Ask Our Expert

Online gaming data usage

Our Broadband Expert says...

Hi David, the amount of data that online games will use all depends on what game you’re playing and whether you’re playing a PC game or using your PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii to go online.

For example, there could be a big difference in the amount of data downloaded during a one-on-one online fight on boxing game FaceBreaker, compared to a 20-player session on Call of Duty: World at War.

Saying that, average downloads should be no more than around 50Mb an hour, no matter which console you’re using.

Track your downloads

The best way to make sure that you don’t exceed your monthly download limit is to keep an eye on your downloads. Install our free Broadband Download Monitor which allows you to track how much you’ve downloaded over the course of the month, and even lets you set alarms so that you never exceed your limit.

Gamers’ tariffs

If you find that your Orange Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk) download allowance isn’t enough to cover your gaming needs, you could consider switching provider to a new package.

Some providers such as Plusnet Broadband (www.Plus.net) and Freedom2surf (www.Freedom2surf.net) offer packages specifically designed for gamers - with faster connections to gaming servers, low latency and lag and up to 50 per cent less ping.

Plusnet’s Broadband Your Way Pro has been designed with gamers in mind, prioritising all gaming traffic on the up to 8Mb package, with a 15GB monthly download allowance - though more data can be added if needed - free usage between midnight and 8am and a free wireless router for £19.55 a month. You can also get a static IP address and turn interleaving off if you need to.

Freedom2surf’s Broadband 4 Gamers tariff, or BB4G as it’s also known, comes with speeds of up to 8Mb, a massive 50GB download allowance and free connection for £24.99 a month. And there’s no throttling on any traffic to Freedom2surf’s gaming servers.

Although Be Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk) doesn’t offer a gamer-specific tariff, all of its customers have the option to “personalise” their broadband connections, choosing from four different settings including a “gaming mode” as well as standard, speed and reliability settings.

These are available on all three of Be’s packages which cost £13.50 a month for the Be Value up to 8Mb package, £17.50 for the Be Unlimited 24Mb package - both of which have upload speeds of up to 1.3Mb - or £21.50 a month for the top Be Pro package with up to 24Mb downloads and up to 2.5Mb uploads. All three packages come with an “unlimited” download allowance, subject to a fair usage policy that has of yet never been applied.

Alternative “free broadband” packages

However, if you want to stick to a “free broadband” package, you could also consider switching to TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk). While it’s not technically a “free broadband” package, TalkTalk’s Essentials tariff, which costs just £6.49 a month plus £10.50 line rental, is still one of the cheapest on the market.

With the standard package you get an up to 8Mb connection, a 40GB download allowance, a free wireless router, unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and anytime calls to 36 international destinations.

You can then add “boosts” to your package at £4 each on a month by month basis. There are six boosts available, including a Speed Boost to push your line as fast as it can go and a Mega Download Boost option to double your download limit to a massive 80GB a month - though it would be very hard to use this up on online gaming alone.

Compare broadband packages

NB Best buy tables (orange background) are always current.

Examples in the text of the article (white background) are correct at time of publication.

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If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at OurExpert@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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