Youll then notice the following grid that you can keep checking throughout the month to see the amount of data youve used.

Going over your monthly broadband data usage limit can be a costly lesson.

If youre a heavy data user, unless youre lucky enough to be on a plan with near-unrestricted usage, youll find yourself faced with the threat of additional expenses on top of your monthly charge.

This guide will help you track your data usage on a month-by-month basis on computers and laptops only.

Internet Data Usage App Download Lots Using

Getting started We want to get a clear picture of your desktop usage, so if you download lots using mobile devices, either refrain from doing so for a month or switch to your networks 3G connection rather than your home Wi-Fi.

If you download demos, games and updates on your games console, jot down the size of the files or updates in megabytes so you can add them to the final tally.

Some ways of tracking usage incurred from all devices in the home involve flashing custom firmware on routers -- a process that can be time-consuming, complicated and risky.

Instead, the following method is intended as a quick, simple and efficient means of tracking your monthly data usage.

Internet Data Usage App Install The Program

Its important to remember every computer connected to the Internet in your house will deduct from your monthly data allowance, so youll need to install the program on each machine.

Right-click the icon and choose Enable IE Flash and Show in MegaBytes (MB).

The monitor needs to be running all of the time on any computer you want to monitor.

To ensure this, right-click on the system tray icon and click Settings.

Go down the screen to where it says Month Start day and in the box enter the day of the month that your broadband data usage resets.

This varies depending on your ISP and when you signed up to your service -- give them a ring if youre unsure.

If your ISP allows you to download an unlimited amount of data during a certain period of the day, for example between midnight and 8am, then check the Enable box next to Dont track between these times.

In Settings youll have seen a list of network interfaces with tick boxes -- all currently checked.

We need to find out exactly which interface your computer is using to connect to the Internet before we can pick the one we need.

Youll either be using a Local Area Connection (where one end of an Ethernet cable is plugged into your computer and the other end into a router), or a wireless connection (no cable from your computer to the router).

Right-click on the icon for the corresponding adaptor that youre using and click Properties.

Uncheck all of the boxes for the devices listed next to Select the Network Interfaces to monitor.

Now find the name of the interface that you noted down and check the box next to it.

Click OK.

It has a self-explanatory interface, the only two of interest being Today (data downloaded that day), and This Month (data downloaded over the month).

Click on the pin icon next to the Close button in its top-right corner to stop it from disappearing.

Internet Data Usage App For Mac