In today’s digitally connected world, Internet speed and data capacity have become crucial factors for end users and providers alike. With the many streaming services and other forms of online entertainment, households these days are using more Internet data than ever before, and it’s increasing at an exponential rate. Providers are trying to keep up with the demand by using newer delivery technologies, and in many cases, enforcing restrictions on the types of traffic that flows over their networks. We have indeed reached a point of reckoning where speed is no longer the only bargaining chip in the ISP business; data usage is now a factor worth considering when choosing an Internet plan for your home or office.
What is the difference between Internet speed and usage plans? All information travels on the Internet in a unit of eight binary digits called a byte. Each of those binary digits consists of a one or a zero and is called a bit. Internet speed is always rated in bits per second, either in the millions (Mega) or billions (Giga). When you see a connection or speed rating at Mbps, they are talking about million bits per second. This is sometimes confused with million bytes per second (MBps).
Some Internet service providers also offer a data usage plan similar to the ones used by mobile carriers for smart phones, but with plans that are much more robust so as to handle the load that household applications demand. These data plans are based upon the number of bytes transmitted through their service. Some providers offer increasingly higher data usage plans, 150 Gigabytes, 250 Gigabytes, and more for their residential service plans. Why are more and more service providers offering data plans instead of speed? One simple reason, streaming movies. There are more and more devices being sold that allow connections to the Internet including televisions and devices like the Roku that hook into the home connection with a wire or wireless. These new devices have made an explosion in the amount of data that is being sent over the Internet. Often, this type of Internet consumption is referred to as entertainment usage.
How Much is a Gigabyte?
One Gigabyte is equal to 1,024 Megabytes, a Megabyte is 1,024 Kilobytes, a Kilobyte is 1,024 bytes. Looking at typical Internet consumption usage the table below will describe what you can do with one Gigabyte of data.
Typical Use Megabytes With 1 Gigabyte
MP3 songs 2.5 – 3 min 3 17 hours
Viewing webpages 1 hour surfing 10 (average) 102 hours
Facebook 1 hour use but not streaming video 20 51 hours
TV Streaming a half hour episode 90 11 episodes
Youtube Watching a video 11 93 plays
Email 100 emails sent and received (w/o attachments) 2.5 40,960 emails
Google maps 10 minutes of use 6 28.44 hours
Skype 30 minute video chat 40 12.8 hours
How can I find out how much I use? There are online usage calculators that are ideal for figuring out how much data would be used in a month. Here are a couple examples:
• www.att.com/att/datacalculator/
• www.wirefly.com/content/phone-data-plan-information/
When shopping for a data plan or Internet service for home, here are some things to consider. Do you want to pay for the speed of the connection or for the amount of data that you send and receive? If you are streaming a lot of movies or songs on multiple devices at the same time, the speed of the connection may be an issue. However, for single user households, a slower speed may still be effective for streaming movies without interruption. If you are in an area that does not have broadband connections then a data plan may be the only way to go. Your best option depends upon your rate of Internet consumption. One key thing to remember is that households or offices that use multiple video streaming devices in sync must understand that all of that data streamed to each device adds up fast! FBN
Michael Merrill is the marketing director for CommSpeed Wireless and has been heavily involved in the WISP (wireless ISP) industry for the last eight years. His family has been in the communications industry since the 1950s. His grandfather was a cable pioneer who built out many systems across the U.S., including what is now Cox cable in Phoenix.
With offices in Prescott Valley and Flagstaff, the CommSpeed prides itself on providing innovative technology backed by personalized, localized and guaranteed customer service. Its parent firm, the Virginia Communications Company, also owns and operates Swift and e-sedona.