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I have a capped (40GB)broadband deal that is ample for my normal needs. However when the twenty-somethings came back for Christmas it went well over my cap and will cost me a tenner or so in extra fees. Not the end of the world but it made me wonder what the effect of their surfing and dipping into clips is on usage. I suspect that if you dip into, say, a dozen five minute clips for only a minute at a time each you actually rack up sixty minutes of usage. Or is it only twelve minutes? I know it's not measured in minutes but the principle is the same in Gb. I feel like the dad in the TV ad turning off the light switches but I don't want to spend out even more on unlimited when it's only an occasional and hopefully avoidable issue.
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Watching an hour of HD content on BBC iPlayer could easily take 1GB. So your 40GB won't go far.
We watch content online, download some missed programmes on Sky, normal surfing and I work from home. We easily use 100GB a month.
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Thanks. I was aware of such advice. However my point is more specific. For example if you look at a one hour video online for 5 mins do you incur 5 mins of usage or do you get hit for the full length of the video? I suspect the latter as isn't it downloading the whole thing whatever part you actually watch?
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....much would depend on whether you're downloading or streaming.
Nowadays, for video, the latter is more likely, with the content being hosted in the cloud. Streaming will not (subject to being used normally) download the whole of a piece of content if you only watch a small amount of it - the amount of data will be proportional to the portion watched (with elements of management overhead if skip/FF/RW etc. are used).
A download will generally transfer the content to your device, and in those circumstances would normally incur the full data transfer before/as you watch (it is possible to start watching a download whilst it continues to download in the background - until you catch-up with the downloaded data, at which point it should buffer).
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Acquiring an unlimited broadband service could actually prove cheaper as it will be, presumably, based on a new contract.
I'm with TalkTalk (now on fibre) and the ISP has raised the broadband allowance limit over the past 10 years as and when possible until, a few years ago, it brought in an unlimited broadband allowance.
It's used for the TV, a Now TV box, desktop, tablet and Smartphone and there have never been any restrictions imposed on the amount of data used, no matter what time of day or night.
Some ISPs will give you free unlimited broadband for a year or more providing you are prepared to pay line rental.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Fri 8 Jan 16 at 12:57
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The OP doesn't specify what is being watched. I strongly suspect the content is being streamed (e.g. Youtube, iPlayer or Netflix) rather than the whole lot being downloaded. If you had to wait for 1GB HD video to download before you could start watching it on these services, they would not be particularly popular.
If you want to look at this from a time perspective rather than how your ISP measures it (i.e. data downloaded and uploaded .... note both count towards the allowance) then your 40GB allowance is going to get you about 40 hours of HD video streaming. It soon adds up.
Also, whilst not using as much bandwidth as video, music streaming services like Spotify also use data and maybe used for longer than movies are watched.
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Although I don't require to the same extent now, I've used Tautology Bandwidth Meter for many years; it's very comprehensive, easy to use and does exactly what it says on the tin:
tautology-bandwidth-meter.software.informer.com/
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The OP needs to measure the bandwidth used by all devices connecting to his Internet connection (send and receive). Most ISPs these days will have a web page to look at. The router might keep track as well.
In this instance, we don't even know if the devices used by his grown up children are even computers. They could be phones or tablets. And the computers might not be Windows based either.
For all we know the device that has used most bandwidth is a Google Chrome.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 8 Jan 16 at 16:33
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Thanks for all the advice. What they watched will all be streamed, so its not as heavy use as I feared (although as I said it did bust my allowance). Their devices are smartphone and ipads. Mine is a Windows 8 laptop. We have a catch up connection on theSky box but dont use it. I want to stay with my current provider and unlimited is an extra fiver a month. Not a lot in itself but with Sky Sports, BT SportHD, Broadband, telephony and mobile we are shelling out well over a hundred pounds a month and I can do without shelling out another £60 a year. Its a bit sobering when you tot it all up on an annual basis!
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Although I am on unlimited BT Infinity, the website used to show usage even though it's not capped. Now it doesn't show what we use. It was usually well over 100GB per month.
You could try to get a better deal which is unlimited. We find it useful to download missed programmes on the Sky box. These in HD can easily be 1GB+
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>>..and I can do without shelling out another £60 a year,,>>
How often do you actually view all these different TV channels?
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Stuart, Most of that we view is on BBC or free to air. However we have only a restricted digital transmitter locally with only about a dozen channels. It's the sport that really pulls us to SKY. I'd be happy to ditch SKY and stick to BT Sport with Sky sports (non HD on BT) for the odd game but Mrs Aston is the football fan and won't hear of it.
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If you pick up Sky via satellite then you can also enjoy Freesat, the BBC and partners' free equivalent of Freeview (DTB), which is served by the same satellite (you might need a quad LNB for the dish).
You'll certainly get all the channels you are missing at present, plus a lot more. You just need a Freesat set top box (or new Freetime box) by Humax or similar. See:
www.freesat.co.uk/?gclid=CJK25sePncoCFYMewwod2CYCdA&gclsrc=aw.ds
tinyurl.com/hpcq8mn
Some equipment examples:
www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat
although checking out Amazon, e-Bay etc will pay dividends for more choice and prices.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sat 9 Jan 16 at 16:21
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Stuart, thanks for this additional info. The problem is that the only way to get SKY sports on HD is by monthly sub with SKY. Other boxes allow only an SD SKY sport option even when they support other channels on HD. For now I am stuck. Probably a bit extreme to ditch (HD requiring) Mrs Aston just to save a few quid........
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Broadband allowance and online videos - VxFan
