing online tends to use very little data.
• Streaming Anything you watch or listen to as it downloads is 'streaming' - youtube, iplayer, internent radio. It can use a lot of data.
• Plusnet FTP (although I don't know what that is) This is 'File Transfer Protocol' and means using an uploader to move files onto a server or another computer. You probably don't do this directly!
• Peer to Peer This is those naughty people who like to 'share' films and music between one another... though it does have legitimate uses too. It's now a popular content delivery method for large files that lots of people want at once.
• Other (I don't know what falls into this category apart from downloading upgrade to Windows 8.1!)
• and FTP non Plus net - again I don't know what this is. This is the same as before - file transfers - but not using Plusnet Servers, I'd guess.

I really think you'd get more out of your computer and your internet access if you found a provider who will give unlimited data. It's no skin of their nose. Whilst it would be worth a few quid a month to you, I bet if you phoned up and threatened to leave there is a deal to be had! Data costs them absolutely nothing, in real terms, anyway, and I doubt that you're oging to turn into the worlds biggest downloader overnight. However, it would be nice to watch as much iplayer and listen to as much radio as you like without worry.