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What is a download limit?

Information relating to download limits and how they influence your internet usage, plus tips on download allowance suitability.


All Packages    Unlimited    ADSL    Cable    Mac    Business

When choosing a broadband package, you not only need to consider which speed to go for but also the usage allowance that will be most suitable for your requirements.

The majority of internet service providers partly base the price of their broadband packages on the download limit they allow each month. Many people select a much higher package than they need because they are unsure how much information they are likely to download and end up paying for access to information which they don’t use. So the question is what is a download limit and what exactly does it relate to?

Download Limits

‘Downloading’ relates to the transfer of information from the internet to your computer and relates to everything from web pages and emails to music files and videos. The download limit is usually expressed in gigabytes (Gb) and specifies the amount (or number of ‘chunks’) of data you can transfer each month.

Internet service providers offer packages with access limits ranging from 1Gb to unlimited broadband downloads each month. Current estimates suggest that a 1Gb allowance will enable you to access over 10,000 web pages (roughly the equivalent of spending between 1 and 2 hours online a day), send and receive approximately 100 emails and download 20 regular length music tracks a month. If you only ever use your internet connection to send emails and look up information then a 1Gb usage allowance is likely to be more than sufficient.

Download Recommendations

If you frequently download music files, use instant messenger services and watch video clips or trailers, you are more of a ‘medium’ user and would require a higher usage allowance. Many providers offer allowances ranging from 2Gb through to 8Gb per month. It is worth bearing in mind that the greater the limit, the greater the monthly associated cost; a 2 or 4Gb allowance would probably be fine for someone who likes to download mp3 files or film trailers several times a week, however if you download larger files like films a 6 or 8Gb limit is likely to be more suitable.

If you intend to use your broadband connection for streaming live broadcasts, watching TV programmes or listening to the radio, for interactive gaming over the net, or for making calls using VoIP, an unlimited download package may be more suitable. It is however worth bearing in mind that many ‘unlimited’ packages are not truly unlimited and are subject to a fair usage policy.

Fair Usage Policies

ISPs enforce fair usage policies to make sure that very heavy use by some individuals doesn’t affect the speed and reliability of the broadband connection for everybody. Often this simply involves ISPs asking heavy users to minimise use during peak times when most people are online, however for extreme usage more formal warnings may be given. There is no need to worry as these restrictions shouldn’t affect you unless you regularly download more than 40Gb of information per month (and this translates to a huge amount of time spent online).

It is worth bearing in mind that if you do go over your monthly download limit there may be a charge imposed by your service provider, although this is usually minimal. However, if you find that after a couple of months you are frequently downloading more than the amount specified by your package, your provider will usually be more than willing to upgrade you to a higher limit.

To make sure that you only pay for internet usage that you need it is well worth considering how you (and the people you live with!) use the internet on a regular basis and how much download allowance you are likely to need each month before signing up to a broadband package.