broadband usage

[johnad]

can anyone advise please
i have my 1mb broadband connection with tiscali paying £24.99 per month
i have a 30gb usage cap "but do i need it"
i have had a look at my usage from the tiscali site but the don't give a total for the month but split it into pages last months list was like this

Upload download duration

20,280 mb 190,545 mb 125:44:42
15,989 mb 127,492 mb 152:19:56
21,313 mb 258,170 mb 220:37:00
9,564 mb 77,417 mb 92:53:03
5,961 mb 45,503 mb 101:29:11

this is a typical months usage for me,
they do a broadband connection for £19.99 15gb cap
or £14.99 2gb cap
my computer is mainly used for e-mails online shopping etc
i don't use it to download movies or mp3s
im not sure how to work it all out any help please.

 

[Porker]

Looks like you had the same as me.

If you don't download music and movies then you would probably be better downgrading which you can do online. What I didn't find out though because I couldn't get through to their technical support was whether changing the service signs you up for another 12 months or whether I will get the 1MB upgrade they have promised me a couple of months ago.

 

[pipme]

I am not to sure about the calcs but :-

Are your 'commas' Decimal markers or 'thousands separators' ?

There is a subtle but important difference between total transfers of 772,234 MB and 772.234 MB (up+down loads)
The former, if using a 'thousands separator comma' is approx 754 GB The latter - if the comma is a (foreign) decimal point - has a value of 0.754 GB
Given that you are capped at 30GB I doubt the former, but am not a mind reader, therefore guess if latter of 0.754 GB is the reality then 2GB cap may suite you fine.
The total time monitored was approx 693 hrs, given 1 week of 24/7 is 168 hrs, that equals 4.13 weeks near enough to 4.333 wks average per month.
Ambiguity ..... is such a pain !!

 

[johnad]

whether changing the service signs you up for another 12 months or whether I will get the 1MB upgrade they have promised me a couple of months ago.

i hadn't thought of that, ???
i was thinking of changing to bt but if i do downgrade my tiscali service then i would stay with them but im not really bothered as the broadband service they advertise you can get 1mb for 14.99 2gb cap


i think the separator is a decimal point and not a comma.
i have copy this from the webpage

Totals 15.886 Mb 106.908 Mb 162:02:17

i am just thinking £24.99 per month is a tad expensive
my wireless router is connected all the time even when the computer is off i assume this makes no difference, ?

 

[Srodders]

Just think yourself lucky you don't live on a small island where the telecom provider has a monopoly and all you can get is 512k for £26.99 per month.

 

[pipme]

Do not forget, loads of people with BT are still not on the advertised 2Mb speed...

2. When will this happen?
BT Broadband and BT Yahoo! Broadband will be available as 2Mb packages from 17th February 2005. From this date, we will begin to upgrade all of our existing customers to 2Mb (or the best speed available that their line will support).

BT Broadband Basic will be available as a 1Mb package from 1st April 2005 and we will begin to upgrade all of our BT Broadband Basic customers from mid-March.

3. How long will it take to upgrade all existing customers' lines?
The process to upgrade all existing customers will take around 5 months in total. This is a major programme of network improvement and so, unfortunately, it can't happen overnight. However, we will endeavour to complete the upgrades as quickly as possible.

Just in time for a price hike no doubt !!

 

[ninebob]

Do not forget, loads of people with BT are still not on the advertised 2Mb speed...

I am, it's great!

Personally, I don't see the point in using any other provider. They all "rent" their bandwidth from BT anyway and their prices aren't that much lower. If you have a problem with, say, Tiscali, you have to phone them, they phone BT, um and ahh a bit and eventually sort it.

I briefly had wanadoo broadband (despite advice otherwise on this very forum from AdamW) and although it was cheap, and good when it worked, it was poo when it didn't and had drops in service of days at a time.

BTYahoo- 2mb broadband - that's where I am now and I thoroughly recommend it- just don't install their browser!

 

[pipme]

Our village was quite late in receiving BB .. So I guess we'll be near the back of the 2Mb / best speed for line, free upgrade queue, just hope we are close enough to the exchange to benefit !! ...

I agree, BTYahoo BB has been totally fault free ... Plus pretty good e-mail account service ... a quantity of free directory enquiry searches per month etc .... Have not required any assistance so cannot comment on that part of the service.

 

[Igorian]

I tried to cancel my 2meg BT service cos I saw a cheaper one. BT offered me an extra 30% discount for 3 months, so decided to stay. They said when the 3 months are up, I should phone back and do it again.