Data usage meter?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Data usage meter?

tek

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#155923 13-Nov-2014 11:26

Does BigPipe have any plans to add a usage meter to the currently empty 'My Account' page?

I'm curious to know how much i'm using on 200/200 compared to my old VDSL plan... :P

BigPipe 1000/500 - East Tamaki, Auckland
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joeloconnor.nz

BigPipeNZ

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BigPipe

#1175058 13-Nov-2014 11:31

No plans for a usage meter.

If you want to know how much you're using there are lots of different things you can download and try.

But why worry about that when you have unlimited data? It shouldn't even be something you think about anymore!

bigpipe.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ
https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

tek

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#1175064 13-Nov-2014 11:38

That is true. I mainly used the one on my last ISP to make my mates jealous about how many TBs I was able to download compared to their 80-150GB caps. Hehe

Anyway, thanks for that timely answer!

BigPipe 1000/500 - East Tamaki, Auckland
BigPipe Speedtest

joeloconnor.nz

Zeppe

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#1175146 13-Nov-2014 12:58

With my Vdsl I'm already at around 2700 gb a month, I can't imagine what it will be with Fiber switch in a couple of weeks... I have all the Linux iso..........

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#1175175 13-Nov-2014 13:30

BigPipeNZ: No plans for a usage meter.

If you want to know how much you're using there are lots of different things you can download and try.

But why worry about that when you have unlimited data? It shouldn't even be something you think about anymore!

I've seen this posted a couple of times now, so I have to register my disagreement.

Users should care about their data usage. They should know what is running on their network, specifically so they can spot problems such as malware or services accidentally left open to the world which shouldn't be. I certainly don't want to be in the same block of addresses as people who are distributing malware, because my personal mail services will be impacted by it.

So yes, I would like to see a usage meter, but I consider it very low priority compared to static IPs (and subnets, please? Snap and My Republic offer them), IPv6 and getting the billing and ticketing systems sorted out so we can see that activity in our accounts.

eXDee

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#1175188 13-Nov-2014 13:38

If you want to know if there are things running on your network, you should do it within your network, not an external meter from your ISP tbh.
Waste of resources for a no frills ISP like bigpipe to add traffic accounting systems - its more work than you think and its not having to do things like this which makes their product so cheap.

BigPipeNZ

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#1175190 13-Nov-2014 13:44

SirHumphreyAppleby:
BigPipeNZ: No plans for a usage meter.

If you want to know how much you're using there are lots of different things you can download and try.

But why worry about that when you have unlimited data? It shouldn't even be something you think about anymore!

I've seen this posted a couple of times now, so I have to register my disagreement.

Users should care about their data usage. They should know what is running on their network, specifically so they can spot problems such as malware or services accidentally left open to the world which shouldn't be. I certainly don't want to be in the same block of addresses as people who are distributing malware, because my personal mail services will be impacted by it.

So yes, I would like to see a usage meter, but I consider it very low priority compared to static IPs (and subnets, please? Snap and My Republic offer them), IPv6 and getting the billing and ticketing systems sorted out so we can see that activity in our accounts.

I take your point, but the kind of usage meter an ISP would put in would only ever give a very broad overview of your usage. Typical usage meter will give you daily, maybe hourly, usage but that's about it.
We don't snoop on your traffic so beyond the amount we have no idea what is going on.

If you're worried about things like malware etc then software you can install yourself will always do a much better job of working out what is going on
i.e. it could see things like the MAC address of the device, the type of traffic, the program that is causing the traffic, the data in real time to the second, and probably provide much better reporting to identify trends over different time periods

bigpipe.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ
https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#1175218 13-Nov-2014 13:56

BigPipeNZ: If you want to know how much you're using there are lots of different things you can download and try.

But why worry about that when you have unlimited data? It shouldn't even be something you think about anymore!

...

If you're worried about things like malware etc then software you can install yourself will always do a much better job of working out what is going on.

I certainly don't disagree that internal monitoring will always produce better results. I monitor my network for any undesirable activity, and encourage everyone to do the same.

My point is that we shouldn't encourage people not to care just because the connection is unlimited.