There are quite a few tools available to the general public that can help you monitor your monthly internet usage limit. Seeing as unlimited plans are not considered the standard in the United States, these tools can be seen as almost necessary to avoid overspending.
- Mar 15, 2017 Putting restrictions on Internet usage include allowing designated devices to access the router’s network, setting day and time limitations when the device is connected to the router. Putting these restrictions, you can keep a tab on Internet data usage effectively. To do this, follow these steps.
- Bandwidth+ is a simple app so only tracks the network usage on the Mac it is running on. If you are tethered to an iPhone then it will count the usage while tethered. At the moment local network traffic is not ignored so Time Capsule backups are counted. A future version will be smarter and ignore Time Capsule data.
May 18, 2019 Here is how to reduce Internet data usage (bandwidth) If you are concerned with data usage or network bandwidth, you may want to try the tips below: 1-This tip involves enabling Content Caching. Content Caching is a macOS feature. What this feature does is to save content on your Mac that your Mac (and other local networked devices, like iOS.
Most users are unaware of how much data they’re using on a per month basis. With tools like Netguard and Bitmeter II, you can easily create customized access profiles, set limits on your internet usage, and monitor daily data consumption for both active and idle programs and applications.
All of these features can aid you in determining monthly cost estimates and a plan of action.
Mac App Data Location
Monitoring your internet data usage is not only about preventing a monthly overcharge or enacting speed limitations. You’ll also get a better understanding of which programs and apps are using the bulk of your bandwidth. This will allow you to reorganize your system and maximize overall performance.
The tools provided below will cover internet monitoring apps for use on both PC and Mac operating systems. Most of those mentioned will be both free and relatively simple to use so you shouldn’t face any real issues setting things up and placing limits on internet usage.
Glasswire
GlassWire is a popular free monitoring tool that allows you to keep tabs on your system and network activity. Worried about apps or processes accessing the internet without prior approval? Glasswire allows you to easily set up notifications to alert you of any funny business.
You can set various restrictions, create firewall profiles, and block individual apps all while tracking both active and idle apps currently in use.
Glasswire comes with a lot of privacy and security features. Through graphs, you’ll be able to see which apps are sending out data, which country the host is located in, and the servers that they are communicating with.
You’ll receive information for each IP address that your apps connect to including the host country and total data usage.
Bandwidth+
Bandwidth+ is the go-to monitor tool for Mac users who tend to have very limited options from which to choose from. Unlike Windows users who have access to a wide range of tracking apps, Mac users usually rely on the built-in monitoring feature that doesn’t provide an overview of the data usage.
An incredibly easy to use monitoring tool, just install it and you can find it on your status bar. Launch the app and quickly glance over your internet activity including downloads, uploads, and total data usage, which includes all outgoing and incoming traffic.
As long as your iPhone and Mac are physically connected, Bandwidth+ can also help you monitor your iPhone data usage. Of course, both devices will need to be connected to the same internet connection in order for this to work.
Net Guard
Net Guard may be the most popular free app available for monitoring internet usage on Windows OS as well as Android devices. It’s a great monthly internet traffic monitoring tool. By setting a traffic limit, Net Guard can help you avoid going over your monthly bandwidth threshold.
It offers you the option to monitor all activity in real-time from an on-screen floating window, and a reliable notification system that will always notify you of which apps and processes are currently in use.
The UI enables you to check both past and present bandwidth usage through graphs and charts making planning ahead less of a chore.
BitMeter II
![App App](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126008137/420831924.png)
Looking for an internet usage monitor that provides real-time information and allows you to export all data into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet? BitMeter II can accommodate. This app has an interactive UI that delivers data usage information in a more vibrant way with the use of a colored scrolling graph.
Dive deep into various metrics in real-time making it easier to follow all internet activity at any given moment. Avoid internet speed throttling or additional fees courtesy of your ISP by enacting various restrictions to ensure that you never go over your limit.
Solarwinds Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor
Internet Data Usage App Mac Pro
Solar Winds’ answer to internet monitoring is their Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor. It comes with an incredibly easy to navigate UI and grants access to real-time information for free. Track both incoming and outgoing traffic in real-time via a line or easy-to-read graph chart. You can even do so on multiple interfaces simultaneously if necessary.
Willing to take the plunge and drop cash on such a powerful tool? Solarwinds offers a full list of additional features. Upon request, they will provide all recent history reports to pinpoint data spikes and adjust your internet usage to keep costs down.
You’ll be able to map out your entire network, receive a hop-by-hop analysis of the what and where your apps are being hosted, and set up network alert notifications to ensure that you stay on top of all data being used and when.
Final Thoughts
At this time, these are easily the best tools out there to help monitor your internet usage. Used appropriately, any of them will help you avoid overcharge fees or internet speed throttling, whichever the case may be with your current ISP.
iOS can help you you stay under your data plan limit so that you can save on your mobile bill. Even though many carriers are now offering unlimited data plans, we, however, often see unexpected charges or other hidden charges and limits. There are many ways to reduce cellular data usage. This article explains how you can reduce your data usage on your iPhone.
This article explains how you can limit and manage your cellular (mobile) data usage on your iPhone. You may find this article very helpful especially if you have an unlimited data plan. I, myself, find that I go over my monthly data allowance data. Then, I have only one option to avoid incurring additional charges: I need to either throttle back your data usage. If this is the case for you also, it is time to make changes. Luckily, iOS offers great features to do this.
This article is mostly optimized for the latest version of the iOS software. For earlier iOS versions, please see this article.
The focus of this article is on limiting and controlling cellular data use, if your phone cannot connect to a cellular network, see this article.
See also: How to reduce bandwidth on Mac
Keep Your Data Use in Check
The first step is to know how much data you’re using. Check your data usage on your iPhone. On your device go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. Scroll down and you will see your apps, in order of data usage. If you do not want a certain app to use cellular data, you can turn mobile data off this app. In fact, I disabled Netflix. So The Netflix app does not use data. You may want to do this as well for similar apps, especially if Wi-Fi Assist is enabled. Because your phone may switch to use cellular data while you were watching a Netflix movie. And this may use a lot of data.
How to manage and control data use on your iPhone
Please see the following tips. These tips will help you save data on your iPhone. Most of these tips, when they are applied, will help you restrict data requirements to Wi-Fi:
See also: Cannot Download Photo: iCloud Library, Fix
- Disable/enable data usage. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular. You can turn off and on Cellular Data. There are other settings that you may want to explore. Under the “Cellular Data” section, you may learn how much data you have used in a given period. If you scroll down, you can reset this by tapping Reset Statistics.
- Tap Cellular Data Options and here you can enable LTE or 4G. There are three options here: (a) Off (b) Voice & Data, selecting this option will allow voice calls and cellular data over LTE or 4G (c) Data, this option will allow only cellular data over LTE.
- You may also want to turn off or on Data Roaming.
- You can also see how much data you have used in a given period. See the “Cellular Data” section. You can reset these statistics by tapping Reset Statistics (scroll down).
- See current data usage. Some apps may use cellular data to connect to the Internet. You can limit this. If your phone is not connected to a Wi-Fi connection, your phone will use cellular data. You can also turn off or on cellular data for certain apps. Go to Settings > Cellular and find the “Cellular Data” section. You can which apps are using cellular data. Try to figure out why some apps using the most data. You can prevent any apps from using cellular data. If you want to do so, simply toggle off for that app. When you turn this off, disabled apps will only use Wi-Fi to access to the Internet. There are several apps that you can control, such as:
- Photos. Photo updates, like iCloud photo updates, may use cellular data. You can also change its cellular data settings by going to Settings > Photos to limit this. There are two options here (a) Cellular Data, toggle this off if you want to disable cellular data and (b) Unlimited Updates. If you enable the Cellular Data option, you may want to turn this off as this means your phone will employ unlimited cellular data use.
- TV. The TV app will let you watch content from many video provider services. For Playback, this app may use cellular data. You also can limit this by going to Settings > TV > and toggle “Use Cellular Data for Playback” off.
- Music. Your music library and artwork may use cellular data. You also can also limit this by going to Settings > Music > Cellular Data and you can enable or disable “Cellular Data”.
Stocks. The Stock app will use cellular data to retrieve data. You can turn this off by going to Settings > Stocks and toggle off “Cellular Data”.
- Limit background data usage. You may want to restrict background data because it is one of the biggest data users. If this is enabled, apps will be refreshed their content in the background when your device is connected to the Internet. For instance, a news app may update its content even when you are not running it. Go to Settings > General > Background App Fresh > Background App Fresh. There are three options: Off, Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi & Cellular Data. You may want to select Wi-Fi. Turning this off will also increase your battery life.
- Wi-Fi Assist. You may want to turn this off. If this is enabled, your iPhone will automatically use cellular data when you have a poor Wi-Fi connection. This may lead to some unwanted results. As stated above, I did not know I was watching Netflix over a cellular connection. Go to Settings > Cellular and scroll down to find this option.
- iCloud Drive. iCloud Drive is Apple’s version of cloud-based document management. This, iCloud Drive, will let you keep all your content and documents up to date across all your iOS and macOS devices. iCloud Drive will use cellular data when there is no Wi-Fi connection. You can limit this. Go to Settings > Cellular and scroll down and toggle off “iCloud Drive”. (see also: iCloud is full?)
- Automatic Downloads. If you enable automatic downloads (Settings > iTunes & App Store), your purchases (apps, musics, books, etc) on your iPhone or other iOS devices will download to all of your other devices. And this may use cellular data that you want to limit. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores and toggle off “Use Cellular Data”.
- Reading List. If you are using the Safari reading list, this may use cellular data to download for offline reading. You may want to disable this. Simply go to Settings > Safari > and turn off “Automatically Save Offline”. Another note, you may want to turn off auto-play videos in Safari.
- Mail. Ok. We do not recommend disabling mail to save cellular data (although you may want this, if you do, go to Settings > Mail and turn off “Cellular Data”). However, you may disable Fetch New Data or you may want to fetch mail less frequently. You can change these settings by going to Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Fetch New Data.
Other tips to cut back on iPhone data usage
- Use Wi-Fi whenever possible.
- Use Low Data Mode when needed. iOS has a new feature called Low Data Mode. When you turn this on, some iOS features and background network use are paused. For example, iCloud photo updates will be paused. This will help you reduce not only cellular data usage but also Wi-Fi. However, it may not be best to keep this off forever. You can access this setting on your phone by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options.
- Some apps may have their own settings to save cellular usage. Contact their developers to learn more.
![Internet Data Usage App Mac Internet Data Usage App Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126008137/548461093.jpg)
Check Network Usage Mac
See also: Apple Maps not working?