how have i used that much allready?

[#1]

Hello,
new to plusnet.... Can someone please help, I have checked my usage monitor and in 4 days I have used nearly 500meg.
I really dont get it we are only doing basic surfing. I would like to use iplayer etc and thought 10gig would be more than enough.

we have 3 computers.
a mini laptop on xp
a laptop on vista
a desktop on windows 7 (on most of the time as a pvr)
I have turned windows update to let me decide what to download
can anyone surgest what elce I can do? I know it cant be the surfing...
Thanks....

[#2]

That is quite low - and is absolutely normal for what you are doing
.
Remember that your average daily allowance is about 330MB (1300MB per 4 days) so you are well under the allowance

[#3]

Quote from: dmsd

Hello, new to plusnet.... Can someone please help, I have checked my usage monitor and in 4 days I have used nearly 500meg. I really dont get it we are only doing basic surfing. I would like to use iplayer etc and thought 10gig would be more than enough.

We use about 4-5GB per week, sometimes we can go through 2GB in a day without trying - 3 computers and a games console. iPlayer uses about 400MB PER HOUR of playback at "Best quality".
Windows Update is the 2nd Tuesday of every month and there were several critical ones this month so you'll find a chunk of that is from Windows Update.

[#4]

This might not work on Windows, but on my Mac I keep my iPlayer usage low by downloading programs over night.  On my Mac, I use Automater (apple script) to open the iPlayer Desktop Application at midnight and close at 8 a.m.  Because I don't want to stay up to midnight to queue up my downloads, I do that during my waking hours.  As long as you have started the download and then quit iPlayer, it will automatically begin the downloads when it is opened again.  I'm sure there must be a way to schedule application open and closing on Windows.  The one drawback is that it require some forthought as to what you want to watch, and the gratification is obviously delayed until the next day. 

[#5]

I think I will have to see If I can sort some kind of script out for downloading in the free time. really surprised you cant tell windows to only update within set hours,
Thanks for the idea though...

[#6]

Quote from: dmsd

Hello, new to plusnet.... Can someone please help, I have checked my usage monitor and in 4 days I have used nearly 500meg. I really dont get it we are only doing basic surfing. I would like to use iplayer etc and thought 10gig would be more than enough.

If you click "View Internet Activities" in View My Usage, you'll see a break down of your usage for the current month.  This should help you figure out what type of traffic is being used on your line.
500MB for 4 days isn't too bad though, especially if you're using iPlayer

[#7]

You can also download and install net limiter monitor (it is free).
It runs in the system tray, and will record all your activity, and tell you which applications are using how much, and when. It is very useful for seeing how you are using bandwidth.