Broadband Guide

Top tips for downloaders

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If you want to make the most of music and movie downloads, high-definition gaming 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.

A Broadbandchoices.co.uk study in 2010 found that 20% of consumers had no idea what their download limit or fair usage policy was, while more than 40% did not know how much they downloaded each month - highlighting the need to get the right package, especially if you're a heavy downloader.

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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 increasing numbers of people are realising, “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 in rare cases even have your service terminated if you regularly exceed your fair usage limit.

But in the same way that different packages and providers offer different set download allowances, some fair usage packages are more generous than others.

Pick the right ISP

Sky Broadband's (www.Sky.com) Unlimited package, which comes with speeds of up to 20Mb broadband, is one of the UK’s only truly unlimited packages - with no set download allowance or fair usage policy.

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

Superfast broadband packages

If you want to take your downloading to the next level, try one of the next generation fibre optic broadband packages now available.

Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) is a great choice for downloaders. Its superfast 50Mb broadband package - the fastest, widely available broadband package in the UK - comes with unlimited downloads and no traffic management.

On top of this, the cable provider is also planning to launch an even faster, 100Mb package in 2010. And even though its 10Mb and 20Mb broadband packages are traffic managed, it offers faster, more reliable actual speeds than many of its copper wire ADSL competitors.

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.

At the start of 2010, BT Broadband (www.BT.com) launched its Infinity Broadband fibre optic packages at speeds of up to 40Mb broadband. It offers two packages; Option 1 comes with a 20GB download allowance - so customers need to be careful as it superfast broadband speeds make it even easier to exceed your limit; Option 2 comes with “unlimited” downloads, subject to a fair usage policy.

BT also upgraded its ADSL network to speeds of up to 20Mb in summer 2009, offering customers a free speed boost if they agreed to recontract.

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 or automatically shut down your PC once downloads have finished.

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 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 definitely not running. 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 to see how your provider performs.

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