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Help please,Broadband usage limits.

  • 03-10-2006 10:35PM
    #1
    .G.
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,424 ✭✭✭


    As a smart customer,an unwanted change of broadband provider seems to be galloping over the horizon toward me so I need a bit of help.

    I know what contention ratio is but what I need is someone to explain exactly what is included in the usage limt.Does every webpage I look at use up some of my limit or is it only when i download a file or watch a streaming broadcast or video etc.I'm torn between magnet starter or digiweb metro because theres no way I'm going back to Rip off Eircom.

    Thanks in advance.


Comments

  • #2
    Foxwood
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,491 ✭✭✭Foxwood


    superg wrote:
    I know what contention ratio is but what I need is someone to explain exactly what is included in the usage limt.Does every webpage I look at use up some of my limit or is it only when i download a file or watch a streaming broadcast or video etc
    Every byte of information that comes down your broadband connection is counted - it doesn't matter what that byte is part of. There's no difference between an e-mail byte, an mp3 byte, a html byte or a streamed media byte - they're all bytes made up of streams of 1s and 0s.


    There are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't.


  • #3
    .G.
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,424 ✭✭✭.G.


    So 10GB a month with magnet dosen't sound a lot then.I get about 8 emails a day and spend max 2 hours a day reading my fave websites.I occasionally download files or watch something on youtube.Would 30GB with Digiweb be enough or should i be looking for a higher or non existant limit?

    And are there any programs available that I can use to count my usage.


  • #4
    Foxwood
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,491 ✭✭✭Foxwood


    superg wrote:
    So 10GB a month with magnet dosen't sound a lot then.I get about 8 emails a day and spend max 2 hours a day reading my fave websites.I occasionally download files or watch something on youtube.Would 30GB with Digiweb be enough or should i be looking for a higher or non existant limit?

    And are there any programs available that I can use to count my usage.
    You'd have no problems with 30G based on that usage.

    There are programs that measure usage, but I don't use one. DuMeter is the only one I can remember being mentioned but there are others.


  • #5
    .G.
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,424 ✭✭✭.G.


    Ok thanks for your help.


  • #6
    blorg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,995 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    Contention is how many people they have hanging off for each unit of their capacity, so 48:1 on a 2mb/s connection for example means they have 48 people for each 2mb of actual capacity. Key thing is, of course, that all 48 people are not _using_ all that 2mb all the time. I have not personally found contention figures to matter much and it does not concern you regarding the usage caps/limits.

    To be honest you sound like quite a light user and 10gb would probably be enough, never mind 30. Best install something like DuMeter or NetLimiter to check but I would also suggest going with a provider that has a "soft" cap - e.g. they will just get in touch with you to discuss moving you to a higher product if you often go over, or, less good, will just slow down your connection. What you want to avoid at all costs is one with a "hard" cap that will just bill you X cents per mb over the cap.


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