When you sign up with an Internet service provider, you should know exactly what you are getting. You will have a download speed, upload speed, and a possible data cap that you need to follow. Hard caps will shut off the Internet once they are surpassed and soft ones may just slow down the connection. It may also be possible to purchase more data when you surpass the cap in a billing cycle. The ideal way to handle this situation is to avoid reaching these caps and to maintain maximum speed for your connection.

Transfer Files Between Computers

If you and your spouse play computer games together, you may end up downloading the same game on two computers. Normally, you might go through the download process on each one, but this takes up twice the amount of data that you need to use to install the game on each computer. The best solution is to download the game on one computer, put it on an external hard drive, and transfer it to the other.

Wait for the End of the Cycle

If you have a soft cap, you have a lot of leeway to work with when it comes to limitations. Since you know that your connection is not going to be turned off, the main issue is just having slower speeds across the board. The best way to handle large downloads is to wait until near the end of the monthly cycle. This way, you can download as much as you need to and even if you end up going over, it will not be that troublesome. You may only have to work with slow speeds for a day or two until everything resets.

Buy a Backup Hard Drive

A backup hard drive is useful to have for your entire household to use. When the hard drives on your computers start running out of room, you can transfer the nonessential files over to the additional hard drive. This is a routine thing to do with games that you may no longer be playing, but that you intend on playing in the future. Instead of uninstalling them and downloading them again at another time, you can just transfer them to the hard drive and back to your computer when you feel like playing.

By following these tips, you will have an easier time staying under and making sure that the cap does not affect how your household uses the Internet in a negative way.