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Bandwidth Usage and Limits
Bandwidth is the amount of data transmitted over the network in a given period of time – for instance, 10 megabits per second. In the context of the Public Network, bandwidth refers to the amount of data that you download to or transmit from your computer during a one-week period. Bandwidth usage is reset once a week on your reset day, which is when you receive your weekly bandwidth allowance.
As a user of the Public Network, you have a limited amount of external bandwidth that you may consume each week at no cost. Restrictions to external bandwidth consumption are in place to ensure that bandwidth is distributed equally among users of both the Public Network and UTnet, the campus backbone network. Exceeding your limit of external bandwidth will cause you to be moved to the slower second-class network for up to one week, until your reset day. These limits apply to 'restricted.utexas.edu', 'guest.utexas.edu', and the wired Public Network.
There are no bandwidth restrictions for on-campus usage. For example, if you are using Blackboard on campus, you can download/upload as much information as you need.
| Role | Allocation/Week |
|---|---|
| Students | 500 Megabytes |
| Faculty | 10 Gigabytes |
| Full-time Staff and Official Visitors | 2 Gigabytes |
| Part-time Staff | 1 Gigabyte |
Monitoring Bandwidth
You can monitor your external bandwidth usage by visiting the External Bandwidth Quota page (UT EID or Guest ID required). This page shows your current usage, your reset day, and your bandwidth notification options.
Users on ‘guest.utexas.edu’ can see their bandwidth status by clicking Bandwidth in the Popup Window. This will show you whether you are in the 1st- or 2nd-Class service bracket.
How much external bandwidth you have available depends on how much you have used during the current week. Once you use your available external bandwidth, you will be moved to the slower second-class network.
The following table shows approximately how much bandwidth common Internet activities require.
| Activity | Average bandwidth per activity |
|---|---|
| One hour of text-based IM chatting on AOL or another IM client | ~0.01 MB |
| Sending one e-mail via Webmail, Gmail, etc. | ~0.2 MB if e-mail is plain text with no attachments |
| Uploading a photo to Flickr | Less than 1 MB, if the photo is resized to 1024 x 768 |
| Downloading a three-minute song from iTunes, Amazon, etc. | 2-5 MB, depending on the song and encoding quality |
| Watching a five-minute video clip from You Tube | ~5 MB (1 MB per minute, on average) |
| Using video chat on Skype for 15 minutes | 2.7-14.4 MB |
| Watching a two-hour streaming movie from Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, etc. | ~2 GB at 640 x 480 resolution |
| Listening to Pandora for one hour | 56.25 MB, assuming 128 Kbps streaming rate |
Supplemental Bandwidth
Students may subscribe to a Tiered PNA plan or purchase additional bandwidth to supplement default bandwidth allocations.
Departments may purchase supplemental bandwidth allocations for faculty and staff through the "Project Bandwidth" system. See your departmental network contact to initiate a request through the UTnet Utilities.
