Shaw downloading Limit

[MJM]

So I have a question for the internet experts out there. According to shaw, I have a 60 GB a month data transfer limit.

Normally, this wouldn't bother me. However, my wife has gotten bigtime into watching streaming video.

I'm assuming streaming video would would not be considered data transfer because she is not actually physically downloading the content on our computer. Is this a correct assumption.

If not, this woman is watching like two tv shows a night on streaming video, should i be worried?

Thanks,

[Rathji]

It does count at data usage, but you should not be worried. Almost all forms of streaming video are downgraded as to be able to transfer faster than it plays. Very typically they are encoded to flash video, so an hour long show might take 20-60 megs of transfer. Even at 60 megs a shows, it would take about 500 shows to use up your bandwidth. Even if you were watching extremely good quality shows I doubt it would top 200 meg per hour of video.

Even then, Shaw doesn't typically enforce its bandwidth limits unless there is a sever problem (or do they even do that anymore?). I am sure there are posters here who have consumed 60GB a week with torrents and they would probably tell you that they have not heard a peep from Shaw in a long time.

[malcolmk14]

Nothing to worry about.

[cKy]

I download a lot.. i mean, A LOT. Shaw only called me once, I paid for a quick upgrade to put me at extreme and they havent bothered me since.

[Incinerator]

nothing to worry about, there are tons of people who download wayyy more, like Rathji said streaming does not pose a problem at all, you can watch streaming 24/7 and it wouldn't make a dent in your bandwidth limit.

[HelloHockeyFans]

Yeah it's no issue.

But you can tell your wife it is, to cut down on her TV time!

[HOOT]

Is there really that big a difference between normal and extreme internet? Is it worth the $10 or whatever it is if I download a ton and use it for xbox?

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Is there really that big a difference between normal and extreme internet? Is it worth the $10 or whatever it is if I download a ton and use it for xbox?

Yes, yes, yes.

Get Extreme if you can. The speed increase is huge - I like to download and play games, and noticed huge (around 2x) increase in D/L speed. I share internet with 4 other people and haven't noticed slowdown at all with Extreme.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Agreed, Extreme is the way to go. Now, if they would throw us a bone and do something with our upload speeds.

[Coys1882]

Not sure if this is normal or not but I average about 100gigs of data down a month - max I had was 220gigs (hurray for Giganews logs) just from newsgroups. I have never ever had a call from Shaw to ease up and I'm on the basic internet package.

[Azure]

200gigs isn't that much though, at least not in the bigger scheme of things.

I'm sure if someone was downloading a couple thousand gigs per month they would get a call from Shaw.

Also, does anyone know why the heck they limit the upload so much?

[HotHotHeat]

I have trouble playing PS3 online when I'm downloading torrents....Would switching to Xtreme fix that? Sorta annoying to put one on hold to use the other.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Azure

200gigs isn't that much though, at least not in the bigger scheme of things.

I didn't throw out my max download total as a 'whose is bigger' comment - it was more of a point to show that at close to four times their allowable data transfer limit I never received a warning.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I have trouble playing PS3 online when I'm downloading torrents....Would switching to Xtreme fix that? Sorta annoying to put one on hold to use the other.

It might - I've always been of the understanding that you can only download as fast as the source can send it. But your question doesn't really apply to that logic - so it might help open a bottleneck if you've reached your download transfer limit.

Worst case scenario is you try it for a month and see if it works? Someone mentioned earlier it's only $10 more.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I have trouble playing PS3 online when I'm downloading torrents....Would switching to Xtreme fix that? Sorta annoying to put one on hold to use the other.

Extreme might mitigate the problem slightly, but a more effective means would be to make sure your ports for your PS3 and torrent programs are properly assigned in your router, and then turning your torrent upload speed to 10k or less.

Otherwise, the PS3 and torrents are jockeying back and forth for the tiny upload pipe Shaw offers.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Downloading torrents can really bog down a network. I have Extreme and it still runs a tad slow while torrnets are coming in. Game fuel on my router nicely prioritizes incoming packets though, doesn't really affect my gaming much. Anything else doesn't seem to make any difference. I can d/l a large file while my g/f is on skype and still play a game with no lag.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I have trouble playing PS3 online when I'm downloading torrents....Would switching to Xtreme fix that? Sorta annoying to put one on hold to use the other.

Not fix, but it would slightly improve... probably not enough to 100% enjoy gaming online. You'll still notice lag.

[ikaris]

Originally Posted by Azure

Also, does anyone know why the heck they limit the upload so much?

It's because there is less spectrum available in the upstream direction and they are using a lower modulation profile.

Essentially the DOCSIS technology is limited in this way, although with the newest iteration, there is channel bonding which allows for much greater throughput and efficient utilization of spectrum.