What download limit

I have several friends who have run into difficulites by exceeding their monthly download limits for broadband and have been temporarily demoted to dialup until the next month - which more or less precludes SL unless you just want to chat.

My question is regarding this theoretical scenario: -

1) You run SL from your computer 24 hours a day for the entire month
2) You use no or minimal internet, bit-torrent, up/downloading etc - i.e non-SL stuff
3) You do not download or upload excessively to and from SL

In this (improbable) scenario, how much of a download limit would you need - in other words for a computer dedicated purely to simple SL interaction with no frills (but 24/7)?

I ask because although I do use internet/email etc and do download things and don't use SL 24/7, it would help me calculate what sort of download amount to dedicate to my usage of SL and therefore calculate a "safe" monthly download limit that takes care of all my needs.

Any help appreciated!

Hey Leo. Here's a simple way I'd go about it. You can limit SL's own network bandwidth usage in PREFERENCES > NETWORK. See the Maximum Bandwidth slider? Slide that towards the left, and when you travel in SL, downloading will be "throttled" (slower, using less).

To turn the theoretical into the practical, I'd get a good bandwidth monitor program which can log what you're actually using. You could likely examine it on a daily basis and then adjust incrementally as you continue. SL's bandwidth usage can vary a lot depending on where you go to--e.g. texture-laden areas will be very "rich" and can saturate your connection--and a lot of specific metrics related to your usage habits.

If you want to sit out in an empty field and just chat, that hardly takes anything at all. Pressing Ctrl-Shift-1 shows a statistics bar, and you can get a live reading of bandwidth usage to the right.