Antoinette Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 (edited) I used to have an ADSL internet connection through Telkom back in RSA. It was capped at 1G. During the 2 years that I had it I only reached my 1G cap once. Here, in Oz we have a wireless connection though Bigpond. It is also capped at 1G. What gets to me is that I reach my cap within 2 weeks. Something is wrong! My son used to spend much more time playing games on line in South Africa than he is here. I only download anti-virus updates. I always disconnect after browsing whereas in RSA I used to sometimes leave the connection open for a whole day. Why am I reaching my cap so quickly here when I basically just browse a bit? Am I being done in? I've written to bigpond 2 days ago and haven't recieved a reply yet.Antoinette Edited November 28, 2008 by Antoinette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordy Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Are you using a wireless router? If so is it a closed network with passwords? Is your next door neighbour perhaps borrowing some of your bandwidth? I use Firefox Browser and there is a nifty little addon that one can apply called Net usage http://netusage.iau5.com/ It provides a little usage bar on my tab that tells me what I use. It updates all the time so I can monitor what I use. Once you start using Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ you will never return to Internet Explorer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niemeerhier Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Once you start using Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ you will never return to Internet Explorer.I second that. How does one survive on less than 1 gig? I have a 3 gig cap and constantly use all of it. I was wondering if they have these local only bandwidth deals in Oz too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 (edited) Antoinette!Big Pond (Telstra's internet provider) measure their 1 Gigabyte volume both ways . . . . download AND upload . . . . so you get the meter reading the total volume of internet traffic both ways.I live out by Mt Barker Summit where the ADSL isn't getting to, so I have been on Big Pond wireless broadband for nearly two years now.I used to get by on 1GB at 256 Kbs / sec speed well enough, but my kids are all living at home (do you want any kids?????) and they hop on the net, downloading stuff and sending emails (Uploads) and I found I was going over my 1 GB limit (ouch!!)I went up to the next volume increase which was 3 Gb a month.Recently, Big Pond have dropped their monthly prices by $20 a month, and I now get up to 5 Gb a month, with any extra volume being "shaped" (no extra charge . . just a really slow speed of 64 kb / sec)Get on to Big Pond by phone, explain that you need more volume . . . . could you please have the next amount of volume.I've looked at their newest deals for ADSL and I see that @ 256 kb / sec speed, you get up to 12 Gb a month and it is a "Liberty" broadband plan.12 Gb is heaps!256 kb / sec is the slowest broadband speed you can get nowadays, but will do for 99% of things, such as emails, sending photos, webcams, etc."Liberty" broadband plans mean that if you ever go over your limit, you don't pay extra . . . Big Pond just slow you down to a really slow speed of 64 Kb / sec.Check them out by giving them a free call from your home phone . . . if you have Telstra home phone!http://my.bigpond.com/internetplans/broadb...ers/default.jsp Edited November 28, 2008 by Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polly Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 We also have the bigpond account for 12 gig. Never had broadband before, so having a lot of fun. The uploads chow a lot of bandwidth...Personally, I really like Chrome. Have some issues with Firefox. Used it for a while, but a lot of pages don't load correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 (edited) If you start webcamming people it chews up a lot of bandwidth.Even chatting, just speech, takes about 30 Mb an hour over Skype if you are chatting to your family and mates back home in South Africa.With a webcam flicking away at 25 to 30 times a second and shooting that down the line, as well as picking 25 to 30 small photos each second of the others at the other end, you can chew up a lot of Mbs in one hour, if you are unlucky enough to be on a plan with only a small bandwidth (e.g.1Gb)Broadband allows you to do sooo much more with your computer than you'd ever have hoped to do with the old dial-up, so it's a bit limiting to only have the same volume as you'd have had with the old dial-up.You're not allowing yourselves the room to soar like the eagles. You're still down on the ground with the sparrows with only 500 Mb or so, each month.Nowadays, I download podcasts off the BBC and I Skype family and mates, and all sorts of interesting stuff.Broadband? . . . . Rock on!Get into it. Edited November 28, 2008 by Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibrated Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 geez, im on 25gb and i always use it up..... mind you, i do alot of research, product reviews (videos), forums, etc. youtube and thepiratebay doesnt exactly help the cap hehe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibrated Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 (edited) If you start webcamming people it chews up a lot of bandwidth.Even chatting, just speech, takes about 30 Mb an hour over Skype if you are chatting to your family and mates back home in South Africa.With a webcam flicking away at 25 to 30 times a second and shooting that down the line, as well as picking 25 to 30 small photos each second of the others at the other end, you can chew up a lot of Mbs in one hour, if you are unlucky enough to be on a plan with only a small bandwidth (e.g.1Gb)i think you'll find that its closer to 43Mb an hour with current speeds and a decent cam. it does vary though depending on your line, the other persons line, the webcams used, and the quality uploaded. another thing to watch out for is ISP's that charge for uploads. because then you'll be using up data for sending your cam, as well as recieving the other party's cam data. then still add voice to this... you could (in a high quality setup) be up for close to 100Mb an hour... Edited December 16, 2008 by calibrated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibrated Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 We also have the bigpond account for 12 gig. Never had broadband before, so having a lot of fun. The uploads chow a lot of bandwidth...Personally, I really like Chrome. Have some issues with Firefox. Used it for a while, but a lot of pages don't load correctly.you'll find that the uploads kill the bandwidth because its a shaped connection. slightly off topic, Chrome has alot of security issues. FF for the win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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