DATA CAPS & YOU
To get the most out of your internet service, it may help you to know what a data cap is, and how to avoid breaking it.
Most internet service providers, to keep their networks from becoming clogged, limit the amount of data any customer can use per month. Most providers offer tiered service, with higher prices for plans with higher data caps. If you use more than your monthly allotment, your data speeds will fall dramatically, and will remain low until your next monthly service period begins. This can be highly frustrating, and can make some internet functions impossible.
We won’t tell you to limit your use of the internet. We won’t tell you not to download music or videos. These, after all, are among the reasons most people want broadband service.
Without such drastic measures, there are a few other steps you can take to get the most out of your data plan.
First, assess your household’s needs. If only one or two people will be connected at a time, and if you use the web strictly for e-mail and light surfing, then you may not need extreme speed or a high data cap. However, if several people may be connected at once, you download video or music frequently, or you conduct business over the internet, you will need more speed and more data.
Second, consider changing your browser. Google Chrome is usually faster than other browsers, but it consumes more data. This is partly because Google- more than any other browser- scans your e-mail and searches for keywords, which it uses for precisely targeted ads. Not only is this annoying, and a possible privacy concern, it consumes data. If wringing the most out of your data plan is more important than saving a few seconds on a search, then you may want to use a different browser.
Third, close auto-play videos whenever possible. In Chrome, pull up the ‘settings’ bar. and go from there to ‘advanced settings’. From there, go to ‘privacy’, then hit the ‘plug-ins’ tab, and disable Adobe Flash. This won’t block all auto-play videos, but it will block most of them. You’ll seldom have to listen to annoying ads, and you’ll save an enormous amount of data.
With other browsers, the procedure for disabling Adobe Flash is similar, though it may differ in one or two details..
Finally, limit the number of tabs you keep open. If you have multiple tabs open at once, some pictures and videos may be loading in the background.
(To get the most out of your internet service, talk to us. We are your source for HughesNet.)