Five Tips For Staying Beneath Your Bandwidth Cap
Nobody likes data caps. Unfortunately, for many of us, they're something we simply have to live with. Here are five tips to help you do so. I'll spare you the rant about how data caps like Comcast's serve no practical purpose, save for being another means of gouging the consumer. You already understand that much. Were the broadband market hale and healthy, you could simply switch to another service provider with more reasonable bandwidth restrictions. Since it's not, the best you can do in the short-term is find a way to live with it. That's where we come in. Today, we're going to offer up a bit of advice on how you can control your bandwidth, and avoid a nasty monthly fee. Check Your Usage At Least Once A Week The best piece of advice I (or anyone else) can possibly give you is to remain vigilant. Check your bandwidth usage at least once a week, and investigate any unusual spikes in network activity. Of course, that can be easier said than done - while many ISPs do provide a bandwidth monitoring tool on their website, that tool may not always be the most trustworthy way to keep track of what you do. What I'd instead advise is that you install software like GlassWire or the PRTG Network Monitor. Not only will these apps allow you to keep an eye on your usage, you can also go through a record of your usage to figure out which devices were using the most data (and by association, what you were doing on them at the time). Settle For Standard Def I know, I know. 1080p is the only way to watch Community on Netflix. Unfortunately, HD video is also a notorious bandwidth hog. According to Netflix's help site, a high-quality stream uses 3 GB per hour for HD and 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD (versus 0.3 GB per hour for low def). Even if you're only watching 7 hours of Netflix a week (and let's be honest, most of us watch a whole lot more than that), that's still a difference of over 180 gigabytes between low-def and Ultra HD. And sure, it's unpleasant having to watch online video in a lower resolution, but it's a whole lot more unpleasant getting hit with a massive bill at the end of the month. Keep An Eye On Your Devices (And Applications) Some devices tend to be notorious bandwidth hogs - the Xbox One, for example, can use a downright insane amount of data if you don't monitor it, especially if you're purchasing digital games. And automatically-updated games and applications on your desktop can push you even further over your cap. Other devices, such as DVRs and Smart Appliances (Smart TVs, Fridges, etc.) can also suck up bandwidth like vacuum cleaners. Some large software updates can be hundreds of megabytes (or even several gigabytes). And if you've multiple applications updating themselves on a regular basis, that adds up fast. Even those apps pale in comparison to torrents, though. Not only are they very often illegal, torrents are generally some of the biggest bandwidth devourers in any household, especially if you insist on seeding every single one. I knew of one fellow who wound up with a 500 GB overage one month because his son was a chronic torrenter. There's one more thing to note here before we move on. Most online games are optimized to take up very little bandwidth. You probably don't have to worry about them causing an overage, unless you're playing upwards of thirty hours a week (which is patently unhealthy). Be Careful With Online Backup And File Sync It's tempting to want to use tools like Dropbox and Google Drive to store all of your documents - after all, you'll have easy access to them no matter where you go, and they'll be safe in the event that your computer goes nuclear. I'd advise caution here, though, as depending on the size of the files you're backing up, digital data storage can be a subtle bandwidth glutton. I'm not going to insist you avoid online backup altogether, just that you be mindful of what you're storing, and how often. Secure Your Network Last but certainly not least, make sure you've a decent password on your WiFi network and router (and regularly check your router's settings page to see which devices are connected). There are plenty of people out there who will gleefully siphon off bandwidth from their neighbors in order to avoid inflicting an overage on themselves, and having an easily-guessable password like "123456" amounts to an open invitation to them. Closing Thoughts: Consider Finding A New Provider Of course, if none of these tips seem like things you'd be willing to do, it might be time to seek a new ISP.
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