Data use on Web

I've noticed at my flat that my computer, which runs Windows 7 and Firefox, uses a stack more data when web surfing compared to my flatmates who use XP and IE.

So the question is: Does Windows 7 use a lot more data than XP to perform the same tasks when on the web? Likewise does Firefox (or Safari) use more data than IE to perform the same tasks online?

(Basically we've noticed this problem after going well over our data allocations with our ISP, the problem was in part excessive use, but its also made us aware that equivalent use on different machines seems not to require equivalent amounts of data; i.e. my flatmate can surf the web for ages, stream videos, etc, and his use stays below tens of MBs wheras mine gets into the tens and hundreds fairly quickly if i do the same).

Have discovered we need to look into the unit of measurement - my computer is giving me figures in bytes, my flatmates is measured in packets.

We havent convered into a common measure for comparison so far ...

You can't really convert packets to bytes.

The short answer is that no, Win 7 does not chew through any more data than XP does. Same with browsers.

How come they can't be converted kris?

We are a bit screwed in monitoring individual use if this can't be done

Its like comparing a 1000 buckets that are full of water to vastly different degrees to the actual amount of water. A byte is always the same. A packet is just one occurence of a data transfer.

Get a metering program. But there really should be a big difference unless you have a virus or lots of updates.

Ah that explains it ...
Can you recommend a metering programme?

I was a bit surprised when my flatmate shows me his computer and says "Look i've only downloaded 800,000 KBs and i've watched all these you tube videos and i streamed three half hour programms." Turns out he was talking packets. If i did that on my computer, at a guess, i'd be looking at a GB of data.

It looks like windows 7 gives you the info in bytes, but XP only in packets - which appears now to be rather useless, at least for this specific need.

and that is only for as long as it has that ip address - if it resets it will start from scratch again.

a quick google came up with this list. It seems more legit that many but I havent used any of them. At a guess this type of software would be one that attracts malicious programs so be a little bit careful.

Of course theres no guarantee that your flatmate will leave it on all the time so use it on yours and deduct that from the total to work out the rest.

How big is your cap? It must be pretty small if its just web browsing thats maxing it.

We (4) buy 26GB thru Orcan, useage per month is in the 40-50GB range. There's obvioulsy a lot of downloading and streaming of videos and programmes going on. I can pretty much manage my use by recording the number of bytes each time before i turn the computer off, but with three others there's no knowing how to allocate costs.

shit, even watching crap loads of you tube wouldnt use up that much. If you have the password to the router you could probably work out who is using torrents or the like.

Guessing you're on the Bronze+ plan at present. That means your bill is:

$69.95 for 1gb
$25 for 25gb upgrade
25gb x $2 for the additional usage each month
= $144.95

I would suggest switching to a 50gb upgrade pack, which means your bill will be:
$69.95
$50 upgrade
=$119.95

bob: most routers aren't going to tell him dick about any kind of usage. especially if they are using the Siemens SX765 Orcon provide. On top of that, most people don't bother setting up their router for torrenting, since it's not really needed any more, especially since most clients and routers can just speak UPnP to each other and make it happen, so you wont even see ports forwarded.

Also:
Windows 7 > Network and Sharing Centre > Local Area Connection


Windows XP > Network Connections > Local Area Connection > Status


Both show in bytes?

That plan makes sense kris, but seeing as a i have one flatmate who claims to use his computer for emails and a bit of trade me only, its going to be hard to get consensus on a better value plan, when its more expensive all up. Plus i could imagine us just burning even more Gigs and having discontent about share of costs.

I'll check those pic thingeys (so technical i know) you posted, pretty sure my flatmates with XP are in packets, whereas me and another flatmate on W7 are in bytes. Maybe there's a way to change the unit of measure.

Sounds like you need something like net peeker
http://www.net-peeker.com/
That'll sort em out.