Tracking broadband usage on unlimited plans...

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andrew027

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#166079 2-Mar-2015 11:18

I recently upgraded to a Spark unlimited broadband plan. When I go to the MySpark page I get the following message:

You're on an Unlimited Data plan! Don't worry about your usage, you can keep doing what you want to do without any surprise charges.

Nice to know, but what if I still want to know how much data I'm actually using? For example, what if I track my usage for three or four months and decide I'm not using all that data and I want to go back to a capped plan that saves me $10 or $20 a month (hahahahahahaha - sorry, just fell off my chair)? Or, you know, just because I'm curious?

I think it would be nice if Spark could still show my usage, but then give me the "don't worry - you won't run out..." message, but given that's not what happens, how can I track this myself?

wasabi2k

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#1249272 2-Mar-2015 11:23

Yeah saw that myself.

Wondering if there was a legitimate reason for it (i.e. they don't do accounting on unlimited plans) - or someone just thought it wouldn't matter.

cbrpilot

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#1249331 2-Mar-2015 11:51

I believe the front line chaps can still see your usage if you're on the unlimited plan, so give us a call if you need to know your usage.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

nedkelly

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#1249332 2-Mar-2015 11:53

You would need a router with Custom firmware (like gargoyle) that can track data usage over wan port.

dwl

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#1249421 2-Mar-2015 13:01

nedkelly: You would need a router with Custom firmware (like gargoyle) that can track data usage over wan port.

I have the Telecom/Spark supplied Thomson router and use a simple Python script to login and query interface every 15 mins and save upload and download counts to a text file. The query line was "ip iflist\r" and the returned string parsed on keyword "wan". Happy to share if anyone wants details.

These counts wrap every 4GB so need fairly short intervals to work out usage. Now on unlimited can wrap several times in an evening ! Interface counts may also be available via SNMP but haven't bothered.

MileHighKiwi

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#1249436 2-Mar-2015 13:15

Vodafone offer this and I was surprised to see that since upgrading from 80 to unlimited the most I have used in one month is 150 gig. On average it's between 80-90 gig.

raytaylor

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#1249453 2-Mar-2015 13:47

I foresee parents using that graph to tell if their kids have gone to bed.

Parents are smart these days and its not fair on teenagers.

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andrew027

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#1249454 2-Mar-2015 13:49

cbrpilot: I believe the front line chaps can still see your usage if you're on the unlimited plan, so give us a call if you need to know your usage.

Thanks - I just thought it would be useful if consumers could still see this themselves. I wonder if Spark have an online suggestion box...

(edited for spelling - my keyboard doesn't want to work with me today...)

hio77

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#1249464 2-Mar-2015 14:10

MileHighKiwi: Vodafone offer this and I was surprised to see that since upgrading from 80 to unlimited the most I have used in one month is 150 gig. On average it's between 80-90 gig.

80 to 150 we saw the usage just jump straight to max average, 150 to Unlimited it would sit around the 200~300GB mark.

going from 2mbit to 14~mbit that was the real noticable jump, instantly over 1TB and congestion within the household is far less common.

I run metering on router Globally as well as per device, Along with caching and such. Always interesting to see how well it lines up with Vodafones meter.

SNMP is ever so handy for when things are a little buffery while im away from desk, SNMP graphs are always showing on one of my extra screens, suppose im a bit of a meter watcher there.

raytaylor: I foresee parents using that graph to tell if their kids have gone to bed.

Parents are smart these days and its not fair on teenagers.

On a average day, its near impossible to tell this without watching peer device usage IMO.

When brining automatic updates (Especially Steam with its horrible scheduler) Peaking about doesnt mean alot. - Plus night times are good times for bulk downloads where affecting others is less of a concern.

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Oblivian

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#1249468 2-Mar-2015 14:13

Given TUC a splat (yes, after years I'm still using this myself..) to see if is still able to use one of the old interfaces hidden away?

http://www.tuc.co.nz/

States latest beta as of Jan uses legacy traffic checker which may help there as long as you know the system acct settings :)

hio77

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#1249482 2-Mar-2015 14:19

Oblivian: Given TUC a splat (yes, after years I'm still using this myself..) to see if is still able to use one of the old interfaces hidden away?

http://www.tuc.co.nz/

States latest beta as of Jan uses legacy traffic checker which may help there as long as you know the system acct settings :)

i find most usage meter apps struggle to deal with formatting on unlimited.

Here is a vodafone example, it gets a little confused! i should probably get around to mentioning it at some point..

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Oblivian

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#1249487 2-Mar-2015 14:28

The limit exceed? go to expect that (wonder what happens if it is set at 0.. hmm)

Or the figures? cause 7456768 /1024 = 72.82 that VF report :)

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hio77

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#1249492 2-Mar-2015 14:31

Oblivian: The limit exceed? go to expect that (wonder what happens if it is set at 0.. hmm)

Or the figures? cause 7456768 /1024 = 72.82 that VF report :)

more the fact that it assumes limit to be 10GB where not specified.

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Oblivian

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#1249508 2-Mar-2015 14:44

hio77:
Oblivian: The limit exceed? go to expect that (wonder what happens if it is set at 0.. hmm)

Or the figures? cause 7456768 /1024 = 72.82 that VF report :)

more the fact that it assumes limit to be 10GB where not specified.

Bit of a railroad.. but odd. (this topic may help others however... so got to be OK.. Right :P )

Mentioned in here and claimed to be fixed. He might benefit from your output log

http://www.tuc.co.nz/board/index.php?topic=215.0

andrewNZ

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#1249530 2-Mar-2015 15:04

A rep here stated that they saw no need to give unlimited users a scoreboard. This is why there is no usage graph.

Talkiet

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#1249536 2-Mar-2015 15:10

andrewNZ: A rep here stated that they saw no need to give unlimited users a scoreboard. This is why there is no usage graph.

That might have been me. It's true. People used the data usage meter available previously as a scoreboard - and they shot for high scores. This was a simple bit of social engineering to remove that unproductive behaviour.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.