Download usage - How accurate ?

karlak · May 27, 2009, 08:15:35

Just curious how accurate the Download meter is on the IDNET page. I checked ours today and was very surprised to see we had used 3.24 GB in 5 days. Have upgraded to the MAX package this morning. With 1.32 Gb yesterday alone - really cant think where that all went

?

Only just joined IDNET last Friday, and have not downloaded any files of any significance in that time. Admittedly the kids being off school means there is a fair bit of MSN'ing going on etc.

I was also wondering what iPlayer and the like do to your bandwidth usage? We have 3 PC's and Xbox's on our network, no movie downloads or anything like that going on. Is it just a case of a steady stream of data being downloaded over a longer period of time.

Rik · May 27, 2009, 08:40:20

It's accurate, Karlak, it takes its data from the BT radius servers. iPlayer is actually quite heavy on bandwidth, as it YouTube etc. Downloading music has an impact too. With so many connections, it will be hard for you to check locally, but you can install a utility like NetMeter or the ThinkBroadband meter on every PC. I take it your wireless network is secure?

karlak · May 27, 2009, 08:44:47

Quote from: Rik on May 27, 2009, 08:40:20
It's accurate, Karlak, it takes its data from the BT radius servers. iPlayer is actually quite heavy on bandwidth, as it YouTube etc. Downloading music has an impact too. With so many connections, it will be hard for you to check locally, but you can install a utility like NetMeter or the ThinkBroadband meter on every PC. I take it your wireless network is secure?

Thanks - I will get a download meter. Yes the wireless is secure - I have am running WPA2, and have switched off SSID broadcast.

It's just that I cannot get my head around 1.3gb in one day - that seems an awful lot, if I have not purposely downloaded music albums or movie's

Cheers

Rik · May 27, 2009, 08:46:25

How about the kids, though? If they are hitting YouTube or swapping music files, that will soon mount up. If you think there is a problem, though, let support know and they will double-check.

karlak · May 27, 2009, 08:51:28

Quote from: Rik on May 27, 2009, 08:46:25
How about the kids, though? If they are hitting YouTube or swapping music files, that will soon mount up. If you think there is a problem, though, let support know and they will double-check.

Yes, I am starting to suspect the kids - Especially as it is half term.

This is the first time I have been with a provider where I have a download limit, so guess I am getting a little obsessed by it.

Rik · May 27, 2009, 08:55:20

Can you move to WBC? If you can, the allowances are much larger. You can sign up to an RSS feed from your accounts page, so that you get automatic notifications daily, and IDNet will email you if you're likely to exceed the allowance. If you do, you won't get cut off or throttled, you just pay £1/GB for the extra. You could always charge the kids for it.

JB · May 27, 2009, 09:42:56

I think IDNet's download meter used to under read. This was based on what I measured at my end compared to IDNet's report page. Although I could never get near my 25Gb allowance.

Within the last month or so the report page seems to be much more accurate so I guess something was fixed. Now my calculations equal the IDNet reported useage.

HTH.

karlak · May 27, 2009, 09:47:55

Quote from: Rik on May 27, 2009, 08:55:20
Can you move to WBC?

Sorry, WBC means ? Oh, and the Kids have got a few jobs to do today - they will pay for the usage one way or another

Rik · May 27, 2009, 09:50:20

Wholesale Broadband Connection, the new 'up to 24Mb' packages announced yesterday. They have much more download for your money if you can take advantage of them. Log in to your accounts page, if your exchange is enabled, you'll see a banner there.

karlak · May 27, 2009, 10:01:48

Quote from: Rik on May 27, 2009, 09:50:20
Wholesale Broadband Connection, the new 'up to 24Mb' packages announced yesterday. They have much more download for your money if you can take advantage of them. Log in to your accounts page, if your exchange is enabled, you'll see a banner there.

Ahh yes, I see - Blimey I will be lucky. They will have to move the straw bales out of the way to get in to the exchange first, 2011 estimated date

Rik · May 27, 2009, 10:07:18

Bad luck, maybe. There have been teething problems with all ISPs as they move to WBC, eg some routers won't connect on some lines. It's going to be an interesting learning curve over the next few months.

karlak · May 27, 2009, 10:14:46

I see that the ADSL 2+ allowance for the same money I am paying is 3 x times the total (90gb), albeit 60gb is offpeak - Does this mean the normal ADSL user allowances will be reviewed soon.

Not really sure why there is such a huge difference

, and is a bit of a kick in the teeth for those of us without upgraded exchanges. Or am I missing something ?

Rik · May 27, 2009, 10:21:13

You're not missing anything. The simple truth is that the underlying costs for WBC are much lower for the ISP, so they can afford to give more generous allowances to users on that package. The costs associated with the older technology have not decreased, so there's no room for manoeuvre.

Sebby · May 27, 2009, 10:26:05

Good old BT.

Rik · May 27, 2009, 10:29:22

Though those that know the organisation say something else.

zappaDPJ · May 27, 2009, 11:13:58

Quote from: karlak on May 27, 2009, 08:15:35I was also wondering what iPlayer and the like do to your bandwidth usage?

Anything that involves video will consume a fair bit of bandwidth including iPlayer and YouTube videos. On the other hand chat clients like MSN use almost nothing in comparison.