BT Broadband usage meter

Has anyone else had unusual results from the BT usage meter?
My monthly usage average is under 30GB and that is mostly (75% or more) download. This month, for various reasons, my computer has been used a lot less than normal and today my total download for May is below 7GB. However, sometime in the last couple of weeks, my upload has shot up to over 30GB for no apparent reason. I supected some kind of nefarious activity even though I am well protected by Kaspersky and regular use of malware-seeking programs. To further add to the mystery, the meter on my Home Hub shows that I have transmitted only 3.6 GB in the last 9 days (presumably since it was last switched off a;though I do not recall doing so as I have been trying to keep it on permanently following a tip I saw on this forum about improving exchange to house speed).
Any suggestions would be welcome.

Most versions of Home Hub reset the transmitted and received data values to 0 when they reach 4.3Gb withhout resetting the connection time.
If you contact BT Helpdesk they will be able to give you the data transmitted and received values for the last 31 days which will confirm whether the Home Hub values have been reset. ( If they say they cannot do it ask for a supervisor)
It is advisable to record the Data values from the Home Hub on at least a daily basis in order to check the online Broadband Usage meter.

Similar Messages

Broadband Usage Meter unavailable

The broadband usage meter on the BT website refuses to show my usage, on the basis that, as I have unlimited broadband, I don't need to know.
Is there any way I can find out my usage? Just because I'm on an unlimited contract does not mean I am not interested in my usage.

Follow the instructions in message 47 in this thread , you will only be given total usage with no analysis https://community.bt.com/t5/Bills-Packages/Unable-to-see-broadband-usage-if-on-unlimited/m-p/1400811...

BT Broadband Usage meter removed by BT

I noticed yesterday that the BB usaged meter was missing, it was there 2 days prior. I spoke with BT and a fault was registered but today received an e-mail saying
"PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BROADBAND USAGE METER FUNCTIONALITY IS NOT AVAILABLE IN BT AS PER DESIGN"
I thought this was a misunderstanding and spoke with BT this morning and they confirmed that it has been permenantly removed. This was a great tool which enabled me and I am sure other customers to managed their usaged if they are set at either 10 or 40gb.
Has anyone else noticed the BB usaged meter missing which they agree should be returned ?
BT PLEASE BRING THE USAGE METER BACK

Travelusa wrote:
Great you have lost yours I have just got mine to show.
First time ever
Ah, so you've nicked halestone's...
Could you give it back?
edit. @ halestone
All I can suggest is you keep checking. If it doesn't come back, email the forum mods - [email protected] - with your name, account number and a link to this thread. They should get this sorted out for you. Give them 72 hours to reply as they are currently very busy.
-+-No longer a forum member-+-

Broadband usage meter for BT users

How do I use the broadband usage monitor?
What information is being displayed?
The monitor is designed to show you all the usage that has been downloaded and uploaded over your broadband connection for the current month. This will help you to see how much of your monthly usage allowance has been used and how much there is remaining. The monitor only includes usage which counts towards your allowance; traffic from services such as BB talk and the BT Vision video store, is discounted from your total.
The monitor also helps you to manage your usage by displaying three different views to indicate the current status your usage:
If the slider is green then, at the last update, you were within your usage allowance.
If the slider is yellow then, at the last update, you were within your monthly usage allowance but there is a chance you might go over before the end of the month.
If the slider is red then, at the last update, you had already gone above your usage allowance and you may be subject to charges as outlined in our Fair Usage Policy.
If you are on an unlimited product then you will never be charged for additional usage. The usage data will be displayed in blue for all customers who have an unlimited monthly usage allowance, subject to the Fair Usage Policy.
If you are finding that your current usage allowance is not meeting your needs, then you might want to consider upgrading to one of our broadband options with a higher usage allowance. To find out more please see; How can I increase my usage allowance?
How do I access the usage monitor?
You can access the usage monitor through your My BT online account at any time. In the product section of My BT there is a 'View my broadband usage' link, click this link to open the usage monitor.
When is usage information updated?
The usage displayed on the monitor is scheduled to update every 24 hours. To help you keep track of the updates, the time and date of the last update are displayed on the left hand side of the page.
What if I have more than one billing account?
If you have multiple broadband accounts it is important to check that the right account is selected in your My BT page. You can change which account is selected using the drop down list on the homepage.
Troubleshooting - Why isn't the monitor displaying correctly?
If you are having problems accessing the monitor it may be because:
You do not have a My BT account set-up.
The usage monitor is undergoing maintenance. If this happens we will display a service message informing when the monitor will be available again.
The service is busy. In the rare event that this happens a service message will be displayed to inform you. Try again at a later time to access the monitor.
The monitor is not displaying correctly. It may be that you need to adjust your browser settings in order for the monitor to display correctly. Alternatively the device you are using to access the monitor may not be supported. Try accessing the monitor from your PC.
Summary:
The usage monitor helps you to manage your usage by showing how much of your monthly usage allowance has been used and how much is remaining each month.
The monitor is accessed through the My BT online account. You may need to register for this service.
Usage is updated on the monitor every 24 hours.
It is important to make sure the correct billing account is selected in My BT to ensure the right usage data is displayed. The telephone number of the broadband line is displayed on the monitor.
There may be some occasions when the monitor doesn't display correctly, please see the troubleshooting section to address these.

mehtdosa11 wrote:
hi andy,
thanks for you reply, some usefull links there..
i just noticed a reply you made to another post..
"suggested keeping a daily figure from the BT online meter, and I was also going to suggest that you perhaps look at the hub stats for up/downloads too."
how do you look at the hub stats? as i would like to know this info. accordibng to bt i've used 52.18gb since 4th november..
Hi again.
On my hub 2, type A - log into it, typically http://192.168.1.254/ or http://api.home. The Settings (enter your hub password). Advanced settings/Continue to ..... and click the Broadband link. I'm sure there's a simpler way, but that's how I do it (albeit infrequently). You then get a Data transmitted line giving up/downloads.
That figure may well contain things like BTVision access, BBTalk and other items that are not included in the overall usage.
However the hub stats will not be based on the connection time shown above, but possibly on a hub reset. I've not not really checked this, but other folk will know.
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/pictures

Broadband usage meter not visible

Hi
Upgraded to 40Gig usage broadband a few weeks ago but usage meter still not visible. Was OK when I was on 10Gig usage.
Mustafalot

Thank you BT. All sorted now.

BT Broadband Usage Meter : Wildly Innacurate ?

Hi All,
I am new here so please excuse me if I have posted this message in the wrong place !
I have been a BT Broadband Customer for many years, and after being on BT Total Broadband Option 2 for quite a while, I was told about 12 months ago by BT themselves that my usage was so low that I could easily drop to "Option 1" which they kindly did for me.
All has been ok and I have not exceeded my 10Gb quota, since I was dropped to that level, UNTIL LAST MONTH ! I got the usual email from BT warning me on 24th November, that I had used 7Gb of my 10Gb allowance. I wasnt duly alarmed by this as I new there was only a week left till the end of the month when I would get my new allowance. HOWEVER, imagine my horror when on 7th December, I get another email saying that last month I EXCEEDED my 10Gb allowance, and in fact had used 20GB !!! So they were stating that in the last 7 days of November I had alledgedly downloaded a massive 13GB of data. And furthermore my December download allowance was again, being eaten up at a ridiculous rate.
I found this unbelievable as my interent surfing habits have not changed significantly in the last year. I dont ever download movies, or audio, and any video clips I watch are only a few minutes long.
So what the **bleep** is going on ? I phoned BT but as their call centre is in India it was difficult to explain. I was advised to carry out a test and stay off the net altogether for 24 hours and then re-check my usage. This I did, and sure enough my usage HAD NOT increased. But, when I AM online, even just checking emails and browsing the net, all of a sudden my usage appears to be rocketing??
I have a laptop and a desktop PC but always try to only have one on at any one time.
Can anyone tell me how I can prove to BT that I am not downloading anywhere NEAR the amount of data that they say I am ? And does anyone have a DIRECT PHONE NUMBER to contact the right department with my concern ?
Thanks in Advance !
Derek

shinymac wrote:
Hi All,
I am new here so please excuse me if I have posted this message in the wrong place !
I have been a BT Broadband Customer for many years, and after being on BT Total Broadband Option 2 for quite a while, I was told about 12 months ago by BT themselves that my usage was so low that I could easily drop to "Option 1" which they kindly did for me.
All has been ok and I have not exceeded my 10Gb quota, since I was dropped to that level, UNTIL LAST MONTH ! I got the usual email from BT warning me on 24th November, that I had used 7Gb of my 10Gb allowance. I wasnt duly alarmed by this as I new there was only a week left till the end of the month when I would get my new allowance. HOWEVER, imagine my horror when on 7th December, I get another email saying that last month I EXCEEDED my 10Gb allowance, and in fact had used 20GB !!! So they were stating that in the last 7 days of November I had alledgedly downloaded a massive 13GB of data. And furthermore my December download allowance was again, being eaten up at a ridiculous rate.
I found this unbelievable as my interent surfing habits have not changed significantly in the last year. I dont ever download movies, or audio, and any video clips I watch are only a few minutes long.
So what the **bleep** is going on ? I phoned BT but as their call centre is in India it was difficult to explain. I was advised to carry out a test and stay off the net altogether for 24 hours and then re-check my usage. This I did, and sure enough my usage HAD NOT increased. But, when I AM online, even just checking emails and browsing the net, all of a sudden my usage appears to be rocketing??
I have a laptop and a desktop PC but always try to only have one on at any one time.
Can anyone tell me how I can prove to BT that I am not downloading anywhere NEAR the amount of data that they say I am ? And does anyone have a DIRECT PHONE NUMBER to contact the right department with my concern ?
Thanks in Advance !
Derek
Hi Derek. Welcome to the forums.
Have you checked your usage using the online meter (the readin up to a day in arrears) - see my shortcuts (link below) options 14d-14g, hopefully one will work for you.
Have you been using Skype video chat for example, facebook applications, tv catchup, online gaming ?
Don't forget, it's not only downloads that count - uploads are also included.
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/pictures

Broadband usage monitor

I have also experienced the excessive BT broadband usage. I opted for option 1 because I have no interest in downloading Video's/music, apart from reading both BBC and Sky news the only other use is my wife using the online facebook game.
I received an email from BT last month saying i had reached 7GB of my 10 GB usage and just cant figure out why
I have downloaded a usage monitor which greatly differs from BT's own monitor,
What I would like to ask is, does the monitor I downloaded only monitor what is open on my desktop, 2 whould there be a differnce between High Speed Broadband and those who's broadband is connected via telephone line.
if this is the case as i suspect, then someone downloading a file on high speed whould use less bandwidth than someone downloading on slow speed. look at it as sending a fax, it may cost 10p to send a fax on a cheap machine but to send the same sheet on a quality machine may cost 6p, I dont no?

Deke wrote:
I have also experienced the excessive BT broadband usage. I opted for option 1 because I have no interest in downloading Video's/music, apart from reading both BBC and Sky news the only other use is my wife using the online facebook game.
I received an email from BT last month saying i had reached 7GB of my 10 GB usage and just cant figure out why
I have downloaded a usage monitor which greatly differs from BT's own monitor,
What I would like to ask is, does the monitor I downloaded only monitor what is open on my desktop, 2 whould there be a differnce between High Speed Broadband and those who's broadband is connected via telephone line.
if this is the case as i suspect, then someone downloading a file on high speed whould use less bandwidth than someone downloading on slow speed. look at it as sending a fax, it may cost 10p to send a fax on a cheap machine but to send the same sheet on a quality machine may cost 6p, I dont no?
Hi. Welcome to the forums.
You say you received an email last month for reaching 7GB - that was for April.
May I ask what usage monitor you are using, and how does it compare with your current May usage online meter from BT ?
The downloaded monitor will only record what that particular computer is using (won't include other computers, games consoles, mobiles and TVs etc). And then there are various settings in different programs to cater for usage within a home network etc.
What Facebook game is being used may I ask? Some of these applications can use many 100s of MB per day, so this alone could account for a lot of the usage.
There should be no difference between any "high speed" user and standard ADSL in terms of usage. In your example of downloading a file. The high speed (e.g. fibre) user will use exactly the same data content as a person on a slower connection. The speed is irrelevant with regard to how much is being used.
You can't compare with a fax machine, because typically these used normal phone lines which are charged on a timed usage - so the longer the call, the dearer the cost. In your example it could actually be dearer to use a quality fax machine, because it may take longer to send a higher quality copy.
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/pictures

Broadband Usage - "unusual" spikes in our usage

In May we received a "warning" email from BT about our usage - and being fairly new to BT broadband I started to investigate the usage meter. As far as I can tell the ONLY way for me to see daily usage is for ME to log on daily and manually record the previous days total.
I called BT and they told me that due to data protection law they are unable to provide me with any detail about our usage, apart from the running total.
Not happy about this I made a complaint, and got put through to a chap who was able to tell me that in the previous week we had 1 days usage of 12GB and another of 5GB. Our totals for the previous 2 monthly were 19GB and 21GB respectively.
Our total for May was about 41GB (i.e. about 1 GB over our contract)
We do not watch TV on line
We do not stream music
We do not "game" on line
We do email, internet searches and download podcasts (and have done this for years).
So the question is why are BT unable to provide ANY detaild data about broadband usage. They are able to record daily usage but why can't I see it?
Has anyone any ideas or suggestions about how to deal with this thorny issue with BT. You wouldn't go to a petrol station and pay for a full tank without knowing how much fuel you'd out it!!
Thanks.

The data protection reference is cobblers. If there was anything in it how would Plusnet (owned by BT!) be able to provide all the detail you need in their usage monitor? Your question should not be why are BT unable to provide more detail, but why are they failing to.
If this is the first time you've exceeded your limit you won't be charged. Quite a few people have questioned alleged increeases in their usage lately and there have been reports of successful challenges to BT. Best thing is to keep an eye on it and report back here if further problems seem to be in the offing.
You can click the white star next to this message if you think it was helpful.

I've found a way to get to the usage meter

I'm still getting the 'bundle' error like everyone else trying to check usage, but by checking my phone bill usage and then clicking on the broadband tab, and selecting "view your broadband usage" I get to the usage meter which seems up to date (ie showing data for 23.59 on 9/12/12).

That was introduced in iOS 5 and is clearly described in the iPod Users Guide. For iOS 4 or less you still have to connect the iPod to your computer and unsynce them.

Where has the usage meter gone?

Hi all,
I usually check on how much of my broadband allowance I have used on a daily basis. However when I have logged in today, the option to do so has vanished.
Would some kind soul please explain what has happened?
Many thanks

HTFC wrote:
Never mind, both internet explorer and Firefox open different versions of the same page!
Go figure!!
Hi.
Welcome to the forums.
My shortcuts has two different links to the usage meter - options 14d & 14e. At least one of them should work.
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/pictures

Broadband usage monitor lies!!!

I gather this topic might be a bit of a dead horse but i'm beyond frustrated. Signed up to Option 2 Broadband Sept 12. Recieve an e-mail Oct 16 stating I have used 32gb of my 40gb monthly allowance. Checked online usage monitor on Oct 21 which showed I had used 41.84gb. Swithed off computer & I pod & router for 24 hours then checked usage monitor which now showed 43.4gb.
At this point, I should add that only 2 of us live in this house, we don't download music or movies, only using the internet for browsing & checking e-mails. We both work full time, not getting home till 7pm. Disregarding the obviously fictional figure of 41.84gb, the jump to 43.4gb is inaccurate as no-one used the internet in that time. The password is stupidly complicated so impossible to guess. There are only 2 people with access to it.
I have been round the houses on the phone trying to speak to the customer help who have been useless. Been on the phone for 3 days speaking to help desk, technical team, cancellation team. I was told the matter was escalated to level 2 (whatever that means) and eventually was told my phone line was being tested/monitored for 24hours and I would be called back after 48hours with answers.
Everytime I phone back, I'm met with the same 'Oh, we can see you've gone over your monthly limit but we can upgrade you....') (I wonder why).
I'm more than happy to cancel but BT are trying to hold me ransom to a cancellation fee of 270 pounds. On principle, why should I pay that??? I'm just about ready to go to Ofcom as BT can't seem to get their act together. Does anyone else have any ideas on any other solutions?

ssp wrote:
I gather this topic might be a bit of a dead horse but i'm beyond frustrated. Signed up to Option 2 Broadband Sept 12. Recieve an e-mail Oct 16 stating I have used 32gb of my 40gb monthly allowance. Checked online usage monitor on Oct 21 which showed I had used 41.84gb. Swithed off computer & I pod & router for 24 hours then checked usage monitor which now showed 43.4gb.
At this point, I should add that only 2 of us live in this house, we don't download music or movies, only using the internet for browsing & checking e-mails. We both work full time, not getting home till 7pm. Disregarding the obviously fictional figure of 41.84gb, the jump to 43.4gb is inaccurate as no-one used the internet in that time. The password is stupidly complicated so impossible to guess. There are only 2 people with access to it.
I have been round the houses on the phone trying to speak to the customer help who have been useless. Been on the phone for 3 days speaking to help desk, technical team, cancellation team. I was told the matter was escalated to level 2 (whatever that means) and eventually was told my phone line was being tested/monitored for 24hours and I would be called back after 48hours with answers.
Everytime I phone back, I'm met with the same 'Oh, we can see you've gone over your monthly limit but we can upgrade you....') (I wonder why).
I'm more than happy to cancel but BT are trying to hold me ransom to a cancellation fee of 270 pounds. On principle, why should I pay that??? I'm just about ready to go to Ofcom as BT can't seem to get their act together. Does anyone else have any ideas on any other solutions?
Hi. Welcome to the forums.
Just for info, the online usage meter is not real time, so it's likely that when you turned off your router for 24 hours, there was still usage for the time from midnight to when you turned it off. That usage will show on the meter the following day. You will notice that the meter shows the day before at 23:59. That probably accounts for the discrepancy there.
As for the amount you're using, can you say if you're using any form of catchup TV, games downloads or Skype video chat ?
I hope you don't mind me asking about your iPod usage (do you mean iPhone or iPad ?) ?
My usage is very low, and despite doing a few large downloads, my current usage is only 13.9GB - and in general much less than 6GB per month. General browsing and emails will be a very small amount of usage.
You may have read other forum reports, in that there have been a fair few new connections with huge initial usage meter readings. I have not seen any feedback to explain this, whether it was the user who had not included certain usage and only considered downloads (for example streaming TV of around 1GB/hour may not have been thought of as download), or that the was a meter fault at the beginning of their initial service.
I still think it's an avenue that hasn't been properly investigated.
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/pictures

Broadband usage extraordinarily high

My broadband usage seems to have gone through the roof over the past few months without any great change in what we do with the internet. Granted we have a lot of tech connected to the WiFi but I can't see that what we do should be sucking up so much data. We were on the standard BT Broadband with a 40GB allowance which seemed to be quite adequate, in that I never got an email from BT about charges. Recently we chanegd to BT Infinity with the same 40GB allowance and suddenly usage has gone mad, over 80GB for each of the last 2 months.
We have:
2 laptops: One of these is used pretty much constantly by our daughter for Youtube, Facebook and email after school, so maybe 4 hours usage in the evening. Once or twice a week we'd watch BBC iPlayer or 4OD for up to an hour in bed. The other laptop is only used intermittently and then usually to play Minecraft and a bit of Youtube.
1 desktop: I play World Of Tanks on this for maybe 10 hours max in a week. Usually it's a struggle to get near it when there are 3 boys who constantly want to play Minecraft on it and then watch Youtube videos on it (about **bleep** Minecraft). The desktop would be on from 4:30pm - 10:30pm during the week and about the same length of time daily at the weekends (I do kick them out to the street occasionally!)
2 XBoxes: I is mine and is used very seldom and rarely online. The other is used by the kids but the only online stuff is Fifa 11 by one of the boys. Even at his worst this would be maybe 20 hours a week online.
2 iPhones: We download email and occasionally surf the odd page. I tend to download apps and updates at work and my fiancee rarely downloads new apps.
BT Vision box (which doesn't count towards the usage).
Currently the usage meter stands at 77GB and we're only 3 weeks into September so we seem to be on course for 100GB or more this month. The kids are back at school so computers don't get switched on till at least 4:30 and they're all off by 10:30 at the very latest. Also there's a hiatus for homework and dinner so they aren't on constantly. We don't use Skype or uTorrent so I'm baffled as to how we're using what must be 3GB per day!
I've seen stats that said 1 hour of XBox gaming is about 20MB and I'm assuming similar stats for PC multiplayer gaming. Even if I double the estimates of our XBox and PC gaming that's still only 1.2GB in a week!
Constant watching on Youtube is supposed to be around 100MB an hour if you allow for searching time. Even if our daughter was doing nothing else but Youtube every evening that's still only about 0.5GB a day. The boys occasionally interrupt their Minecraft playing to watch a Youtube video (about Minecraft!) but you'd struggle to see Youtube using up 1GB a day.
I guess that leaves our BBC iPlayer and 4OD watching. Possibly this is the culprit at 500MB per hour but we don't watch it every night and usually it's only 1 show which tends to be 30 minutes long. Even 1 hour a night would only add 0.5 GB to our daily total.
We do watch iPlayer via BT Vision but again that's not every night and BT Vision isn't meant to count towards your usage rate.
So adding up an overestimated account of our daily usage:
Youtube: 0.75 GB
iPlayer: 0.5 GB
Gaming: 0.2 GB
That's roughly 1.5GB a day or 45GB a month. Throw in a few Windows and virus updates, a World of Tanks update and some Minecraft texture packs or whatever and you could push that to 50GB a month, but not 80GB and certainly not 100GB.
One evening last week Networx showed that the desktop had downloaded 1.2GB but it had only been on for a hour and our daughter swore blind she'd only watched some Youtube videos.
I use BT's Netprotect Plus and downloaded Trend Micro's Housecall to search for viruses but they didn't find anything. I'm wondering if there's something on one of my PCs that they didn't detect? Is there a difficult to detect rootkit on them or some kind of bot infestation? Are my estimates wrong? Do I need to ban Youtube in my house?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

HI Do not forget uploads are also included in your usage allowance also facebook any social media gaming on face book can use up to 200+ mb per hour also possibly a little extra usage during the schol holidays soon mounts up
If you want to say thanks for a helpful answer,please click on the Ratings star on the left-hand side If the reply answers your question then please mark as ’Mark as Accepted Solution’

Broadband Usage Calculator.

After receiving a BT alert about my unexpectedly high BB usage, I installed Surplus Meter. I received another BT alert today 10.7.11, stating I had used 7 of the 10 GB allowance!!!!!! Shock horror. To make matters worse, my Surplus Meter records that this month's usage so far is, 741.0 MB and I have 9499.0MB left of my 10 GB monthly allowance as against the BT meter.
Can anyone shed some light and provide an explanation as to why there should be such a discrepancy between the two meters?

slan45 wrote:
Just received a similar message... How do I check how much I am using.... All the info I get suggests my usage is well below what BT say ?
Hi.
Log in MY BT, click on MY Services, then on the left hand side click on Broadband. Down near the botton it says View Your Broadband Usage.
toekneem
http://www.no2nuisancecalls.net
(EASBF)

Does BT Sport count towards my broadband usage?

Am I right in assuming that BT Sport is not like BT TV which doesn't count towards broadband usage. BT Sport could make a significant difference in my usage.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Watching BT Sport on the online player or app shouldn't count towards your data usage cap. I would keep an eye on your usage meter this month just to check BT have set things up correctly though.
See http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/45884/c/348,6604,6605

Snow Leopard's High Level of Broadband Usage

Has anyone else experienced and/or resolved the issues of a high level of ISP-metered broadband usage using a Mac running Snow Leopard? Not only have I seen this with my own eyes, this has been widely reported and discussed in the Apple Forums and other sites. As recommended, I have installed Surplus Meter and Little Snitch, un-sync'd everything I can find and changed IMAP e-mail accounts to POPs (except for AOL, because I cant find the settings anywhere). SL still uses a great amount of broadband because it is constantly using mDNSResponder to broadcast the Mac's presence, apparently as part of a virtual network. Apple Support was initially helpful then would not get back to me on this issue.
Metering is going to spread beyond broadband cards and isolated ISPs. SL and related Apple products apparently create more broadband use. That's what the recent AT&T trial balloon, re iPhone limitations was about.
SL's Bonjour use appears to add usage and Safari refreshes constantly, creating more usage. Apple would be well served by addressing this issue by providing the user with a software switch that would shut off the high usage apps when attached to a metered broadband.
Has anyone found such an app? Has anyone found a Mac broadband log/meter that saves to a file to compare against the ISP's calculations of usage? Has anyone set up an AOL POP account? Thank you.

Hello and Welcome,
NJEsq wrote: "Has anyone set up an AOL POP account?"
AOL is... "not well regarded" here or anyplace where there are people knowledgeable in matters of personal computer and internet use. I believe others responding to your questions have already questioned whether your ISP (i.e., AOL) is playing straight with you IF as indicated by your statements, AOL is telling you that your Mac and OS 10.6.x are exceeding their limit on usage.
You evidently don't know that AOL has, from its earliest days, played this game wherein they sell what is claimed to be "complete" Internet access but then put limits on your access and use. You should know that they "for your protection" put you behind their firewall and that's how they keep such close track of your usage.
Including myself, I've known a lot of people who start out going through what might be called the "AOL Phase" but soon learn there are far better choices among ISPs. To put it politely, when these folks discover this they FLEE to the better ISPs.
So, despite your impression, such limits are not likely to spread beyond ISPs like AOL, regardless of what they have told you or what you may have heard. Macs and OS X are NOT (suddenly!) some abnormal broadband gobbling phenomenon.
Your mention of the supposed effect of iPhones on broadband brings up another thing: what you say is ONE way of perceiving what's going on. The actual truth is that iPhones did become part of a trend which puts greater demand on ISP / telecom providers. - But so do a lot of devices and that includes automobiles with the "On Star" type crash detection and crash response systems. But the iPhone (and its competitors) did NOT "start" this trend - not by a long shot.
Basically, what you've been told is just... BS!

BT Broadband usage meter

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for