Data Saving Tips

WARNING: Do not click on any links or programs that promise to speed up your computer or internet connection – these are almost certainly a scam, and often contain malicious software. These links or ads are especially common on many popular speed testing websites.

When you have access a faster connection than what you have usually been using, small changes in your online behaviour can make a big difference to how much data you use. How to do a lot of these tips are listed below.

One change to your normal use is that you may now be connecting your smart phones and/or tablets via WiFi, whereas before they would have been using cellular data. When connected via WiFi updates become automatic.
When connecting at a slower speed, some things like videos etc are watched at a lower resolution. Unless you specify the quality, the app/program automatically uses the highest quality it can which is based on speed. You need to specify the quality in programs such as YouTube and Facebook, to use a lower quality and especially not to auto start. If you are watching YouTube at the highest quality it would take you 40 hours to use up to 40 GB of data.
Smartphones have a many settings that try to ‘keep’ you up to date. These are notorious data suckers, make sure you turn off as many as you can.
Windows 10 also has many features enabled that you don’t really need, if you turn them off you can save data.
Cloud applications (like Dropbox, OneDrive etc) are useful features, but they don’t need to be syncing all the time. You also don’t need all your files in the cloud (like your photos folder), make sure you are only place files in the cloud that are necessary. Be aware that newer operating systems (by default) may automatically use cloud apps
Cloud Accounting software uses data syncing your files (sometimes as often as every 20 minutes), make sure you change how often it syncs, or work offline and sync once a day. In one month you can use up to 40Gb of data if you are syncing often.
Gamers are now connecting their game consoles, which are notorious data suckers. For example, Xbox Live uses 50-100mb an hour. You also need to check the settings if you are connecting to the internet, to make sure updates don’t automatically download. A game update could be 15Gb to 20Gb in size.
If you are downloading a big file and your connection drops out, that file can restart downloading again, if that happens a few times, a 2GB file can turn into a 10Gb download. Use a downloader program that when the connection drops out, picks up from where it was and doesn’t restart the download.
Your Smart TV maybe using your data, if it connects to your WiFi, directly, or through a device like Chromecast or Apple TV. Turn off your TV when not in use.
Regularly check for viruses and malware; these can eat into your data allowance.
Make sure your WiFi network & computer are secured with a password.
Ensure you activate a firewall to prevent unauthorised connections to your computer
If you’re going away for an extended period, switch your modem/ router and computer off.
Utilize a download manager program to schedule big downloads to occur during “off-peak” times. On NBN Sky Muster Satellite, this is 1am – 7am, and your plan likely has extra “bonus” data during these times. Download managers include Free Download Manager and Ninja Internet Download Manager.
Schedule Youtube video uploads to during Off-Peak times. Click here to see how.

Remember at even 20 Mbps, you can use 9 GB in an hour

Investigate your data usage at home first. Follow all the tips that BIRRR suggest. Study the data usage log provided by your RSP, see if you can narrow down when all the data is being used. Make sure you have all the housekeeping done at home, and then take your findings to your RSP if you still can’t work out where all your data went.