Broadband Fair Usage Policy
|
If you are eager to sign up a cheap broadband deal you should know about the fair usage policy of your broadband operator and the hidden costs of your package. What is fair usage policy? Many broadband providers in India have a set of guidelines called fair usage policy (FUP) regarding the use of bandwidth. These guidelines are implemented to control the traffic and to restrict the heavy users from using the excessive bandwidth. What generally happens when a few heavy users go for downloading huge files or using programs like P2P that consume more bandwidth during peak hours is that all connections that share the specific line suffer a dip in speeds. This is because the ADSL lines (which are, in fact, telephone lines) can allow only a limited number of users and specific amount data flow at a specific time. Whether there are more users on the line or someone is milking all the bandwidth that the line is capable of carrying, it is going to affect everyone on the line. Those who may be using relatively small amount of bandwidth will also be impacted. When will the fair usage policy apply? Are you a downloader of large files like movies, videos, music and other files during peak hours? Do you play online-games frequently? Are you using P2P sites to transfer large quantity of data? These are typical activities of heavy users. An uncapped or unlimted plan may have some hidden limits on your usage. It could be 10 GB or 20 GB. If your usage exceeds this limit, your broadband operator will have to take certain measures called traffic management. Traffic shaping Although it appears a bit severe and restrictive, traffic shaping by your broadband provider aims at providing better quality of service for all customers. So, what do the broadband operators do, when heavy users threaten to use most or all the bandwidth? Generally, broadband operators use following measures to control the traffic: 1. Throttling2. Charging the excess usage during peak hours 3. Limiting your usage of P2P network What is throttling? If you do not comply with the fair usage policy and use high-bandwidth (beyond a certain limit) during peak hours your broadband provider may 'throttle' or slow down your connection speed. Both upload and download speed of your connection will be set to lower levels as your broadband provider decides and will continue for duration as set by the rules of traffic management. For instance, Airtel has announced its traffic management policy which will slow down the speed to 50% when the users breach the usage allowance. The best way to avoid traffic management policy of your broadband provider is to simply follow their fair usage policy and download the huge files only during off-peak hours (i.e in the evening). Will I be charged for extra usage even when I have taken an 'unlimited' plan? The answer is both yes and no. While your 'unlimited' plan can allow you to download as much as you can during off-peak hours, it probably has download limits during peak hours. There are chances that you will be charged for your usage when you go beyond this limit. This way, an unlimited plan is not unlimited in the real sense. Why my access to P2P is often targeted by my broadband provider? These days more and more people use P2P sites to share lots of files, music, videos etc thus draining of bandwidth of the line at times. If you use P2P sites like Facebook excessively, there are chances that your broadband operator may restrict your access to P2P sites as a traffic shaping measure. Putting you on a line with higher contention ratio This is another method of imposing penalty that your broadband operator could use, if you persist on heavy usage. Contention ratio refers to the number of users who share the line with you. For better speed and service, it should be at a minimum. Remember, moving you to a service with higher contention ratio will automatically slow down your speed, thus restricting your usage. In certain circumstances, your broadband operator may cancel your service, if they found other measures did not work. How to avoid these situations? Whether you use a capped broadband service or a plan with unlimited download limit, it is always a good idea to draw up your estimated usage during a month. As downloading of different files will consume different bandwidth, we have provided a bandwidth usage calculator which helps you to plan your bandwidth usage. Alternatively you can use the broadband download monitor to keep track of your usage so that you do not exceed your monthly usage allowance. If you need to download huge files like movies, music, do it during off-peak hours. This will help you not only to avoid undesirable consequences but will also help others to get better speed. If your usage needs higher level plans with better download limits, the best way to save the money is to upgrade your current package. Our broadband providers search will help you find the best broadband deals to suit their needs. Fair Usage Policy Examples |
Broadband Guides
Broadband Tools
Broadband Cities |
