download SPEED limiting

HeTiCu13

HeTiCu13

New Member
Hello.

I think I've gotten spoiled by how easy it is to google a question or a phrase and get a plethora of appropriate answers, or solutions. But for this question: "How to limit download speed" I get nothing but the wrong answers. Most, if not all, eventually tell me how to limit the AMOUNT of data per period. Why is the internet being so evasive and non-helpful about this one subject?

As I'm sure most here know, all the cell carriers are all claiming "unlimited high speed data", and yet once you sign up with them you find out they lied. So you cruise along until you reach whatever limit (25gb, 50gb, 100gb) they have set, then one day your speed comes to a crawl until the end of the billing cycle. ARGH!!

So, I googled my question (above), and got a plethora of WRONG answers. I don't care how much data I have downloaded, I care about staying under the radar of what is considered to be "high speed data". I found a site that states (among other things):
  • U.S. regulators have set the standard for high-speed Internet as services that offer download speeds of 25 Mbps or faster.
So I figure if I can limit my download speed to 10 Mbps, or even 15 Mbps, I won't hit that brick wall before the billing cycle ends. I tried setting it in Win 10, but it only lets me limit the amount of data per period. Android devices are the same way.

Can anyone tell me of an app or program (I don't even mind paying for it if it works) that will limit my internet speed for EVERYTHING I do? IOW, set a limit of XX Megabits per second and live within that rate? I rather get used to 15 Mbps for all the billing cycle, than to have screaming speed for 10 days, then nothing for 20 days.

Or am I totally missing how this game works? Have the cell carriers got this so twisted up in their greed and deceptions there is no way past this?
Thanks!
 
2 questions.

1. How much data do you get before speed slows down?

2. What do you normally do on the internet? If you stream, then you'll go through the data no matter your speed.
 
Huh. I must be not getting this whole subject. Let me see if I can explain better.

I just joined T-Mobile, because they said, and I quote: "There is NO high speed data limit." IOW, they WILL NOT throttle me when I've reached a certain data AMOUNT, at high speed. They lied. I've been with them less than a week and they sent me a warning today saying I've reached 80% of my 50gb of high speed data amount. So, presumably, sometime tomorrow my internet will come to a crawl. I don't stream anything. All I have done since I joined them is browse Amazon, or research things, or read the news, etc. I did allow some games to be upgraded in Steam, but once I saw how much it was wanting to download, I changed the Mbps to 10, which is what I'm trying to do for everything else on my devices.

All of the cell carriers say "unlimited data", meaning the amount of data per period. Today I jumped up 9gb of data, and that was just email, browsing, etc. No file updates, and certainly no streaming. So what am I missing?
 
It's not officially a 'limit' if you still have connectivity, they will still 'deprioritize' or reduce your throughput.

You could probably use something like GlassWire if you truly don't know where 40GB came from in a week.

Maybe NetLimiter for shaping your host's NIC to a certain bit rate, although I haven't used it:

NetLimiter

NetLimiter, network monitoring and control tool
www.netlimiter.com

Otherwise you could leverage a router with a shaper function in-line before the Internet leg for a more broad multi-host solution.
 
Thanks. This discussion has convinced me to stop playing games with cell phone companies and go back to xFinity broadband. EOD
 
Exactly, you may end up paying more but less headaches and more speed. I have gig speed with the allowance of 1.2tb a month and don't even use half that and I even stream a lot.
 
You're right, HeTiCu13, most data plans throttle speed after a certain amount, not limit it constantly. While some routers offer built-in bandwidth throttling, it's not common on PCs or phones. However, there might be a workaround! Some providers offer "data prioritization" options that let you prioritize certain apps (like email) even after hitting the data cap. Check your carrier's website or app for such settings.
 
And to throw in another caveat... if the network itself is overutilized, they may temporarily slow down everyone connections. (i suspect to make people disconnect their high usage machines)

Since you mentioned Steam, don't forget other programs, or Windows itself may try to download their updates, hence that 6GB hit.

But if I am reading this right, it sounds like your plan is unlimited data (so 50GB, 100B, 100TB) but once your data usage limit reached (50GB), then they lowered your speed, but you still have the data. This is not uncommon. If I remember correctly, satellite internet companies does the same thing.
 
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