Is 40GB upload/download monthly ok?

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podd

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If a internet service provider provides a total monthly maximum usage of 40GB including all upload/download is this a high figure?

I'm not sure what 40GB actually means, as I know so companies offer unlimited usage, so wasn't quite sure how 40GB compared...

Thanks!
 
Its loads. You are very unlikely to ever reach this limit unless you are downloading huge files every day, you would want to be downloading about 200 songs each day to reach the limit....

So, its loads.
 
podd said:
If a internet service provider provides a total monthly maximum usage of 40GB including all upload/download is this a high figure?
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Are you sure that 40GB relates to the dowlonad/upload caps or does it include other things? I have never come across such as high cap. Most download caps are under 10GB unless you have a package with no cap at all.

1GB is 2 to the power of 30 or 1024 x 1024 x 1024 or 1,073,741,824 bytes although some people may incorrectly use it to refer to 1000 x 1000 x 1000 or 1,000,000,000 bytes. Basically that's a lot of data.
 
Fair enough. That's a big download cap alright. As mentioned above you'd want to be doing an awful lot of downloading/uploading to put even a dent into that. I never come even close to hitting the 6GB (I think) cap on the package that I use but it really depends on what you do online.
 
A 42 minute TV episode (1 hour programme with ads removed) typically takes about 350MB. So 40,000MB is a fair amount.
There's an increasing number of sites giving video content legally but not enough to risk exceeding a 40GB cap.

An average book might take 5 - 10 MB. An audio file lasting 40 minutes might be about 30MB depending on quality.

If you're not downloading a lot of video and you're an otherwise average user 40GB is plenty.

It works out at an average constant download rate of about 16KB/s over the course of the month assuming its all in the one the direction, which it wouldn't be as the protocols have some acknowledgement overhead when downloading and peer to peer protocols make you upload content too.
 
ClubMan said:
Are you sure that 40GB relates to the dowlonad/upload caps or does it include other things? I have never come across such as high cap. Most download caps are under 10GB unless you have a package with no cap at all.

1GB is 2 to the power of 30 or 1024 x 1024 x 1024 or 1,073,741,824 bytes although some people may incorrectly use it to refer to 1000 x 1000 x 1000 or 1,000,000,000 bytes. Basically that's a lot of data.
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ClubMan, most ISPs are giving really high caps now, NTL is 40gb and most download caps are above 10gb, I have a 16gb limit. It's alot but i want more..lol..but if i was given more i would probably want more after that and so on..get the point?:)
As time goes on the caps get larger, while the speeeds move on. eg theres no point in having a 10gb cap with a 10mb/s download speed, you'd fill it up in a day.
 
I'm looking into getting broadband and I don't really know how much download allowance I need. I would appreciate some information on what counts as a download. Is it every web page I visit that counts or just files that are downloaded. I have asked a few people and have got different answers. I do browse the web quite a bit but don't download music or video. So if browsing is included in the download limit how much does the average web page use. Any information from someone more expert than myself would be most welcome. Thanks.
 
frph said:
I'm looking into getting broadband and I don't really know how much download allowance I need. I would appreciate some information on what counts as a download. Is it every web page I visit that counts or just files that are downloaded.
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Yes. I use my home broadband quite a bit and yet the most that I have racked up in any one month is probably 1-2GB download. It depends on what you're doing but if you're mainly browsing, using email and downloading some content then a few GB download cap will probably be more than sufficient. If you are currently connected to the web through some means other than broadband then you can always estimate your download/upload usage in preparation for broadband.
 
podd said:
Ok - thanks very much SteelBlue

I think the figure is correct ClubMan..here's the link...if you scroll down to the bottom of the page...

[broken link removed]

I'm in Northern Ireland so I can use this Talk Talk service which for £20.99/month provides monthly line rental, 8 Meg broadband and includes the cost of as many local, national and European telephone calls as you want to make up to a maximum of 70 minutes per call. So it's seems to be quite a good deal but was just wondering about the 40GB as to how much this is...
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You lucky so-and-so. I think i'm movin North.
 
Thank you Clubman. Your reply was very helpful. It gives me a better idea of what I might need. Thanks.
 
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