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Fair Usage Policy FAQ

What is the Fair Use Policy (FUP)?
As part of our commitment to providing excellent quality, faster download speeds and reliable service, Demon has a Fair Use Policy on its Broadband services. The Fair Usage Policy (or FUP as it's commonly referred too) contains usage guidelines for customers using the Demon Broadband services to ensure that customers act reasonably when using the service.
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Why has an FUP been implemented?
While we encourage Demon Broadband customers to take full advantage of the excellent quality of service and faster download speeds, we have an obligation to ensure that all customers receive the best possible service at all times.

The application of the Fair Use Policy (FUP) ensures that we continue to provide an acceptable standard of service in terms of download speeds, across all our Broadband services.
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Does the FUP policy apply to me?
We will continually measure the performance of our Broadband network and take steps to restrict the download speeds of very heavy users during peak periods, should their activities significantly contribute towards the risk of reduced speeds being experienced by the majority of our Broadband customers.

The Fair Use Policy (FUP) applies to Demon Home 8000, Demon Home Office 8000 and Reseller HomeOffice 8000 broadband customers only.
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How is the FUP measured?
We continually measure the performance of our Broadband network and measure customer usage over a day 30 rolling period.
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You say you are measuring my downloads over a rolling 30 day period. What does this mean?
It means that on any given day, the figure that has been calculated in order to determine whether or not you have exceeded the limits we deem acceptable, has been reached by adding together the amount downloaded for the previous 30 days. So as each day goes by, and your 30th day becomes the 31st, it is no longer included in the total.
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What are the FUP limits?
We currently regard 50GB as being a fair maximum usage level of downloads during a rolling 30 day period for Home 8000 customers and 60GB for HomeOffice 8000 and RSL HomeOffice customers.

Please note that these limits are guidelines and are subject to change.
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How will I be notified?
An email notification will be sent to the customers' 'Billing contact' email address held on THUS' systems to advise of excessive usage, once this has been identified by the network monitoring process. The initial notification acts as a warning notice that, based on current usage levels, a customer continuing to use the service at their present download rates risks breaching the FUP limits. This enables customers to adjust their usage downwards rather than moving into breach of the FUP.

If a customers usage remains high, following the initial notification email, and moved above the stated FUP limits, a further email will be sent notifying the customer of a service restriction.
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I知 receiving multiple notification emails. Why is this?
If a customers usage is such that the total for the rolling 30 days fluctuates either side of our warning thresholds, multiple warning emails may be received each time that threshold is breached. This is nothing to worry about, and if anything may serve as an indication that unless the customers usage changes substantially the restriction is unlikely to be applied to this line, because the customer is never actually reaching the limit.
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What happens when I知 restricted?
In the event that a customer is restricted in line with the Demon Fair Use Policy, their connection will be automatically dropped, and they will be required to reconnect to the Broadband service. Most Broadband routers will do this automatically, though USB modem users may have to manually re-establish the connection as normal.
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When will the FUP restrictions apply?
For the small minority of customers who excessively use the service on a regular basis, their service will be restricted between the hours of 9am to 11pm, 7 days a week
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How long will FUP restriction last and how do I become unrestricted?
Should a customer be restricted in line with the Fair Use Policy, usage will continue to be measured on a rolling 30 day basis. When usage returns within the limits identified as acceptable, the restriction will be removed automatically. When this occurs, another notification email will be sent confirming the removal of the restriction. As with the restriction, the connection will again be automatically disconnected, so that following reconnection, normal service will be resumed.
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What happens if my usage rises again after I have been unrestricted?
Having been unrestricted, if a customers' rolling 30 days usage totals again rise above the acceptable limits, a warning email, followed by a restriction email and a restriction of service will occur as previously described.
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How can I manage my service usage?
We recommend that customers should be mindful of their usage to stay within reasonable usage levels. Typically, it should be quite difficult for a customer that uses their Broadband connection for lots of web browsing, frequent email use, hours of online gaming every day, or even a combination of all three, to risk being restricted. While many customers may think that online gaming, for example, requires a lot of data to be uploaded and downloaded, the truth is that most games only require around 5 to 10KB/sec. Based on these figures, most online games could be played 24 hours a day 7 days a week and still only amount to approximately 20-25GB of download per month. For reasons such as this, we would only typically expect customers performing frequent large file downloads to be affected.

For example, most movies downloads will range from approx 1GB to 5GB, so a 50GB limit allows customers to download approximately 10 and 50 of these a month before being restricted. As another example, an average MP3 music file is between 5 and 10MB, so a 50GB limit allows approximately 5000-10000 of these.

Obviously, combinations of the above or other types of usage will increase total usage figures.
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I am concerned that my current usage seems very low, yet I have been restricted?
While most web browsing only takes up a relatively small amount of download usage, there are a number of applications and activities that can consume large amounts of Internet bandwidth without it being made particularly obvious. Examples of these include:


- File sharing

Commonly referred to as a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, file sharing applications allow you to share files on your hard drive with other Internet users. Programs such as Limewire, Kazaa and BitTorrent allow multiple files to be uploaded/downloaded between connected computers and often create excessive usage without the knowledge of the user.


- Email with large file attachments

Sending and receiving emails, with attachments (such as other emails, or pictures), alone does not usually generate excessive usage. However if a customer downloads enough large file attachments via email, this may have a significant impact on the rolling 30 day download total.


- Malicious activity

In addition to software that is installed on your computer, there may be programs on your computer that also affect your Internet usage without your knowledge. This includes Hacking, Viruses and Spyware.

In addition to the software that is knowingly installed on your computer, there are a number of types of malicious activity that in turn can result in Internet traffic. A few examples are:

Hacking attempts - Hacking is typically when a person or program attempts to break into your computer without your prior authorisation or knowledge. Usually the intent is to gain access to your computer and then use it in fraudulent ways, which often can create excessive usage. A good way to prevent unauthorised access is to consider using a Hardware/Software Firewall. For example, Windows XP users should make sure that the Windows Firewall in XP is turned on, and similarly that your computer is up to date with the latest Operating System updates.

Viruses/Trojan Horses - In the event that your computer becomes infected with a virus or Trojan horse, this could have an adverse affect on your usage. For example some use your computer as a relay for sending out mass emails over your Internet connection. The recommended way to protect your computer against this threat, is to install proprietary anti-virus software and ensure that updates to the virus signatures are applied regularly.

Spyware differs from a virus as it is less malicious although for the general user it can also cause great frustration. When Spyware gets onto your computer it gathers information on the web sites that you visit. This is then used by advertisers, who in turn will then send banner advertising and screen pops up to your computer.

There are several applications available that can check and remove Spyware from your computer.


- Multiple users

Sharing an Internet connection between several users or computers within a household can impact usage. Although users will be sharing the connection, there is scope for different users to download more than others. If your computer is shared with other users, then we recommend checking how frequently they have been using the service and downloading files. If you are using a router to manage your Internet connection, you may find that by logging into the router in a web browser, there may be a traffic counter that indicates how much data has been uploaded and downloaded.


- Wireless Access

If you access the Internet via a wireless connection at home, then it is highly recommend that this is secured with a secure encryption key. This is a password that is configured on the Router. The password is also entered onto your PC when setting up the wireless connection and this authenticates your computer to use the wireless service.

In the event that your home wireless connection is unsecured, it can mean that any users with a wireless device, within a certain range of your wireless modem/router can use your connection to access the Internet and download files.

Please note, Demon Broadband pre-configured routers have wireless encryption enabled as part of the standard configuration.

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