Broadband Allowance

trendie

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I am contemplating roaming broadband with dongles, etc. (Orange as it happens)

The deals all relate to allowances, such as 1GB per month, etc.

How can you tell what your usage is?
Bearing in mind we have data-feeds and streaming charting, and trading platforms constantly updating prices.

I am not quite at the stage where I can trade from a beach, but one can dream.......
 
I've got a Vodafone dongle. It's more for emergency.

I've tried it few times - speed is OK, but I don't think 1G per month is anywhere near enough for my data (few charting packages etc.)
 
is there any application that can record your download usage, so I can monitor it?

(Yep, I have a T-Mobile dongle for emergencies in case my cable dies on me)
 
I researched this quickly for a mate who is finally getting a phone line installed in his first home....

Broadband providers by and large all advertise their best features, usually unlimited usage, which sounds useful but may not be something you necessarily need.

Here are some useful pointers and advice on how much broadband usage you probably need and you might find that by changing to another broadband package you will save a small fortune and stop paying for something you don't need.

To work out how much bandwidth you need, you can keep a close watch on your online activities by using Netmeter, a device which monitors your usage. You can also be guided by our summaries below, which will give you a good idea of how much bandwidth you are likely to use for different applications.

Basic Browsing and Emailing

You are probably fortunate if you really only need the net for checking your emails or surfing sites which use video or audio streams, as the packages best suited to these needs are generally the cheapest broadband deals.

Estimated usage allowance required = 1GB to 2GBper month

Online Radio and TV Catchup

With the increase in popularity of YouTube and BBC's iPlayer, there has been a corresponding increase in the amount of video watching online.

Watching video over the internet chews up a huge amount of bandwidth as it involves a steady stream of data moving between the web and your computer.

For instance, if you are using iPlayer, you will probably use between 200-500MB of bandwidth per programme, depending on the length of the programme.

Estimated usage allowance required = 5GB per month for 1 programme per week.

Downloading music and films

If you download MP3's frequently from sites such as iTunes or Amazon, you'll find you want a minimum of 10GB of usage to enable you to continue surfing and watching online content while simultaneously downloading music files.

If you are likely to be using movie download services twice a month or more, then you'll need to think about choosing a package with a higher usage allowance to accommodate the far bigger file sizes.

Estimated usage allowance required = 10GB per month minimum

Peer-to-peer

If you are likely to share large files through network services such as Peer-to-peer (p2p) or Bittorent, you fall into a heavy downloader category and should definitely consider comparing unlimited broadband deals, which offer not only an unlimited usage, but a lenient fair/acceptable use policy.

Estimated usage allowance required = Unlimited

How much web usage do I need for Skype and VoIP?

You must be vigilant about monitoring your usage if your broadband connection is used mainly as a second phone line, since that is a heavy user of bandwidth. For example, 24 hours of talktime on VoIP phone
uses approximately 2.4GB.

Estimated usage allowance required = 5GB minimum per month.


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I think as broadband speed increases, 100 megs to UK soon enough ? then file/data size usually ups a gear to improve end user experience, but most packages allow an upgrade ? But I would over allow personally.
 
is there any application that can record your download usage, so I can monitor it?

(Yep, I have a T-Mobile dongle for emergencies in case my cable dies on me)

IMO The easiest way is if you check your allowance beforehand and after 5 hours of continuous usage again (the remaining allowance). I could do this as I am on pay as you go.
 
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