Understanding Your Data Usage

 Unless you are on an Unlimited Data Plan, you will have a fixed cap of Data to use each month. The amount of Data you have can be found in the Customer Portal. There you can also find a breakdown of how much data you are using hourly, daily & monthly, etc.

Typical Data Users: 

General internet use, like web browsing, checking emails and standard-quality streaming don’t tend to use all that much data.

Below is the average data use of some popular streaming services, so you can get an idea of how much data it might use.

Netflix (on average per hour)

Neon (on average per hour)

TVNZ+/TVNZ on Demand (on average per hour)

Typical High Data Users:

Along with High-Quality Streaming, other big Data Users are typically large and/or consistent Down & Uploads. For example, installing new programs or software updates, device backups like OneDrive & Dropbox, and downloading and uploading large files will all use a fair bit of data as you might expect. 

It’s worth also being mindful of downloads or backups that run for a long time, as they might not use as much data as streaming does per hour, but if left on can put a dent in your Data cap.

Off-Peak Free Data Hours:

Between the hours of 12 am and 8 am, any data you use won’t count against your Data Cap, so it's essentially free! Therefore, if you are on a Data Capped plan, it’s a good idea to schedule any large Downloads or Updates for after 12am, so it doesn’t chew up any of your monthly data amount.

How can I see what is using my data?

If you find that you are using more data than you might expect, it’s a good idea to log into the Customer Portal to get a breakdown of how much data is used and when. 

Due to privacy and technical reasons, we can’t collect information on device-specific data usage on our end. If you’re unsure what device could be using the data, you can try turning off devices connected to the Internet, until you see the Data use stop to nail down where it's coming from.

Data Overage 

When you are running out of data or exceeding your data cap, we will send out email notifications when you have used 80%, 100%  of your data allowance and for every GB over the cap to let you know.  

For every Gigabyte (GB) of data you go over the cap by, you will be charged $0.50 in overage fees. That amount can addup, so if you find that you are consistently going over your data cap, it might be a good idea to upgrade your plan. You can do that in the Customer Portal’s Data section, or by reaching out to our Sales & Accounts Team.