Over the past year, our relationships with our ISPs have become closer than ever. We depend on them for work, school, and entertainment. But one thing we might not know about them is how high the data caps for our plans are.
In the first few months of the pandemic, many ISPs waived limits on data. But over the summer and fall of 2020, ISPs started to reinstate caps, and some customers found themselves surprised by their bills. With internet usage split between homes, offices, and mobile use before, it was easy enough to remain unaware that some ISPs limit broadband and charge overage fees when people exceed their plan’s limits.
Suspecting that consumers might not understand the ins and outs of ISP billing, HighSpeedInternet.com surveyed 1,000 Americans about their service. Nearly half (48%) did not know the data cap limit on their plans. So it was an unwelcome surprise for many of the 37% of those surveyed who hit their data cap and the 68% who had to pay overage fees.
If you have a data cap and want to reduce your usage, here are some steps you can take. First, make sure your network is secured with a password, and that no one else is using it.
Next, look at your usage. Although streaming has been a welcome distraction during lockdown, it also consumes more data than anything else. For those looking to cut down on data use, one step to take is not to stream in 4K, which uses up more data than watching something in SD on streaming services. For YouTube videos, you can make adjustments to the video quality by clicking on the gear icon of a video, selecting Quality, and choosing a resolution.
Online gaming can also eat into your data. Different games use different amounts of data. Check out online lists for particular games. Not using voice chat while you play will reduce your data usage, as will playing with fewer people.
While work video-conference calls are a necessity for many, the video portion may be something you can opt out of in some instances. Turning off a camera will cut down on how much data is used during the call.
These steps can be tedious and time-consuming, and 75% of the people surveyed said that instead of having to worry about data caps, they would rather pay for a plan that came without them.
