Ask Our Expert

Fair Usage - Ask Our Expert

If you have a broadband question, why not write to our Broadband Expert, Michael Phillips, at OurExpert@BroadbandChoices.co.uk

Q ~ Dear Michael,

A few months back I installed a wireless router at home so that my family, including three teenagers, could use our unlimited broadband package at the same time.

This month I received a letter from my provider saying that I had “exceeded the limits” of their fair usage policy. I had thought that “unlimited” meant unlimited but it seems that I was wrong.

I don’t want to have to restrict my children’s use of the internet but I don’t want to receive any more letters like this.

Are there any truly unlimited packages available, and what will they set me back?

Margaret Aouati, via email

Our expert says...

Unfortunately increasing numbers of people are finding that they have breached their fair usage agreement on an “unlimited” package - many of whom didn’t even realise such limits applied to them.

Fair usage applies so that cyber traffic is kept down at peak times, ensuring that everyone sharing the same connection - up to 50 people at a time - will all have a good user experience. But as we all increase our downloading and make use of sites like YouTube, the amount we download each month in going up.

Still, to exceed most fair usage policies you would have to be downloading a lot of data each month - you might want to look at the kid’s internet usage.

However, there have been complaints about the use of the term “unlimited” when referring to packages that do have a fair usage policy. These policies do vary so you should contact your supplier who should be able to advise you on how to avoid exceeding it.

If your combined family downloading continues to exceed the policy limits you should consider upgrading to a larger package, which you may be asked to do anyway.

While you might find a niche supplier that offers a truly unlimited package but none of the mainstream ISPs do. You’d be better off working out how much you download in a month - you can do this with our Broadband Download Monitor - and going for a more expensive, capped plan, or trying to reduce your downloading.