Do you have enough data to survive another lockdown?
DID YOU KNOW
The average Australian household is now using around 85GB of broadband data per month and growing now more of us are working from home.
[source: whistleout]
Victoria is back in lockdown with a very grim outlook regarding how long they’ll be there.
New South Wales may not be far behind.
Other states and territories have sealed off their borders to Coronavirus hotspots.
No matter where you are in Australia right now, COVID-19 related interruptions to normal life are still a reality, with further restrictions looming.
Do you have enough nbn™ satellite data to survive another lockdown?
Jump into your way back machine and see if you recall your life before COVID-19.
It may seem like such an obscure reality now, but I bet back then you thought you needed a lot of internet data.
Then came COVID-19 and you were forced into lockdown.
At that time, you may have increased your nbn™ satellite internet plan to account for working and/or studying from home. Or, you may have scraped by on the additional COVID-19 relief data nbn™ had been giving out.
Then we were all told it was ok: we could go back to work and school.
So, you may have breathed a big sigh of relief and – among other things – dropped your nbn™ satellite internet plan back because you thought you could save some money.
But now that some of the country looks set for further restrictions, it’s starting to look like we all made some very premature decisions about returning to a pre-COVID way of life.
If you have to go back into lockdown (or maybe you are already back in lockdown), do you know how much data you really need, whether you have enough on your current nbn™ satellite plan, or if you’ll need more?
Trying to work out the answer to exactly how much data you need can seem daunting.
Below are some data usage statistics that can help you get a picture of what you might need and whether you need to change your plan to survive another lockdown.
How much data do you really need?
| Category | Data Use |
|---|---|
| Approximately 2GB per month, but auto-play videos can use more. | |
| Skype | Approximately 25MB per hour using video. Less for voice. |
| Cloud programs | This depends on the file size you’re transferring. These cloud-based programs use no more data than normal web browsing except for the size of the file you’re actually transferring. You will use data on downloading if you decide to install a desktop version of your Cloud program. Download size examples: • Dropbox desktop app o Mac – 372.8 MB o Windows – 645KB • Evernote desktop app o Mac – 161.8 MB o Windows – 369.28 MB • Slack desktop app o Mac – 197.5 MB o Windows – 179.16 MB • Teams desktop app o Mac – 241.6 MB o Windows – 94MB |
| Emails | 50kb for the average text only email |
| Video streaming | 1 GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video. |
| Gaming | Downloads on any device can range from 30 – 100GB with updates being 5 – 15GB. Gameplay can range from 40 – 150MB per hour |
| Audio streaming | You will use approximately 1GB per 8-hour workday of streaming depending on the stream quality |
| Education platforms | These will vary, especially if you’re using a cloud-based program or need to download a desktop version first. Download size examples: • Blackboard mobile device o Apple – 98.6MB o Android – 74MB • Moodle desktop o Mac – 62.7MB o Windows – 188.32MB |
| Web-browsing | Approximately 2MB per page |
[Data sources: SkyMesh, Blackboard, Moodle, Canstar, whistleOut, Lifewire, Netflix, Dropbox, Evernote, Slack, Teams, Skype]
What’s next now you’ve estimated your data use?
Sky Muster™ Plus landed to a tremendously excited market back in April 2020. Thousands of people hit up our phones with a great sense of urgency for their new connection. Many more existing customers upgraded from the standard Sky Muster™ service.
The convincing factor? More online freedom than they’ve ever experienced before.
Suddenly, a new service (well, amazing updates to an existing nbn™ satellite service) became available, giving rural nbn™ satellite users unmetered internet for just about every day-to-day online activity.
The only things not included in the unmetered internet allowance on Sky Muster™ Plus are video streaming and Virtual Private Network (VPN) traffic.
The nbn’s Fair Use Policy (150GB peak use and 150GB off-peak use maximums) also remains in play so that everyone has plenty of access to satellite internet.
Other than that, it’s pretty well free reign.
Download our infographic cheat-sheet for more on what’s unmetered
“Sky Muster™ Plus has made the world of difference to not only our business but our day to day lives. Having so much internet usage unmetered means we can utilise advancing technologies for our business without forgoing luxuries such as streaming movies and social media which are important to keep our family connected.”
Kylie Stretton – BIRRR co-founder (Charters Tower, QLD)
[IMAGE SOURCE: Ivan Marc / Shutterstock.com]
What is the difference between Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus?
See the differences in detail here
CHECK OUT THE COMPARISON TABLE
You can find a detailed comparison table by hitting the button above, but here’s a quick highlights roll:
Sky Muster™
Sky Muster™ is a 100 per cent a pay-as-you-use product.
Absolutely everything you do online consumes data and counts towards your monthly allowance.
No exceptions.
Sky Muster™ Plus
With Sky Muster™ Plus, you’re really buying a dedicated video streaming allowance (or data to use a VPN if you really need too, but that’s far less interesting than bingeing Netflix and we’ve got usage tips for you).
Everything else you want to do online is unmetered and doesn’t chew into your data allowance.
All you have to do is figure out how much TV you want to watch online and choose a data plan to match.
Absolutely love Sky Muster™ Plus. Our usage is so much more now we have access to unmetered data. No more checking our usage daily (with kids home especially) and constantly limiting everyone’s usage so we don’t get shaped before the end of the month. If metered data runs out, I can still access everything. At a reasonable monthly cost, I highly recommend Sky Muster™ Plus.
Nancy Ernst (Meandarra, QLD)
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