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quotas and shaping

Will VOIP effect my quota?
No, VOIP only uses small amounts of data (around 2-3 KB a second) this will not be added to your quota, therefore your quota will be completely unaffected.

What is off-peak time?
For customers on our currently sold plans and formerly sold First Timer, Frequent User, Fanatic, Business Light, Business Medium, Business Heavy and Business Max plans, off-peak time is from 2am to 12 noon (your local time), which as it implies is when the network is typically less congested. Please note: if you are in NT, your off-peak time will be based on Adelaide time due to our server configurations.

If you are on one of our older plans, you can find details of your peak/off peak timing by logging into Toolbox and selecting 'Volume Usage' from your account tools.

What is counted towards my monthly quota?
Our broadband plans don't count uploads in your quota - they're free. Only downloads are counted towards your peak or off peak usage (quota). Naked DSL includes uploads and downloads.

Where can I view my quota?
You can view your quota online at any time within the toolbox volume usage tool. This tool allows you to see how much your monthly quota is along with your usage patterns to help you budget your quota allocation.

What is shaping? What happens when I exceed my quota?
Shaping is the technical term used for slowing the speed of your connection when you reach your total traffic allowance for the period in which it has been allocated. If you exceed your download limit, your connection speed will be "shaped" to a slower speed.

This involves slowing your broadband connection to 64kbps (which is still faster than dial-up) for the period in which you have exceeded your quota. We only slow you for the period (on or off-peak) in which you've exceeded your quota. At the end of your monthly cycle, the normal speeds of your plan will resume and your quota will be reset. But don't worry, even if your account is shaped, you can continue to download and pay nothing more than your flat-rate. For example: if you have the Home 4 plan with VOIP on the iinetwork (broadband2+) and your volume usage exceeded 10GB during either peak or 20GB during off-peak periods your account would be shaped to 64Kb for the remainder of the period that you have exceeded your limit. Unlike some providers we do not charge for excess traffic downloads on our broadband1 or broadband2+ range of home broadband accounts.

What constitutes a month for my monthly data allowance?
To calculate the amount of quota that has been used, we count the amount of traffic on a monthly basis. The month is based on your anniversary date, or the date in which your account was activated. If you exceed your quota during the month (from your anniversary date to the next month's anniversary date) you stay shaped until the next month's anniversary date is reached.

For example: If your account was activated on the 15th, your quota is calculated to the 15th of the next month, and your allocated traffic will reset at 12:01am on the 15th of every month). If you have not exceeded your traffic allocation for peak or off-peak, your connection will remain at full speed during that period. You are only shaped for the period in which you exceed the allocation. You can view your anniversary date in the volume usage tool in toolbox.

What quota do I get when I bundle?
Our unbundled (broadband only) plans have an anytime quota, which means no matter the time of day that you are online it will count towards the quota that is specified on your chosen plan.

When you bundle, your quota is set out in terms of a peak and off peak allocation. When you add the peak and off peak quota together, your total quota is significantly higher than what you would get on the equivalent unbundled plan. Check out our broadband plans to find out how much quota you get on our bundled and unbundled plans.

What happens to my quota if I change plans part way through my billing cycle?
The quota you have used so far will be deducted from the peak and off peak quota allocation of your new plan. At the start of your next billing cycle you will receive the full quota available on your new plan.

Your download quota is automatically time stamped so that we know which time allocation (peak or off peak) to deduct it from. This means that if you are moving from an anytime plan to a plan with peak and off peak quota, we will be able to count it appropriately.

For example:

Sample Quota Graph

Current plan download quota: 20GB peak, 20GB off peak
New plan download quota: 10GB peak, 20GB off peak
Quota already downloaded: 4GB during new plan's peak hours (12noon to 2am), and 2GB during new plan's off peak hours (2am to 12noon)
Quota left on new plan until new billing cycle: 6GB peak, 18GB off peak

If the new plan you are changing to has less quota than what you have already used on your current plan, you will be shaped to 64kbps within the period you have exceeded your quota limit (peak or off peak) until your next billing cycle. But don't worry, even if your account is shaped, you can continue to download at 64kbps.

Rest assured you will be able to see the effect that changing your plan will have on your quota through toolbox before you choose to make the change.

Does data downloaded on the dial-up account contribute to my quota?
Yes. Usage will be deducted from the monthly download quota allocated to your broadband plan. Please also note that you cannot use your broadband account AND the dial-up account at the same time, due to login restrictions.

What is the Free Zone?
All broadband accounts include access to the Free Zone. The Free Zone is a selection of servers and sites on the Internet that you can access without it counting towards your quota or download limit. If you do reach your quota, downloads from anywhere in the free zone are not affected by shaping, so you can still access it at full speed!

Learn more in our Free Zone support guide.