Bandwidth Usage

[dddaver]

Is there any way a consumer can limit/compress? the bandwidth they use other than just not using the internet? I'm thinking some sort of compression technology but I'm thinking that compression would have to be used at the ISP end(or the websites) , before the data was transmitted.

The problem for me is that I live in a rural area and in order to get broadband at all I have to use a mobile hotspot. 4G's not even available here(yet), this technology (3G) out here now is fairly recent, only a couple years old, released to the public anyway. So, my ISP caps my broadband speeds at 5GB then slows down the wifi speeds to a crawl (about .200MB/sec). That puts my daily limit at about 166 MB/day at the broadband speeds. Just to log onto this site, as an example, uses over 20MB, and then just to look at 3 pages of the "funny" jokes thread with the pictures and gifs I have used over my 167MB daily limit. And it's just getting worse as more and more resources are being demanded while ISPs raise bandwidth costs. I now have to renew my 5GB bandwidth usage subscription every two weeks to keep broadband speed here.

So, after my bitching is over , I repeat my question. Does anybody know of a way to limit bandwidth usage other than just not surfing?

 

[SeaMaiden]

I have no idea, but serve as good bump.

 

[toughmudderdave]

have you looked into getting internet through satellite?

Satellite caps most subs as well. My wireless department has no problems stealing customers from any of the satellite providers for that very reason.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I'm sure renewing their 5gb limit is much cheaper than the monthly fees for satellite.

Basically... the only workaround that I see being feasible would be to have someone with a normal connection to set up a VPN type situation with you.

Essentially you'll be using their computer as a proxy that fetches, compresses and sends the data to you.

Not sure about the types of programs available... but I'm sure there are a few systems that already exist. I'd look into the *nix arena since winblows most likely won't have what you need for free.

Stay Safe!

 

[ScrubNinja]

1. Ensure your browser cache is enabled (good for bandwidth usage, bad for privacy)
2. Turn off images in your browser (obviously not always suitable)
3. Use firefox extensions like Noscript and Adblock Plus. (just common sense)
4. I know that for their mobile Android browser versions, Opera allows you to use a (well I don't know the exact term but let's call it a) compressing proxy. So all your requests go through Opera servers and get compressed before being delivered to you. Mind you, Opera can then see every page you go to. But it does work exceptionally well. I stopped using it ages ago but from memory it cut down my usage to about a tenth or something crazy like that. (It keeps a tally). I'm pretty certain they would offer this feature for their regular PC browsers.

Oh yeah and install a firewall and learn how to use it.