While you are at your computer:
In order to manage your bandwidth, you need to know how much bandwidth is used for each activity on your computer. Here are some common activities and the average usage per hour:
YouTube and Hulu :
- 360p: 210-240 Mb/hr
- 480p: 350-390 Mb/hr
- 720p: 730-780 Mb/hr
- 1080p: 1200-1300 Mb/hr
Netflix:
- Standard-Def: 650-700 Mb/hr
- High-Def: 1650-1750 Mb/hr
Skype:
- Voice: 35-45 Mb/hr
- Video: 180-200 Mb/hr
Pandora Radio: 18-20 Mb/hr
Last.fm Radio: 80-85 Mb/hr
Facebook Activity: 12-15 Mb/hr
World of Warcraft: 12-15 Mb/hr
Online Games: 40-100 Mb/hr, depending on the game
Steam, Windows, and Apple Updates: up to 4550 Mb/hr
While you are away from your computer:
Your computer can use a tremendous amount of bandwidth without you. Many applications download updates and synchronize files across the internet while you are away. If you use any peer to peer applications (P2P), these programs can continuously download and upload while they are running. Here are some applications that commonly use up large amounts of bandwidth when left open.
To keep your bandwidth usage as low as possible while away, try to limit the number of applications open, eliminating mysterious spikes of usage.
How to Track Your Bandwidth Usage:
If you do want to find out how much bandwidth a certain application uses or want to look closer at your bandwidth there are several great ways to instantly and effectively track your bandwidth usage in great detail. Utilizing the following resources may help answer any questions or doubts you may have about your bandwidth:
- Windows 7 has a built-in tool that you can track bandwidth usage in real-time. The Resource Monitor can be accessed by typing "resmon" (without the quotes) in the Start menu search bar and pressing enter. The Network tab will show every process that uses bandwidth and shows how much traffic goes to and from your computer in great detail.
- You can also download a Sidebar Gadget for Windows Vista or Windows 7 that tracks upload and download speeds as well as logs total usage for the session. This tool is a great first-alert gadget that can warn you of any mysterious bandwidth usage. The download link is: http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=4f9274ce-427b-4063-868f-894079283b2c&bt=1&pl=1
- Steam has its own bandwidth monitor that tracks download speeds and usage for each game as well as total usage since it has been started.
- You can limit or monitor your bandwidth using third party programs on your computer, such as the following: