Unlimited Broadband

Chances are you'll already know that when it comes to broadband services, the word 'Unlimited' doesn't strictly adhere to its generally accepted dictionary definition. Whilst Unlimited broadband services genuinely do furnish their subscribers with a considerable amount of leeway when it comes to the amount of MP3's, videos, patches, updates, games and photos that can be downloaded, it is worth making mention of Fair Usage Policies, which apply to practically every Unlimited broadband service out there. Fair Usage Policies exist in some form or other on every ISP's Unlimited packages, and are essentially in place to ensure that every customer using the service gets good value for money.

Unlimited Broadband

Customers downloading several files at once, streaming video or audio, and making use of bandwidth intensive websites could potentially negatively impact the quality of service experienced by other customers. Fair Use Policies mean that if you are a heavy downloader, then there will usually be a peak time during which your usage limit or connection speed may be restricted, allowing other customers who just want to check their emails or download the odd film to do so.

The peak times of most ISP's is around 6pm to 11pm, during which if you're visiting a lot of peer-to-peer websites or file sharing networks, you could see yourself ending up on the sharp end of a Fair Usage Policy. Some broadband providers will send out emails to customers who are excessively downloading as a warning to curb their usage, whereas others will simply reduce your connection speed, or even temporarily block access to the internet once a specified threshold limit has been breached.

Some ISPs will instead roll with a staggered usage policy, which has a finite monthly download limit of, say 10GB, for all web use during daytime or peak time hours, after which a totally unlimited usage policy is implemented. This means that if you're torrenting, patching, or downloading lots of data at once, then you can either wait until the peak time is over and start an overnight download - not good for the electricity bill, or your sleep patterns, unless it's Friday or you've not got work the next day.

Unlimited Broadband products usually form the premium high end level of broadband providers products, and are generally more expensive than other packages that come with a specified usage limit. However, some entry-level broadband products, most commonly those available on ADSL2+ and Cable Broadband services come with Unlimited usage as standard.