[sensualspirit]

So I've never in my life watched TV online before b/c I like to watch on my TV, not a small monitor, but b/c Cogeco, the network or the TV guide makes mistakes almost all the time with either not airing all the episodes, or making mistakes with the listings of the shows, I always end up missing a few shows here & there (including the season finale).

Anyway, I finally found a way to access Hulu (thank gawd) & so I started watching episodes I had missed.

The next thing I know, I'm being charged extra to watch those shows.

In fact I didn't even know that's what the extra charges were for let alone how they calculate how much each episode is worth.

I was VERY upset.

When I went to inquire with my American team members how this could be possible, I was told in the US everything is unlimited. That Americans wouldn't put up with that (of course).

This is NUTS. How do Canadians watch TV online if they have to pay such ridiculous rates for surpassing the 60 GB DL every month? I only watch 1-3 shows per month & it cost me $10-17???? That's terrible. I could rent the entire season on DVD for that price.

My team member asked how Canadians deal with Xbox & Wii both of which I don't have.

A manager I have a connection to showed me my upload & DLs every month & I upload way more than I DL. That's b/c I run businesses online.

<shaking head in disbelief>

 

[jeffaustin90]

Are you watching the HD versions of those shows? The HD version takes up a lot more room than the regular version (and trust me, on most computer/laptop screens the regular version looks just fine), so if you're ever given the choice, pick the normal version, especially if your screen is small anyway.

Myself, I have the 30 GB/month limit, and with watching TV shows and movies online I usually average around 25 GB a month (that includes both uploads and downloads). I agree that it's really not fair that the big cable companies charge us limits. You might want to look into a different carrier, a smaller local one, because they usually allow unlimited usage. Something like TekSavvy Solutions or Primus Telecommunications.

There's a good article in the Financial Post today about Bell being mad at having to allow those smaller Internet companies more room on their network. The article says that they're primarily mad at the fact that people are going to those smaller companies JUST because of the unlimited usage they get, to download all they want. That hurts Bell's TV package purchases, because why pay for those channels when you can just download the TV shows without incurring any overage fees?

 

[sensualspirit]

Ok, LOL, didn't even know there was an HD version. I don't recollect being asked what version I want.

Is there a way to tell?

I'm afraid to even go on the site now for fear I'll run up my bill just by searching for the TV shows. Paranoid I know, but when I didn't even know I'd be charged, it was a huge shocker.

I'll be checking with more Americans over the next couple of weeks, but I'm sure I'm going to get the same answer, they have no caps.

I have started looking around for another carrier, it's just that the minute I break my package, Cogeco will charge me more.

Thanks a ton & have a great long wknd.


Michelle
P.S. How can one see how much bandwidth the show is going to cost me?

 

[jeffaustin90]

Usually with a 30-minute TV show (30 minutes on TV I mean...without any commercials they usually clock in at 22 minutes) will be about 175-180 MB, and an hour long show would be 350 MB. Of course I'm talking standard definition versions. If you want a 720p or 1080p version of the show, the size is going to increase. I'm not sure by how much though, since I usually just stick to standard definition.

You can check your daily upload/download usage on Cogeco's website, by logging into My Cogeco and clicking on View My Internet Usage. They have every day's usage for the past 3 months. My own personal rule of thumb is to try to keep the daily totals around 1 GB (30 GB monthly limit, for 30 days a month, averages out to 1 GB per day).

If you want to see how much exactly one show will get you, I would suggest looking to see how much usage a normal day is for you, and then the next day watch ONE episode and do everything else normal as the day before. Then, the next day you can see the difference in the two day's usages.

Hope that helps!

 

[hugh]

I only watch 1-3 shows per month & it cost me $10-17?

No. Exceeding your 60GB a month limit is not because of this. As noted by previous poster, your HULU usage would would come to between 350mb and 1 GB per month. That 350MB rate is probably overstated since HULU is likely optimized for smaller screens.

Even using the high end, 60 hours a month of HULU watching would probably amount to less than 20GB of usage

 

[scampbell]

If you want a 720p or 1080p version of the show, the size is going to increase.

I downloaded Avatar in 1080p from the Playstation Network to my PS3 a few weeks ago and it was 9 gigabytes.

 

[sensualspirit]

Ok, then I have NO idea what is going on.

I don't ever remember checking off HD when I went to watch the shows & someone checked for me yesterday by going to the site (I'm too scared to) & you do have to check something off.

Unless it's the hotspot program that blocks the IP that is causing those major increases.

Here is what Cogeco gave me for my last 3 months of usage...

Thanks guys, I really need to understand this.


Michelle

 

[travisc]

It seems fairly obvious that you're doing a lot of upload, a lot more than download. Perhaps you need to get a business connection, if you're running businesses from your computer and shocked that you're being charged extra for using a lot of bandwidth.

 

[wgauci]

Wow, that's a lot of uploading for one month. Are you running any sort of file sharing programmes that might be accounting for all the uploading? You have to watch some of those file sharing programmes, many default to starting up when you log into windows and you can run them without even knowing it. Dozens of people could be uploading videos from you daily causing your uploads to be so high.

 

[sensualspirit]

Ok, pls. explain to me the difference in uploading vs. DLing.

I thought to watch a show online is to DL.

Uploading is e-mailing, correct? Or putting images on blogs, etc.

No, I don't do any file sharing & my internet habits have been the same for the last 18 years with maybe more e-mails being received & sent, but again, that shouldn't increase my uploads past the max.

I don't even upload to my server & haven't in years.

So unless watching the TV is uploading, I don't care about that, b/c that's not what I got charged extra for.

It's the DLing that is still in question.

I did mention the software that blocks the IP address (hotspot shield) & asked if that does anything to increase DL, but no one said yeh or ney on that.

Thanks


Michelle

 

[travisc]

Upload is sending from your computer or network to the Internet. Your upload is much higher than your download. Are you running a bittorrent client in the background all the time? Do you have a wireless router that is unprotected and your neighbours are using?

Download is not your issue, upload is.

 

[sensualspirit]

No comment, the Cogeco manager I'm dealing with didn't correct me when I told her I was watching shows, so this entire time I thought it was b/c of that <sigh>

Ok, when you say bittorent, are you talking about that software I keep typing? (hotspot shield?) I only used that when I was accessing Hulu & I never turned it off b/c I didn't know it was doing that, but it eventually would disconnect itself. How soon after I put the laptop aside, I don't know. All I know is that when I would go back to watch another show I'd have to reconnect it.

I have a wireless router, but it's all password protected & has been for years.

I can't even call them now b/c they don't offer support anymore & I don't want to have to pay $20 since nothing has changed since we last took a look at it about 3 months ago.

So you are saying it's hotspot shield?


Michelle

 

[travisc]

I think it's unlikely it's hotspot shield. You should probably take a close look at the computers on your network and determine what's running on them. You might have a virus on one that's sending out spam, for instance. You should run anti-virus and something like ad-aware on all of them.

 

[sensualspirit]

I run everything already & have for years, but as you know, nothing is full proof.

How can I see if someone is accessing my computer?


Michelle

 

[jeffaustin90]

There's a program, for free, called WireShark. It's a program that allows you to see where all the packets on your network are coming in from and going out to. If you can download that program and install it, and then run it, and don't have any programs open that would normally send/receive packets (ex. don't have any web browsers open or instant messenger programs), there should be no packets being sent or coming in (with the exception of a few small diagnostic packets that are routine with any network).

Navigating the program itself can be a little challenging, so you might want to bring a computer-savvy friend over to help you out if you don't think you can interpret the packets correctly.

 

[Dr.Dave]

A manager I have a connection to showed me my upload & DLs every month & I upload way more than I DL. That's b/c I run businesses online.

I think you already have your answer. Looking at your daily upload stats and the fact that you consistently upload about a GB/day, it seems that you may be running a server from your home.