How much bandwidth does SL use ?

G'day

I use SL for 3 hours a day 9PM - 12midnight Eastern Standard Time (Australia)

How much downloading would this generate ?

My cable internet provider has moved from basically unlimited to 3GB per month... I reached this in 10 Days...

No large downloads except for my addiction to SL...

Is this amount correct ? I now have to pay extra to stay connected....

Internet is not cheap in Australia.

I need to know if SL is to blame or if IP is ripping me off !!!

Thanks

Shmoptus sucks !!!!!!

In Portugal bandwidth is metered as well. But you only really download as much as you want to. Go to the network settings and set it to 100kbps.

3GB a month! Ouch!
Is there other providers you can use

I can see SL taking up 3GB in 10 days expecially if you have the view distance turned up over 100. I left it at the default (255 I think) and SL was always up over 100kbps

3GB - $69.00 AUD = $45.00USD

how does this compare to what you guys get in USA ?

Next 3GB is extra $30.00 AUD /$19.00 USD

Only other option is ADSL unlimited at $60.00AUD/ $45.00 USD

but limited to 256Kbps in speed..they get us anyway

Grrr I am angry...

Will SL be heavier now with Bumpmaps and shine coming in 1.1 ????

I get the same 3gigs for 35 euros.
And this is a new thing since I used to only be able to get 2 gigs a few months ago =)
After that its a bit more expensive, €0,015 per meg, or around 15 per gig - 45 for 3 gigs.
I do go over the cap often but really, who cares. 15 euros is the price of two movie tickets and some pop corn.

Oh btw... 256k is more than enough for anyone. Especially uncapped. I would take a 128k line over my 512k one if it was uncapped.
I have plenty of time to wait around for the downloads, just not a lot of spare cash lying around.

In Canada I pay about $50 a month for unlimited download over cable. I never see it get much faster than 200kbps and uploads are slower than downloads.

You say ADSL is limited to 256kbps?? Meaning you currently get faster connection? wow

I'd opt for the slower (which is faster than me ) for more downloading

Hehe Brag time .

I have a 10mbit line with unlimited downloads and uploads and i only pay about 20USD a month. Even get 5 webspaces with 30mb each and 5 e-mail accounts.

I'm using DSL through the local phone company and it's totally unlimited as far as I know. I pay about 35 a month for this service but I'm also having to buy the modem, which is expensive . It's usually running at about 100mbps.

Zana

I'm in the USA, in California and pay about $49 cable. Unlimited use.

I want Thors ISP!

I get 2mbs down / 256k up cable, unlimited downloads. Costs $45 a month if you have their cable tv service, $60 if you don't and their lowest cable package is $10 so I pay $55 a month and don't use the tv service. Why? Cuz my satalite is more than $10 cheaper than any service they offer that gives the channels I want.

Con artists.

Although I think the DSL around here just dropped to $20 a month, for 256k down. I like my high speed though so for now.....

The best way to reduce SL's total bandwidth usage is to lower your draw distance. This keeps the servers from sending you objects, land, textures, etc, which are far away.

Reducing the bandwidth setting won't help much - you'll get roughly the same amount of data eventually, it'll just take longer.

You should also try increasing your cache size. Setting your disk cache size to 1GB will reduce the number of textures you have to re-download as you move around. Also, teleporting instead of flying over a large distance will keep you from downloading all the object data for the intervening space.

Fortunately, 1.1 will use less bandwidth but it's too early to tell how big the drop will be. It could be anywhere from 5-50% depending on what you're doing and what's going on around you.

Ok Ian, thanks for the tips, one thing though.
If my bandwidth is capped to 100kbps and I spend the same 2 hours every day using SL I will download at most 90 megs per day... if I spend 2 hours per day using SL and I have my bandwidth capped at 500kbps I will download at most 450 megs per day.
Capping SL at 100kbps has greatly helped reduce my monthly ISP bill.
I dont know what kind of algorithms you people use but I think it's probable that at 100kbps, when I'm flying around I get to the end of the sim before the textures at the beginning finish downloading and so I end up not downloading most stuff.

BTW ama and thor... the internet in sweden is subsidized by the state... their taxes are insane, over 50% of their income is stolen by a bunch of politicians. I would much rather not have to pay any flat percentage of taxes and be charged for only the things I actually need and use.

Maybe, but I am pretty sure you don't want his taxes

-AP

ok I am feeling dumb....

How do i CAP SL Bandwidth ? - to 100 like eggy said

Cache - Can I set it to 50GB and then hold the world in cache for next session or is it only cached during current session ?

I have a spare 70GB at the moment so that would be cool.

What exactly are my options to "optimise" SL for small DL size and how do I increase detail when I want ?

EG when looking at Eggy I can have as little detail as possible.
Then when looking at Cori Sunshine I want details to the max ?

...half serious ¿

I know some changes coming will decrease bandwidth but I actually enjoy flying around and discovering the world and the people.. I wouldnt like to teleport everywher....but i do wanna keep dl under 3GB a month...at least until I go unlimited ADSL...it sounds like 258 kbps cap on ADSL will still be plenty for SL

In the preferences menu, either at the login or drop down in game.

Network Tab: Select 100k (lowest options)
General Tab: Select 1000MB (hightest option) for cache size
Graphics Tab: Set DrawDistance to 128 at highest, 64 at lowest. The lower it is the less stuff gets sent to your computer.

And Eggy: A 2hr session at 100k will probably be less bandwith than a 2hr session at 500k, maybe. Depends on what you are doing. If you stand in one spot for 2 hours it will be approximatly the same, if you are flying around the world there will be the largest difference. I set mine to a custom that is higher than 500 (load those darn textures faster! hehehe), but I don't average 500 by any means. I would bet my average over any extended time is around 100k or so. I get large bursts of 500k+ and then it calms to around 25k. Unless I'm flying around the world, heh.

All I'm saying is I can definatly understand where Ian is comming from in saying that a bigger factor than network speed will be draw distance.

Yup, I read Ian loud and clear.
I dunno about you americans but the default 256m draw distance causes so much lag that ive had it between 64 and 128 since my very first day.
But even though i was running SL at 64 or 128 meters of draw distance the whole summer it was not enough to make my bandwidth usage stay reasonably close to the 3gb/month mark which is why i had to restrict my viewer to 100kbps. It works great now.
Some more math: at 3 gigs per month, assuming a month is 30 days, you need to keep your downloads to 102.4 megs a day. So it fits in with the 90 megs figure very well!

Hmm..well. The tax isnt really 50% its closer to 33%. but i aint complaining. We have a world class welfare system (probably the greatest). The social security is great. So I belive it is worth it.

And by the way Eggy. Have fun when u end up in the hospital. In sweden it is almost free, In the states and Britain I understand it is a friggin steal.

(Dont actually want you to go to the hospital, just thought it was a great example of wh to pay tax)

Yup. To pay for my family's US taxes and Health Insurance (which I don't have) would be much, much more than 33% of my income. If I get sick or for some reason in a hospital, I will loose my house, literally.

But, I do have unlimited 1.5mbs down, 256k up for about $45/month. 3 gig cap!? Ick! I chew through at least that each night....

I dont think ive ever paid a hospital bill since we are a socialist country as well, but the problem is, I dont end up in the hospital every year, or every decade even, so I shouldnt have to foot the bill for everyone else. But this is the technical issues forum anyway =P

In Britain we also have a 'free' health service, and there are private options available if you wish to pay for faster or better service. The free service comes from taxes, just like in Sweden. Underfunded, but adequate.

BTW, I get 512Kb down/128Kbs up for £25 a month (approx $40) and I hope to ghod it's unlimited coz I haven't restricted SL in any way... apart from draw distance, otherwise I lag to death.

Here in Denmark the tax is close to 50% and when earning a lot it is even higher
If youre in high tax country (like me) talk to your employer, get them to pay your internet, and reducing your salary the same amount as they pay for your internet.
Then you save 50% because the internet is paid before tax

And it gets real cheap.
ps. denmark has the highest tax in the world

Kaspar Tigereye