Broadband Guide

Top tips for downloaders

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If you want to make the most of music and movie downloads and internet TV services like the BBC iPlayer and Channel 4’s 4oD, then you need to make sure you don’t end up with a big bill or a slow connection because you’ve exceeded your download limit or fair usage policy.

Set downloads or fair usage?

Broadband packages either have a set download limit, so that you know exactly how much you can download each month, or are advertised as “unlimited broadband”. However, as most people now know, “unlimited” rarely means unlimited. You’ll have a fair usage policy attached to your package, and depending on your provider, you could have your download speed throttled, be upgraded to a more appropriate - and more expensive - package, or even have your service terminated if you regularly exceed your fair usage limit.

Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com) removed the fair usage policy from its Max Broadband package, which comes with speeds of up to 16Mb, in 2008 - making it one of the only truly unlimited consumer packages around.

Customers with set download limits will be charged for additional usage if they exceed their monthly allowance. Costs vary but £1.96 per GB with Madasafish Broadband (www.Madasafish.com) or £1.22 per GB with Eclipse Broadband (www.Eclipse.net.uk).

Before you go mad with your downloads, check the small print on your contract to see what kind of package you have.

Pick the right ISP

Some providers, like Be Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk) and O2 Broadband (www.O2.co.uk), are designed with heavy downloaders in mind. Although their packages come with “unlimited” downloads and fair usage policies, both ISPs are generous with their allowances and rarely enforce restrictions.

Be offers speeds of up to 24Mb and O2 offers speeds of up to 20Mb. Be customers can also personalise their broadband, prioritising web surfing, speed, reliability or online gaming.

Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) is also a great choice if you’re after a superfast broadband connection. The cable provider currently offers the UK’s fastest headline rates with speeds of up to 50Mb.

Download at night

Traffic shaping, which slows down your connection and therefore your downloads, is applied by many providers during peak hours. So if you can do your downloading at night - usually from midnight onwards - your music and movie files will download a lot quicker.

You might even be able to set programs to start downloading after a delay so that you don’t have to wait up to do it.

Some packages like Plusnet Broadband's (www.Plus.net) Pro plan, offer free overnight downloading, so it won’t come out of your monthly allowance.

Turn off your peer-to-peer

Programs like the BBC iPlayer, Channel 4’s 4oD and the Sky Player, use peer-to-peer software to share files faster between users. However, with many of these programs, if you simply close them, they will continue to run in the background uploading files to the sharing network.

This not only slows your computer down but will also eat away at your download allowance as uploading also counts against your usage limit.

Make sure that you fully exit the program each time you close it, and use your task manager to check that it’s not running any more. You can also change the settings in the download manager of each program to ensure that it doesn’t automatically start up when you turn on your PC or stay connected to the peer-to-peer network after you’ve exited.

Track your usage

If you have a set download limit, or you’re concerned about exceeding your fair usage allowance, then installing the free BroadbandChoices.co.uk Broadband Download Monitor is a great way of tracking your downloads and you can even set alarms to alert you as you near your limit.

If you’re using a home network and downloading on more than one computer you’ll have to install it on each computer and add up the usage.

Take a quick broadband speed test

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