How much Gigabyte usage does the average person need?

wintermute101 · 09/01/08 - 20:58

I recently signed with an ISP which allowed 1GB per month and a speed of 'up to' 8mbps, for £9.99 - thinking that this would be enough for my use.

I was surprised to find out that after only four days, I recieved an email from my ISP telling me that I had exceeded my limit, and my broadband speed dropped to an absurdly low speed for the rest of the month (about 0.1Mbps)

While I do use the net quite a lot, it's mostly only browsing/surfing - I occasianly watch some videos and listen to radio stations. I don't download music at all.

Is this normal, or are my ISP ripping me off? Will I just have to upgrade to a more expensive package?

I'm a bit new to all this, so thanks for any advice.

wintermute101 · 09/01/08 - 21:03

one further question:

When my computer is 'on' but I'm not using the internet, does it still count towards my broadband usage?

In other words, my PC is on and the modem/router is connected, but I haven't opened any browser - I'm just doing other stuff which doesn't involve using the internet.

Or is it better to turn my modem off once I've finished a surfing session?

[Deleted User] · 09/01/08 - 21:13

1GB is nothing, really.

Lets say you download 1 full length film. That's around 700MB. That means, for the rest of the month you'll only have 300MB allowance left (well, 312).

I'd assume someone could use 1GB just by surfing and watching videos on YouTube.

£9.99 for 1GB usage is pretty bad, too. There are far better deals out there. You could probably get something for a similar price with over 40GB usage. What ISP are you with?

There's very little data transferred when the PC is on but not in use, so this wouldn't affect your allowance... perhaps only by a few MBs per month, if that (some programs are constantly checking for updates, for example).

[Deleted User] · 09/01/08 - 21:32

I can't believe a company would even offer 1GB.

Even if there are people out there who don't use 1GB a month, it's still very poor value.

pault2006 · 09/01/08 - 21:33

Carmen Queasy wrote: »

1GB is nothing, really.

Lets say you download 1 full length film. That's around 700MB. That means, for the rest of the month you'll only have 300MB allowance left (well, 312).

I'd assume someone could use 1GB just by surfing and watching videos on YouTube.

£9.99 for 1GB usage is pretty bad, too. There are far better deals out there. You could probably get something for a similar price with over 40GB usage. What ISP are you with?

There's very little data transferred when the PC is on but not in use, so this wouldn't affect your allowance... perhaps only by a few MBs per month, if that (some programs are constantly checking for updates, for example).

A couple of years ago, I was on 2GB a month for £18 with Wanadoo and I almost exceeded the allowance after only one week.

A couple of years ago, 2GB/month was quite reasonable but now we've got:

Xbox Live
HD video clips
YouYube music clips
Online TV

I'm on 20GB a month now and I even struggle to keep to that limit.

pault2006 · 09/01/08 - 21:35

dmuk wrote: »

I can't believe a company would even offer 1GB.

Even if there are people out there who don't use 1GB a month, it's still very poor value.

Didn't Tesco only recently offer 1GB/month?

wintermute101 · 09/01/08 - 21:40

Carmen Queasy wrote: »

1GB is nothing, really.

Lets say you download 1 full length film. That's around 700MB. That means, for the rest of the month you'll only have 300MB allowance left (well, 312).

I'd assume someone could use 1GB just by surfing and watching videos on YouTube.

£9.99 for 1GB usage is pretty bad, too. There are far better deals out there. You could probably get something for a similar price with over 40GB usage. What ISP are you with?

There's very little data transferred when the PC is on but not in use, so this wouldn't affect your allowance... perhaps only by a few MBs per month, if that (some programs are constantly checking for updates, for example).

I'm with plusnet. Their next option is £14.99 p/m for 8GB. Probably chose the wrong ISP:(

also, the up to 8mb speed was in reality averaging at about 4 to 5 Mbps

stvn758 · 09/01/08 - 21:47

1gb a month, for a tenner, that's outrageous. :eek:

Every web page you open, every advert that's on there, all head straight for you temp files directory, I'm amazed at how much CCleaner gets rid of after a brief browse.

Get Sky, up to 16meg for £10 a month, unlimited usage (250+ gigs FUP)

Liam Steven · 09/01/08 - 21:59

I have had BT on the phone becuase I have downloaded over 250GB in th last 2 months.

And I have downloaded 10GB in the last 7 days.

wintermute101 · 09/01/08 - 22:03

stvn758 wrote: »

1gb a month, for a tenner, that's outrageous. :eek:

Every web page you open, every advert that's on there, all head straight for you temp files directory, I'm amazed at how much CCleaner gets rid of after a brief browse.

Get Sky, up to 16meg for £10 a month, unlimited usage (250+ gigs FUP)

CCleaner? Is that deleting your temp internet files?

Do you have to have Sky TV to sign up for their broadband?

EDIT: It seems you do. Can anyone recommend a good value ISP. I'm hoping not to spend more than £15/month if possible. (Except for Talktalk - I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole)

Sexbomb · 09/01/08 - 22:06

wintermute101 wrote: »

I recently signed with an ISP which allowed 1GB per month and a speed of 'up to' 8mbps, for £9.99 - thinking that this would be enough for my use.

I was surprised to find out that after only four days, I recieved an email from my ISP telling me that I had exceeded my limit, and my broadband speed dropped to an absurdly low speed for the rest of the month (about 0.1Mbps)

While I do use the net quite a lot, it's mostly only browsing/surfing - I occasianly watch some videos and listen to radio stations. I don't download music at all.

Is this normal, or are my ISP ripping me off? Will I just have to upgrade to a more expensive package?

I'm a bit new to all this, so thanks for any advice.

when you are listening to internet radio & watching youtube vids that increases your usage as well.

You should have gone with BE* £14 a month unlimited usage & upto 8meg speeds

[Deleted User] · 09/01/08 - 22:34

I am very happy with Be - I do not have to worry about how much I use my connection. It is also very fast for me as I am less than 1km from my exchange.

My download sinc speed is typically 18kbps giving me around 1.8MB downloads (including overheads) where I can find a server quick enough to "max" my connection.

[Deleted User] · 09/01/08 - 22:35

Luckily for you, the contract length with Plusnet is only 1 month, so you can look elsewhere.

This link might help: http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/packages/?sort=monthly_cost

(I got that from a Google search).

Be isn't mentioned there, but I haven't heard many bad reviews about it on these forums.

zx50 · 09/01/08 - 22:55

My first month is up on the 14th of February, and I'll have downloaded about 60GB if I carry on the way I'm doing now. I think there's only so much you can download, so, there is sort of a limit on how much you can get from the service. If you're on a say 2Mbit connection, then you will probably only be allowed to get about 20-30 GB lets say, I think. And, if you are on a 4Mbit connection, then you'll only be able to download about 10GB more. So, I don't think unlimited is actually that, but not getting at BT here, because it is unlimited as far as your speed and ability to download is concerned. So, about 60GB or just over for me.

stvn758 · 09/01/08 - 23:09

wintermute101 wrote: »

CCleaner? Is that deleting your temp internet files?

Do you have to have Sky TV to sign up for their broadband?

EDIT: It seems you do. Can anyone recommend a good value ISP. I'm hoping not to spend more than £15/month if possible. (Except for Talktalk - I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole)

Yeah, seems you need to have Sky TV as well.

wintermute101 · 09/01/08 - 23:10

Carmen Queasy wrote: »

Luckily for you, the contract length with Plusnet is only 1 month, so you can look elsewhere.

This link might help: http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/packages/?sort=monthly_cost

(I got that from a Google search).

Be isn't mentioned there, but I haven't heard many bad reviews about it on these forums.

thanks for that link.

contract with plusnet is for 1 month, but if I leave I'll have to pay for the router I got free when I joined - that's not the end of the world I suppose

i_love_tv · 13/01/08 - 15:39

I dl about 3Gb per day but at times I probably dl 6Gb per day.

[Deleted User] · 13/01/08 - 17:16

Yeah, 1GB for a month is pathetic. Already today I've done about 10GB of traffic and my record for a single day is 21GB. So I've once done in a day what you're only allowed to do in a little under two years.

[Deleted User] · 13/01/08 - 19:32

wintermute101 wrote: »

CCleaner? Is that deleting your temp internet files?

Do you have to have Sky TV to sign up for their broadband?

EDIT: It seems you do. Can anyone recommend a good value ISP. I'm hoping not to spend more than £15/month if possible. (Except for Talktalk - I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole)

What a shame. I'm on month 17 of my contract with TalkTalk and am on the TalkTalk International package which costs about £23 pcm. As it is LLU this includes the line rental and free calls to 01 and 02 numbers 24*7. I get about 5M download with a 40G monthly allowance. After my 18month period is over I'm getting rid of the International part of the package to save another £3.50 pcm. So, phone and internet for £20 pcm. A bargain I feel.

My router stays connected for months at a time (longest just under 4 months) so my IP address remains fairly static.

Not recommended for beginners though as their call centre is rubbish.

dazn12 · 14/01/08 - 00:42

Im on the old AOL Gold package, I have no clue what my usage limit is as its not part of the new plans.

I will soon need to be downloading a 3GB file, im a bit concerned on how AOL will take it

zx50 · 14/01/08 - 08:29

Blimey, if I've been to the right site for broadband then they are being pretty stingy with their usuage. They are only allowing 40GB usage a month. This wouldn't do me at all, sometimes I need unlimited, and sometimes I need maybe just 35GB, but unlimited means it's always there if I need it. This would put me right off a company selling broadband, I like my usage to have no limits whatsoever. The last time BT had a cap limit of 50GB, but thankfully this time they have made it unlimited. I wonder how long it will take for everybody else to follow suit.

[Deleted User] · 14/01/08 - 09:35

zx5 wrote: »

Blimey, if I've been to the right site for broadband then they are being pretty stingy with their usuage. They are only allowing 40GB usage a month. This wouldn't do me at all, sometimes I need unlimited, and sometimes I need maybe just 35GB, but unlimited means it's always there if I need it. This would put me right off a company selling broadband, I like my usage to have no limits whatsoever. The last time BT had a cap limit of 50GB, but thankfully this time they have made it unlimited. I wonder how long it will take for everybody else to follow suit.

Check the t&c's for BT, as well as the FUP... the "unlimited" has some restrictions on it.

Cheers
Alun

zx50 · 14/01/08 - 10:55

airprox wrote: »

Check the t&c's for BT, as well as the FUP... the "unlimited" has some restrictions on it.

Cheers
Alun

I have read the terms and conditions of the bt fair usage policy. It states the if you are downloading in the peak times, I'm guessing somewhere between 5pm and 10pm, your speed will slow down, and then probably after this, your speed will get faster. I'm not that bothered anyway, because I'm not exactly a very heavy user, unlike some other people have been in this thread. I will have downloaded about 65-70GB, I think, so this is good enough for me. Can't find anything in the terms and conditions that state that you don't have an unlimited usage. It's pretty stupid and false to claim that the service you are selling to customers isn't unlimited when you are claiming that it is.

pault2006 · 14/01/08 - 20:10

Liam Steven wrote: »

I have had BT on the phone becuase I have downloaded over 250GB in th last 2 months.

And I have downloaded 10GB in the last 7 days.

250GB in 2 months? :eek:

What on earth have you been downloading?

zx50 · 14/01/08 - 22:31

pault2006 wrote: »

250GB in 2 months? :eek:

What on earth have you been downloading?

I know. I don't understand how they have managed to download an absolutely phenominal 250GB assuming they are on an 8Mbit connection. I think I have downloaded a lot this month, and I have only downloaded about 65GB, about that. I don't download through the day though, because the speeds are probably not that good, although I might try tomorrow though. I think I WOULD expect a call from BT if I had downloaded that, they probably thought you were maybe running a server or something

I'd be more than happy with downloading 90GB, although I don't even think I would manage this, probably just around 60GB a month. I didn't realise how much 70GB could be I predicted that I would download this easy. Yep, I would say around 75GB would be more than enough for me, until I go on a faster connection, then I'll probably go over this mark.

jackulator · 15/01/08 - 09:30

over x mass period my usage was 25 gig thats for pc laptop wii xbox and the odd bit on my phone
i expect it would be more without everyone doing other things
or getting tunes phone themes etc 1 gig would do me a day on the xbox if i was lucky
my smallest amount has been 10 gig pm largest so far 60 gigs

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How much Gigabyte usage does the average person need?

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