CAP usage - how ?

[The Cosmos]

I'm new here, so apologies for if this has been covered.

I was just wondering how your CAP is used ? Downloads are obvious, but what i'm trying to get it are websites. How do they use the cap ? And chatting ?

How does chatting and website affect the CAP, and by what amount ?

Are there any graphs or figures i can look at ?

Reason i'm asking because i don't want to have a situation where i spend say one whole week (as an example) just browing sites, for information purposes, and my cap gets used up quickly. If i have some idea, i can wangle it so, that i can be conservative on some aspects of my internet time.

Thanks a stack !

For interest sake, i'm thinking of applying for 1 GB CAP.

 

[Lordbal]

Download and Upload both count towards your cap. Chatting and viewing low content websites wont affect your cap that much, but if you like to game and view video sites like Youtube your cap will be affected much more.

 

[HaltAndCatchFire]

Just browsing and reading mail will not take away that much of your cap, the 1gb package you are planning to use will, basically only be good for doing just that.
Anything more like mentioned by Lordbal, gaming and video streaming will eat your cap! Another thing to consider is the line you have or will have, having a 1gb cap on a 384kbps line, for browsing and chatting and reading mail will be sufficient, but if you have a faster line say 4mbps your cap will be used up far quicker, and you will be tempted to download stuff and do nice things like video streaming.

So keep it in mind when you apply for your account. Some ISP's will probably be able to give you a 3gig acount at the price of some other isp's 1gig acount, so checkout www.hellkom.co.za for the isp with the best offering for your needs.

Hope it helps.

 

[SlowHands]

Any traffic in or out of your pc counts towards your cap. Don't be fooled, e-mail also count, but doesn't have that big effect.

Get DU Meter, http://www.dumeter.com/download.php , this will help you manage your usage better.

Regards

 

[edc]

I use Firefox and the extension adblock plus to block ads from well known sites, I have to customize the filter for news24.co.za and so. Just blocking huge banner ads will save you 200MB or so on a 3G cap.

 

[bwana]

Everything you do on the net counts towards your count.

My missus has a 1gb payg account that has thus far lasted her 4 months but she just checks email and does some browsing - on the other hand I exceed 1gb per day. The 1gb unshaped payg account that I use exclusively for skype also lasted close to four months.

 

[bekdik]

Any traffic in or out of your pc counts towards your cap. Don't be fooled, e-mail also count, but doesn't have that big effect.

Unless you get a lot of email with 3MB attachments. It can add up!