SL demands on ISP data allowances/limits?

I'm trying to work out in very general terms how much data will typically be downloaded to my computer by using SL - I need to figure this out as my internet provider has limits on the amount of downloads/uploads I can do. I do know SL creates a cache but so far I have not been able to measure its size and don't know if it is renewed completely each session. So is it possible to guestimate the 'drain' on my allowable data by using SL say for a half hour with no uploads (in ballpark figures)? Thnx!

answer: a whole lot of download, i would say a regular use of SL will eat 10 good gigs a week, but i might be wrong, still it will be a lot, trust me.

There are many free programs you can use to track bandwidth uses. Search any download site for "bandwidth". I just did a search and one that stands out is called BitMeter. Maybe that'll give you the info you need.

Tasha - your bandwidth will also depend very much on where you are in world - how many people, objects and scripts are around.

I can sit in a skybox with a friend just chatting and my download rate is 16-25 kbps, or about 13 mb an hour. Other more crowded places suck data at a constant rate of 200-300 kbps.

If you are constantly exploring new places you'll also be consuming bandwidth in large amounts.

You can reduce bandwidth requirements by your choice of places to visit, and changing your preferences to reduce draw distance, graphics detail etc. You can also set your bandwidth slider to a lower amount, such as 200 kpbs - this will slow SL down at times, but will put a limit on how much data you'll be moving.

For me, an average hour in SL consumes about 40-50 mb down, and 5-10 up.

I use Bandwidth Meter Pro to monitor my connection - think you can try it for 20 days free, then it's $19.95 to buy - http://www.bandwidth-meter.net/

Thanks already for your replies - I have installed the free meter DoteDote mentions and Trevor's detailed answer looks about right for me/my machine/location according to that - Kyrah i'd say you are right there too. Thx so much to the three of you - certainly running SL is no small thing! Tasha

Taylor hon - Taylor !! <grin>

Audio and video streaming will influence the downloaded amount quite a bit as well (listening to in-world streams doubles my download usage and I had to give those up months ago now ).

Turning down draw distance may help a little bit as well (assuming it's above 128 right now).

Voice will probably take up about as much as the average audio stream.

My provider gives this kind information as service. For 2007 I am on 28gb now.
Please note I only play in the weekend and during the evenings (job and family-life takes also a great part )

Morwen.

Today I praised god for Time Warner, hallelujah! I don't need to worry about bandwidth.

Let's hope all you can eat bandwidth someday is the norm everywhere.

I wonder, are there still many ISP's who have a download-limit on the SDL-connection?

Anyway, I know that I have no limit on my downloads <- guess she is lucky then.

Morwen.

All ISPs have a download/upload restriction here.

I pay €42.91/month as the base fee and about €10/month on top of that for download overcharges and all I really ever do online anymore that involves any real downloading is SL .

/me laughs maniacally

Monthly cost of bottom of the range broadband in South Africa*:
Residential line rental (compulsory) R99.92 (EU10.64 / US$14.42)
DSL Up to 384kbps R245.00 (EU26.09 / US$35.37)
1 GB TelkomInternet-AllAccess R79.00 (EU8.41 / US$11.40)

Monthly total for 384kbps shaped (ie dog slow SL) connection with a 1GB combined up and download limit: R423.92 (EU45.14 / US$61.20)

All of you in proper free market economies should say a little prayer of thanks for cheap broadband before going to bed tonight

*From our friendly local landline communications incumbent/rectal cash extraction agency, Telkom. http://www.telkom.co.za/athome/products/dsl/home_how_much.html

Oh my gooshhh....

I do pay about 80 Euro per month. I know it that is a lot. But for that I have a 20mb/1mb ASDL2 connection. Now 20mb sounds nice... but someone learned how to test my speed. It is mostly around 16mb download. I never saw it below 14mb, but I also saw it at 18mb.

There is no limit on download/upload. Many nice extra's comes with the account as very large mailboxes, online scannen for spam/virusses and many other things (which I will never use, but for others who know more about computers it seems they are very nice).

Morwen.

it's very difficult to come up with close approximations Tasha because some acitivties (those using audio/video feeds for example) are more bandwidth intensive than others, and that extends to the way you move around too. teleporting can result in a very quick bandwidth hit of 25MB or more, and spending ten minutes in one sim will cost far less in bandwidth than if you teleported to ten different sims over the same period (not unusual when we go clothes shopping!).

having said that, during my busiest month in SL when i was logging in for five/six hours daily for a month, it used about 30GB.

i'm now with a genuinely unlimited ADSL2+ ISP so i don't have to worry about speed or bandwidth restrictions thankfully.

that will be ADSL2+ - which can reach speeds up to 24Mb download/2.5Mb upload. ADSL2 is limited to 12Mbps.

speed is very dependent on line quality and distance from the exchange, and the only people who get 24Mbps are those who live very close to it. that's probably why ISPs such as yours choose to advertise a more realistic 20Mbps service. few people would get 24Mbps anyway, so they limit the portential for complaints.
same here. if your modem or router allows you to tweak the SNR ratio, you can often gain another 2Mbps in speed by reducing it. my SNR profile is 6db at the exchange, but by reducing it to 3db (on the router), my download speed went from 15Mbps to 17.5Mbps. reducing SNR can result in disconnections on a poor quality line however.

another good tip for SL users on ADSL2+ services is to request the datapath be switched from interleaving to fastpath. a good quality line is essential for this to be done, but it reduces latency enormously.

sorry if you know all this. you clearly know what you're talking about, i just figured these would be useful tips for anybody searching ADSL2+ anyway.

Lol, you poor deprived individual.. only 16mb download? However do you cope
The maximum broadband speed currently available to South Africans is 4Mbps-and I can promise you it seldom reaches anywhere near that speed. And then of course there's the data limits (or caps as we refer to them), uncapped accounts are well beyond the range of most individuals or even small businesses, and uncapped unshaped accounts are even more excessively priced.

Using the same page as before and a separate ISP for the bandwidth, a 'top of the range' home DSL connection (4Mbps with 30Gb unshaped bandwidth) would amount to a bargain monthly cost of R4,035.92 (EU430.23 / US$582.32 ).

Anyone care to donate to my bandwidth fund?

Poor kitty! That is awful!

I'm only paying about $55 US. The thing is, it's piggybacked on the cable TV service in the neighborhood. Gotta have the teevee... I'd be very surprised if there are more than 10% of the people in my apartment complex using the wire for computing and not TV. I never worry about speed.

So Time Warner is all over itself now trying to get people to use more cable broadband, set up wi fi hotspots, the works.... they can sell us cable TV and phones... though I have neither myself.

I rail against television, maybe I should shut up, LOL.

Yes, cable has probably been a big help in keeping broadband competition healthy in the states. Unfortunately down here, the TV industry is as heavily regulated as the Telecoms industry, so the only options are state-subsidized terrestrial broadcast, a single independent terrestrial broadcast channel and our lone satellite provider. Cable TV was never introduced so the infrastructure was never there to be used for broadband.
The industry is slooooowly being opened up, but the incumbent has such a headstart it's tough for anyone to make inroads-and they still have exclusive landing rights to the undersea cable that provides SA with non-satellite based bandwidth. This means that (for now) the new entrant into the market will have to buy at their prices if they want decent latency levels.
I have a bottom of the range connection similar to what I priced above, so I don't SL at home (need the bandwidth for research and Xbox Live ;D), but rather from work at lunch-taking advantage of our uncapped (but still shaped) connection.

Where I am I have 5mbps down and 512kbps upload DSL. Its hard to tell what the cost is because its all rolled into the cost of my phone and TV, but it works out to be about $40CDN a amonth, no limits. We do have ADSL2+ here, (24mbps down) but they don't let you buy it for straight internet use, they only use it to supply high-def TV over DSL. I really wish they would selll it as an internet package!

We are expecting these 'triple play' bundles in the new future as well. We (meaning the local internet using community) had hoped that the high bandwidth demands of IPTV would mean we would finally see the abolishment of capping-or at least cap levels in line with the rest of the world. Unfortunately Telkom once again stomped all over any hopes of internationally competitive connections and declared that they would simply not monitor or cap data traveling on th IPTV ports, but that other data would be handled in the same way as always. Fun.

A recent press release from them even promised speeds of 10Mbps by 2011. What a joke, by then the worldwide standard will most likely be an order of magnitude higher

Can you tell I'm bitter?

I don't blame you a bit! I'd be bitter too.