-
Using unmetered content to your advantage
Some RSPs offer unmetered content. This refers to content or services whose data usage isn’t counted against your monthly data allowance.
This is particularly common in mobile broadband services, which may come bundled with unmetered access to entire services such as Foxtel, Apple Music, and streaming movie and sport channels. The following table shows nbn® Sky Muster® metered and unmetered content:
-
-
Frequently Asked Questions
-
1 How does unmetering work?
Let’s say you have a Telstra Bigpond mobile broadband plan with 4GB of data. This plan includes complimentary access to Foxtel. You decide to stream a series on Foxtel using your Telstra iPad over a long weekend, consuming 10GB of data. Additionally, you watch two movies on Netflix, which uses up another 2GB of data.
By the end of the weekend, you only have 2GB of your original 4GB data allocation left. However, from Telstra’s perspective, the 10GB of Foxtel content you streamed doesn’t count against your data usage. This is because Telstra treats certain content, like Foxtel, as “unmetered,” meaning it doesn’t deduct from your data allowance.
However, this unmetering only applies to the specific connection you use. If you were to access Foxtel on the same iPad but through a different connection, such as your standard nbn® Sky Muster® satellite connection, it would consume your metered satellite data.
You should contact your RSP (Retail Service Provider) to understand what content is unmetered under your plan.
It’s important to remember that unmetering does not apply when accessing the internet via International Roaming.
Although the main content on an unmetered site doesn’t count against your data usage, certain elements sourced from other metered websites, like advertisements, YouTube videos, Google Maps, or social media services, may still use up your data allowance.
-
2 What is off-peak data?
Plans such as the nbn® Sky Muster® satellite plans distinguish between peak and off-peak data usage times. Such plans often provide extremely generous data allowances for the quieter, off-peak period.
The trade-off is that you need to be able to use data at those times. Rather than trying to fit these sometimes awkward times into your schedule, you can organise and schedule software to perform tasks during off-peak times without being present.
Schedule Software Tasks During Off-Peak TimesTask Description Schedule uploads/exports Schedule the exporting of large or computer-intensive files, such as photo or video files, during off-peak hours. Schedule YouTube uploads Utilise the YouTube Upload Timer extension on Google Chrome to schedule video uploads to YouTube during off-peak hours. The extension is not available for any other browser (for example, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox). To access this extension, use the following resources:
Schedule downloads There are software packages called Download managers that allow you to schedule the download of large files from a remote computer to your own. These recent lists from Lifewire and Techradar include some software packages that permit scheduling large downloads. - Free Download Manager (FDM)
- Ninja Download Manager
- GetGo Download Manager
- Download Accelerator Manager (DAM)
- Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)
- Xtreme Download Manager (XDM)
Note that we haven’t tested all these applications, and cannot recommend one over another for any specific situation.
Record/download video files Use the PlayOn Cloud mobile app to record and download video files during off-peak times; most suitable for satellite connections, those experiencing network congestion or wanting to download movies/clips for offline use e.g plane trips and travel. Set your connection to metered If you have a metered Internet connection, setting your network connection to metered in Windows can help you reduce the amount of data you send and receive, and prevent Windows Update from automatically downloading and installing updates. Check here to see how to make the changes.
Web Page Optimisation (WPO) nbn® SkyMuster® uses a system called Web Page Optimisation (WPO) to help speed up page loading. Consider disabling it to avoid counting pre-fetched data towards your account quota. While this may mean you may experience some pages loading a little slower, many people don’t notice a real change in speed. Task
Schedule uploads/exportsDescription Schedule the exporting of large or computer-intensive files, such as photo or video files, during off-peak hours.
Task
Schedule YouTube uploadsDescription Utilise the YouTube Upload Timer extension on Google Chrome to schedule video uploads to YouTube during off-peak hours. The extension is not available for any other browser (for example, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox).
To access this extension, use the following resources:
Task
Schedule downloadsDescription There are software packages called Download managers that allow you to schedule the download of large files from a remote computer to your own. These recent lists from Lifewire and Techradar include some software packages that permit scheduling large downloads.
- Free Download Manager (FDM)
- Ninja Download Manager
- GetGo Download Manager
- Download Accelerator Manager (DAM)
- Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)
- Xtreme Download Manager (XDM)
Note that we haven’t tested all these applications, and cannot recommend one over another for any specific situation.
Task
Record/download video filesDescription Use the PlayOn Cloud mobile app to record and download video files during off-peak times; most suitable for satellite connections, those experiencing network congestion or wanting to download movies/clips for offline use e.g plane trips and travel.
Task
Set your connection to meteredDescription If you have a metered Internet connection, setting your network connection to metered in Windows can help you reduce the amount of data you send and receive, and prevent Windows Update from automatically downloading and installing updates.
Check here to see how to make the changes.
Task
Web Page Optimisation (WPO)Description nbn® SkyMuster® uses a system called Web Page Optimisation (WPO) to help speed up page loading. Consider disabling it to avoid counting pre-fetched data towards your account quota. While this may mean you may experience some pages loading a little slower, many people don’t notice a real change in speed.
-
-
Explore more of our resources
-
Didn't find the answers you were after?
Chat to us on our hotline with one of our team members and let’s get the conversation started. If we don’t answer, we’ll get back to you in no time at all.