Internet Monthly Usage

[joe2812]

Second year of Uni and i'm moving into a newly built house with 4 others.

The phone line hasn't been connected (we believe) and we're definately going to require the 'net in the house.

I was looking at the BT Total Broadband thingies they have and the best is up to 40GB monthly useage.

As someone who has never had a monthly usage limit (always been unlimited), is 40 gig ample for a house of 5 students?

Or do *real* bill payers amongst you know of a better way to do the phone and the net in a rented house?

[OzPax1]

No is the answear to your question. Students like to download all the bandwith hungry things like music,video etc Oh and don't forget online games like World of Warcraft etc. Multiply that by 5 and the allowence will disappear very quickly.

I'd advise that an unlimited bandwith account is used. They don't tend to cost that much more these days anyway, and with 5 of you to split the £20-25 cost of such ADSL or cable connections means the cost is £5/month each ie 2 pints of beer and cheaper than a pocket of condoms! :E

Also get a proper ADSL/CABLE broadband router and NOT a USB jobbie, as as it will make it much easier to share the connection throughout the house. Also forget wireless as the main way of connecting as that will be the path to tears before bedtime. :=


:ok:

[planecrazy.eu]

Hey, i am in the same boat, missed out on halls so i am renting provate, not broadband so i am having to get it. I think i will go for an all in one deal where you can download as much as you want for x per month. I was looking at Tiscali and Wanadoo, both use BT landline i think. I also noticed my website provider does broadband, fasthosts.com...

Dont get limited as i calculated even as a moderate web user i would go over 40gigs, especially watchin clips on youtube and listening to internet radio whilst studying and sending files and pictures n all that...

I think even AOL offer an unlimited package for not too much...

I have decided that i am not going down the cable route, i think if you dont mind the usage limited then TalkTalk look good, you will pay £20 per month for unlimited uk landline calls, line rental and there broadband. Cable is 30 per month for phone, tv and internet, not a bad package really...

[Saab Dastard]

Don't forget that most bb contracts are for a year.

SD

[MightyGem]

Don't forget that most bb contracts are for a year.

Not if you use Virgin Broadband (http://www.virgin.net/internetaccess/broadband/?buspart=296)

[Jet II]

Read the T&C's very carefully - many of these companies that advertise 'unlimited' broadband, Virgin, Tiscali, Wanadoo etc. do nothing of the sort.

What they do have is a 'fair usage policy' which limits your downloads each month. Also some of these deals block access to P2P which is a bit of a killer :E

If you want fully unlimited/unmetered then expect to pay around £30+

Check out adslguide (http://www.adslguide.org.uk/) and ispreview (http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.shtml) for details on each deal.

[ormus55]

ive just installed ntl BB in my daughters shared house, for 3 students. no limit on downloads. with a wireless router. took me 10 minutes to set up.

i use AOL/bt line myself with no limits. an average user will not use more than about 3gb per month.
my stepson uses ntl and hes always dl videos, he uses about 30 gb per month.

[IO540]

40GB may not be enough if you have "kids" around, listening to the radio off the internet (a stupid practice).

Also a lot of the cheap ISPs block some TCP/IP ports...

[joe2812]

We found that Sky now do BB.

We were thinking of the Sky Max BB package, plus basic Sky tv.

The net is £10 pm plus the tv subscription (7.50 for the first few months, 15 quid after).

So at most £25 a month for Sky tv and Unlimited (fair use) BB at up to 16 meg dl speed.

If anyone wants to give it a look - http://broadband.sky.com/flash.htm

Or has any experience with Sky as internet hosts? I gather it's a new thing for them to offer?