Very dumb question re capping

[NotVeryTechie]

Hi there

Hope this is not too dumb. What does capping actually mean? How does it impact on the user in real terms? Sorry, don't know how this stuff works.

 

[hashbrown99]

Everything you do on the internet uses bandwidth. Your ISP will allocate you a certain amount of this bandwidth (say 3GB) When you have reached the limit on your account (say 3GB) you cannot connect or surf anymore. If you are with Telkom ISP, the only site you can reach are local internet banking ones once capped. Until your cap is reset (typically the first of the month) you won't be able to do anything on the internet (unless you buy pre-paid bandwidth to top-up with)

 

[NotVeryTechie]

So how much bandwidth does one typically use when surfing, posting to forums, reading forums, etc? I don't play games online, much. Most of the forums I subscribe to are international. So how would you know how much of a cap you need?

 

[shadow_man]

Movies/streaming video/audio = cap gone easily , general web browsing is about 10mb/hour - you could always get a program to monitor your bandwidth usage or just look at your isps bandwidth usage page.

J

 

[ld13]

NotVeryTechie, I recommend that you go with a Webafrica 1GB Prepaid ADSL account just for your first month. This will allow you to see how much you use on a day to day basis. Then you can decide how much you would need to make it though the month. The nice thing is, should you not use all of your 1GB allowance this month, you can carry on using this 1GB (unused data rolls over to next month) till it runs out. Thus your don't 'lose' anything at month end.