UTV - went over my download cap

Hi folks

Just checked my Bandwidth usage with UTV there on the 31st of March and it read 9.4 GIG .
Last time I checked was on the 26/27th March and it read less than 8 GIG for downloading and about 2ish GIG for uploading.
On the 26/27th March to the 31st I have done no DL and maybe a bit of browsing but nothing to account for this huge increase in data transfer.

My DL cap is set at 8 GIG and I have the option set to cap my DL if I go over it(i.e. have my account suspended if I exceed my download cap). But on the 31st for example I could browse the net no problem.
This is the first time I have experinced something like this with UTV, any one encountered this before?

Anyone know what the likely bill is to be? Don't really wanna pay it as I feel the cap thing would have blocked me from going over my cap,
especially by that much.

Thanks

€0.015 per MB over the cap so 1.4GB =~ 1400MB (probably more depending on whether they mean 1024MB or 1000MB per GB etc.) which means c. €21.

Download cap doesn't prevent you from going over that limit, it just tells you a limit above which you will be charged extra - should consider switching providers or tariffs to increase limit.

21 euro is that bad, thought it would be more, thanks Clubman.

gearoidmm - what does the

have my account suspended if I exceed my download cap

Click to expand...

mean? This is the option I have selected for my account. I was of the impression that this stopped you from accessing the net etc. as opposed to going well over it.

Should probs consider changing package, but at the minute I think 30euro is dear enough, but maybe I am just being a scab. Am waiting for Smart to come.

Still not convinced I went over by that much. Have my own Data transfer counter now. At least now I'll be able to keep a closer eye on things.Thanks

you can change it in your online settings so it just stops as soon as you have hit your cap

They won't necessarily charge you for going over the cap AFAIK. They are within their rights to do so, but I think it is discretionary.

If it becomes a regular occurence they almost certainly will charge each time and you may be better off switching providers.

hattrick_12a makes a fair point about the UTV account settings. I always thought that the options were to suspend the account once the download cap was reached or to charge for any excess. In this case it's odd that the former option did not kick in. Perhaps there are limits to when it takes effect - e.g. if you make the change during the current month then it only takes effect for the following month?

It is most likely that the accounting is done on a batch basis at the end of every day, or every few days. This would account for the ability to exceed the limit.

If the accounting was done in real time there would be a huge amount of traffic passing back and forth across the UTV network.

z

The setting would or should have been in affect as I have it set to this for a long time now. So that cancells out that possibility.

The fact is I logged in on the 31st March and could access the Net even though my total download read about 9.4 gig.

Since I had downloaded 9.4gig at that time and my cap choice (8 gig) should have kicked in. So I thought I would not have had access.

Will check it out if they bill me. I might have a case though that the cap did not kick in.

The reason they say that they would suspend the account if you are persistently over the download allowance is that you are sharing the bandwidth with 48 other customers (I think the UTV internet contention ratio is 1:48). Therefore, if you are constantly downloading large files, you are slowing down everyone elses connection speeds and it could lead to complaints from others to UTV.

They would then suggest that you switch to a (more expensive) account with a lower contention ratio and higher download speeds and allowance.

BTW eircom have just increased they're download allowance to 20G for the basic package and the download speed is 2MB. As you say - roll on Smart (3MB download and contention ratio of 1:4)

Will check it out if they bill me. I might have a case though that the cap did not kick in.

Click to expand...

Honestly don't think you have any case - the contract clearly states that you have an allowance and if you exceed it you will be charged, not that they will stop you downloading at that point.