Do you find that your family is constantly running close to exceeding your monthly data cap from your internet service provider? If so, you may be stressing about not going over your limits to avoid potential overages. Here are some tips to manage your data so that you do not exceed your monthly allotment.

Use Bandwidth Monitors

The best way to control your data use is to monitor how much you are using on a daily basis. It will help to use a bandwidth monitor on your computer so you can have a good idea about how much data you are using at any given moment. If you have abnormally high data usage one day, you can try scaling back your usage the next day to make up for it.

Upgrade Your Router

Of course, bandwidth monitors on individual devices do not monitor your internet connection as a whole. It may be worth it to upgrade your router to one that monitors bandwidth for every device connected to it. You can easily see which devices are using a lot of data, how much data has been used and find ways to cut back.

For example, you may have discovered that a video game console has been downloading a lot of data overnight for game updates that are not being used. This can inspire you to turn off automatic updates so that data use is minimized. You can also use the router to set limits on certain devices, and cut off data when it exceeds a daily or monthly limit. Contact an internet service provider to learn more about upgrading.

Use Low-Quality Streaming

Did your family cut the cord and now exclusively streams their television shows through streaming services? This can cause data usage to spike, especially if people are streaming 4K resolution shows. Consider lowering your video quality settings to 1080p or 720p so that they use less data. Then you do not have to worry as much if someone in your household leaves their favorite show running in the background all day long.

Use Offline Modes

Many music streaming services allow you to stream almost anything from the cloud so that all your music doesn't need to be saved locally. However, streaming music all day can use a lot of data. Try using offline listening modes so that the songs you listen to the most are stored locally instead of streaming them every time that you want to listen to them.