What are broadband usage limits?

When you pay for a broadband package, you will be paying for it based on its speed and the amount you can download. The amount is of two types – Capped and Unlimited. With a capped amount, you are allowed only a certain amount of downloads – this could be anything from 1GB to 10 GB, sometimes more. Anything over this, you have to pay and the provider will specify the rate. When it is unlimited, most providers exercise a fair usage policy where there is an unwritten rule that you do not go over a certain amount.

So how much do you need as an allowance?

Let’s take a look at how much you can download and you can calculate your requirements from that.

1GB or 2GB

This is what most users need. If all you do on the Internet is send and receive emails, surf a bit and do a little bit of visiting and posting on social networking sites, this is more than enough.

Take a look at what you can do with 1GB (any one activity):

• browse through at least 8000 web pages
• view 7 hours of streaming video
• receive or send 200,000 emails – only text
• download 300 to 400 MP3 music files
• send or receive 2000 pictures

5GB

Any kind of streaming radio of TV needs a bigger bandwidth and you will need 5GB if you want to enjoy the experience occasionally. 1hr of high definition video via the BBC iPlayer site can use up almost 1GB!

10GB

Downloading music or movies means you need at least this amount. If you do a lot of it, you might want a bigger allowance. If you have children who regularly speak to their friends via instant messaging services such as Windows Live! Messenger and perhaps use their webcams, you will want at least this amount of bandwidth. They are likely to view a lot of complicated, interactive websites that consume data almost as much as the children consume the entire contents of your fridge.

Unlimited

If you regularly want to use services such as BBC iPlayer, or download many albums, you really need an unlimited package. You don’t want to be penalised by your internet provider and have to pay per MB or GB that you exceed your allowance. Also, if you regularly play games online, or download demos of programs/games, then again this the correct package for you.