Hi
At present I have unlimited download with my UK broadband ISP, but they offer me cheaper rates if I accept a download limit, as I'm far from being a computer expert I'm turning to you for advice.
I would consider I use SL quite a lot, but average with e-mails and web use.
Does SL need me to be unlimited?
If it is ok to run SL on a limit what limit is the lowest to be safe? ( To avoid extra charges for exceeding it. Do not want to save with one hand and give away with the other.)
Thanks
June
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Broadband with download limit |
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June Oh
Remember I'm a Blonde.
Join date: 20 Feb 2007
Posts: 383
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05-18-2007 03:55
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VooDoo Bamboo
www.voodoodesignsllc.com
Join date: 4 Oct 2006
Posts: 911
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05-18-2007 03:59
Yikes I do not know much about the limit issue. I have talked to other people who seem to have that same thing that live outside the U.S. If I had to guess though I would say it might hurt you. SL tends to eat up alot of everything resources and bandwidth. Just depends I guess really on how much your on.
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VooDoo DESIGNS www.voodoodesignsllc.com
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Ken March
Registered User
Join date: 2 Apr 2007
Posts: 333
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05-18-2007 04:12
Install a bandwidth monitoring tool for ur system, then figure out how much data transfer u use for secondlife in month.
Hi At present I have unlimited download with my UK broadband ISP, but they offer me cheaper rates if I accept a download limit, as I'm far from being a computer expert I'm turning to you for advice. I would consider I use SL quite a lot, but average with e-mails and web use. Does SL need me to be unlimited? If it is ok to run SL on a limit what limit is the lowest to be safe? ( To avoid extra charges for exceeding it. Do not want to save with one hand and give away with the other.) Thanks June _____________________
Islab focus on second life and 3D internet
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Lana Madonna
Registered User
Join date: 2 Sep 2005
Posts: 30
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broadband limits
05-18-2007 04:13
Im in New Zealand and originally had a broadband account with a capped limit as at that time they had no unlimited accounts here. Every month I was over my 5GB limit in the first week and got my speed throttled back to dialup speed, which meant I couldnt even get into SL.
Now thank God we have an unlimited account here because believe me you need it, SL downloads huge amounts of data and if you dont have an unlimited account then you'll only be able to access SL for a small part of the month. |
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Denise Bonetto
Registered User
Join date: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 705
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05-18-2007 04:23
Well I use SL probably around 4 hours a day with 'unlimited' broadband, but get this message each week:
Dear XXXXXXXXX, We've noticed your recent levels of Internet usage have been very high during peak hour periods. Toucan has a Fair Usage Policy which endeavours to ensure our broadband service remains fast and available to all users at all times. Very high usage by some users can result in slow speeds for our other customers. A copy of this policy is available at www.toucan.com/products/toucansurf/fup.pdf; Clause 7 outlines the situation regarding excessive usage. We monitor peak hour high usage on a weekly basis. Over the last week, your downloads and uploads have totalled 2.89 GB, which exceeds our peak hour usage thresholds: ToucanSurf 512K, 1Mb and 2Mb: 0.75 GB ToucanSurf Up to 8Mb: 1 GB Peak hours are 6pm-11pm, Monday-Sunday (including Christmas and Bank Holidays). We have therefore arranged for you to share bandwidth with other high users for the next seven days. Over this period, your access speed during peak periods will be determined both by your own usage level and by the usage of users with whom you are sharing bandwidth. At the end of this period we will review the situation and, if your peak hour usage is no longer exceeds the threshold, we will restore your service to its previous status. Please find below some tips on reducing your Internet usage during peak hours: Turn off your Internet connection when you're not using it Download movies or music files outside peak hours Reduce the number of times you share files across the Internet, and/or reduce the size of those files during peak hours Log off online game sites when not playing. Thank you for your cooperation. Yours sincerely, Funny thing is, I actually get better performance now they are limiting me at peak times then before  _____________________
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Walker Moore
Fоrum Unregular
Join date: 14 May 2006
Posts: 1,458
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05-18-2007 04:25
Hi At present I have unlimited download with my UK broadband ISP, but they offer me cheaper rates if I accept a download limit if your local exchange is Be* enabled, you might want to consider Be Unlimited. It's ADSL2+ (speeds up to 24Mbps depending on how close you are to the exchange) and they offer a genuinely unlimited package for a very low price (£24ppm inc vat). _____________________
It's only a forum, no one dies.
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Porky Gorky
Temperamentalalistical
Join date: 25 May 2004
Posts: 1,414
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05-18-2007 04:28
SL does cain quite allot of bandwidth. Although, a friend of mine was using BT as an ISP with a 4MB connection and was capped at 20GB per month and he never had any problems and was still able to leech the occasional episode of Lost. As advised earlier, try and find a tool to measure the amount of MB sent & Received during a standard hour playing SL then do the math.
Personally I am on an NTL 10MB connection and have allways exceeded the cap sometime by over a 100GB per month but they were too useless to regulate the cap. Now Virgin Media have taken over I suspect they will start enforcing the cap so I'd be interested to know how much bandwidth SL uses in the event I need to change packages or ISP's. So please post your results  _____________________
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bilbo99 Emu
Garrett's No.1 fan
Join date: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,468
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05-18-2007 04:35
Wow Lana, 5Gb within the week??
In my second month I tipped over the then limit on my ISP of 4Gb and was informed that I would be charged a surplus on additional gigabytes from the following month. However, they put the limit up to 5Gb and I've not had a peep out of them since then. I login most days, for around 4 to 5 hours I'd say. I do sometimes turn the music stream off and do not have the video stream on which saves a lot I hear. |
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Walker Moore
Fоrum Unregular
Join date: 14 May 2006
Posts: 1,458
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05-18-2007 04:37
one person's bandwidth usage will differ drastically from another's. in fact, assuming you stayed in a single sim for one hour, but teleported to fifteen different sims while on a shopping spree during the next, you should expect to use approx 350-375MB more during the second hour. that is an enormous difference.
hmm. /wonders if women use more bandwidth than men.  _____________________
It's only a forum, no one dies.
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Walker Moore
Fоrum Unregular
Join date: 14 May 2006
Posts: 1,458
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05-18-2007 04:39
Wow Lana, 5Gb within the week?? In my second month I tipped over the then limit on my ISP of 4Gb and was informed that I would be charged a surplus on additional gigabytes from the following month. However, they put the limit up to 5Gb and I've not had a peep out of them since then. I login most days, for around 4 to 5 hours I'd say. I do sometimes turn the music stream off and do not have the video stream on which saves a lot I hear.  having said that, my SL bandwidth usage right now is below the 5GB monthly mark because i spend most of my time at high altitudes working on a project. (ie. not much texture load, no music/video, no teleporting all the time, etc.). _____________________
It's only a forum, no one dies.
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LNDINI Lok
Registered User
Join date: 17 May 2007
Posts: 44
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05-18-2007 06:09
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Luth Brodie
Registered User
Join date: 31 May 2004
Posts: 530
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05-18-2007 06:28
Download limits are a scam. Most people don't understand it, then end up paying more then an unlimited package if they go over it. It's just as much of a scam to offer high speeds then make you use a USB modem.
Most ISPs have no information at all on routers. In fact BT and wanadoo (now orange) didn't even know what I was talking about when I called. Then again I say "router" in American which is rOUter not the English rOOter. Really not much of a difference but still didn't understand when I explained what it was. SL support will give you a nasty headach if they find out you use wireless which my laptop usually gets 54Mpbs where as a friend gets 7-10Mpbs with his USB modem. I'm with UKonline 8MB unlimited. The only time mine's been down in the past 2 years is when its BTs fault with the phone lines. _____________________
"'Aarrr,' roared the Pirate Captain, because it seemed a good way to end the conversation."
The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists. Reel Expression Poses and Animations: reelgeek.co.uk/blog |
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Lee Ponzu
What Would Steve Do?
Join date: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 1,770
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US HughesNet satellite
05-18-2007 12:33
I have a limit of 400MB over a 24 hour period, which resets at Midnight each day.
I have hit this limit a couple of times per month, and it is a pain. however, I dound that I was downloading a *lot* of podcasts that I wasn't keeping up with, so I made those manual. I usually hit less than 100MB in a typical hour of SL. lee |
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Taylor Bayliss
Registered User
Join date: 17 May 2006
Posts: 144
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05-18-2007 13:09
June - I use Bandwidth Meter Pro - http://www.bandwidth-meter.net/ - you can download it and try it for free for about 20 days (it costs $19.95) - it will give you daily usage so you can make an informed decision.
I'm also bandwidth restricted, so, after a minute in a new area I use my preferences to slow bandwidth to 50 kbps, and, mostly. that works for me. Plus I've edited draw distance and other details to reduce bandwidth. Voice will be a problem though..... |
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Warda Kawabata
Amityville Horror
Join date: 4 Nov 2005
Posts: 1,300
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05-18-2007 13:32
SL support will give you a nasty headach if they find out you use wireless which my laptop usually gets 54Mpbs where as a friend gets 7-10Mpbs with his USB modem. The wireless bandwidth from my PC to my hub is bigger than teh bandwidth from my hub to my ISP. What do I win? _____________________
I rent out land on private islands. Message me in-world for details. |
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Altimar Edelweiss
Lost in Space
Join date: 13 Nov 2006
Posts: 70
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05-18-2007 19:25
... Over the last week, your downloads and uploads have totalled 2.89 GB Thats it? and their complaining about it? Whats the point of broadband if your capped at a ridiculous level as this? 'We like to charge you for your high speed connection but don't you dare download anything ...' lol Maybe I'm just blessed but the only time my isp ever called me up on bandwidth usage was when I had a couple of months at over 165gigs.  Bandwidth Meter_____________________
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggy' while you search for a rock.
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mcgeeb Gupte
Jolie Femme @}-,-'-,---
Join date: 17 Sep 2005
Posts: 1,152
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05-18-2007 21:11
Question, does it really cost the ISPs any more money if broadband is actually used how it was meant to be?? Kind of funny they offer all of that high speed but want to limit it.
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Warda Kawabata
Amityville Horror
Join date: 4 Nov 2005
Posts: 1,300
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05-18-2007 22:26
Problem is they sell the same bit of data pathway many times over. That's how they make it so cheap.
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I rent out land on private islands. Message me in-world for details. |
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Lana Madonna
Registered User
Join date: 2 Sep 2005
Posts: 30
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broadband usage
05-18-2007 23:28
Wow Lana, 5Gb within the week?? In my second month I tipped over the then limit on my ISP of 4Gb and was informed that I would be charged a surplus on additional gigabytes from the following month. However, they put the limit up to 5Gb and I've not had a peep out of them since then. I login most days, for around 4 to 5 hours I'd say. I do sometimes turn the music stream off and do not have the video stream on which saves a lot I hear. Should mention I was home all week with a broken ankle, Im also on a router with my partner who's also in SL so combine the 2 usages and bingo!!!. It does depend where you go and what you do and how busy the sims are where you go though |
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Lana Madonna
Registered User
Join date: 2 Sep 2005
Posts: 30
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cheap??
05-18-2007 23:30
Problem is they sell the same bit of data pathway many times over. That's how they make it so cheap. Well the unlimited plan in NZ is $49,95 a month which no way is cheap. To make it worse we have a crap dl rate here at 100Mbps |
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June Oh
Remember I'm a Blonde.
Join date: 20 Feb 2007
Posts: 383
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05-19-2007 07:03
Thanks for all your replies, they are very helpfull to me.
Seems to have a limit not a good idea at all. To save money at my up to 512k speed I would have to limit at 3GB, definately not on from what you tell me. For same price as I pay now I could increase speed up to 1MB but limit is 6GB, now from what you say I might get away with that, but as some have said you have to watch how one uses SL. (If I change I'm stuck with it for 12 months.) Another question, now I mention speed does a higher speed add to the enjoyment/use of SL? At extra cost I can the 1MB speed with no limit, OR up to 2MB with 10GB limit. Or higher extra cost 2MB with no limit. Reading reviews of ISPs mine is usualy stated to be poor value against others for speed/prices, but I find mine 100% reliable and do not wish to change. Also changing would present e-mail account problems. I will try the useage meter you mention. Also in a review I read it said one can often talk to ones ISP about leaving them and when like me a customer of long standing they make one a better offer. Thanks June |
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Tegg Bode
FrootLoop Roo Overlord
Join date: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 5,707
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05-19-2007 10:46
One problem I had was as my plan limit & speed went up so did my usage, as I cranked up all the view distance & graphic settings for super realism
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Level 38 Builder [Roo Clan]
Free Waterside & Roadside Vehicle Rez Platform, Desire (88, 17, 107) Avatars & Roadside Seaview shops and vendorspace for rent, $2.00/prim/week, Desire (175,48,107) |
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bilbo99 Emu
Garrett's No.1 fan
Join date: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,468
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05-21-2007 00:57
Also in a review I read it said one can often talk to ones ISP about leaving them and when like me a customer of long standing they make one a better offer. Thanks June Yes June, speak to them! When I phoned my fibre ISP to cancel the then compulsory phone/isp contract having already connected to a cheaper ADSL alternative they came back with "Oh, we could have done you an ISP only for xxx" Don't tell your customers till too late will you!! Grrrr!! |
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Camden Juran
Totally weird
Join date: 8 Mar 2007
Posts: 34
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05-21-2007 06:08
Hi June,
I would also say NOT to limit the amount of GB! I have a broadband account with a total amount of almost 20GB to spend each month (down and upstream together). The previous month I've spent 13GB on SL, mail and surfing (we have 2 users). And in that month there was I day we spent 2GB of the account! So definately DON'T limit your account!!!As for your other question: I would advise not to upgrade to higher speed as it cuts you down on your amount of GB to spend each month. You get a limit with your upgrade in speed and that's not good at all... Hope this was helpfull... Love, Camden xxx |
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Ace Albion
Registered User
Join date: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 866
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05-22-2007 03:50
I've used over 10gb a month doing little other than SL, it's constantly streaming. You have to be stood still in a very dull place for it to reduce to a trickle.
Once I was stuck with dialup. That hits home with how much data SL pulls. I did nothing but chat from a blank skybox. One time a friend came to see me unannounced, and I had to relog, because it was taking 10 minutes to load his AO animations and prim hair. 15 minute chat lag on the ground. SL pulls a lot of data. _____________________
Ace's Spaces! at Deco (147, 148, 24)
ace.5pointstudio.com |