iiHelp support
All About Quota And Shaping

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Will VoIP affect my quota?

No, VoIP only uses small amounts of data. This data is included in the freezone and therefore does not contribute to quota usage.

What is off-peak time?

For customers on current plans and previously sold First Timer, Frequent User, Fanatic, Business Light, Business Medium, Business Heavy and Business Max plans, off-peak times are either 2am – 8am or 1am – 9am, depending on your plan type. This is when the network is typically less congested. For customers on older plans, the definition of off-peak hours can be found in their toolbox under volume usage. To check which peak/off-peak timeframes apply to you, please visit our customer toolbox.

Note: If you are in the Northern Territory, your off-peak time will be based on Adelaide time due to our server configurations.

What is counted towards my monthly quota?

It depends on which plan your on. Some plans only count download traffic where others may count both upload and download traffic against your plans monthly quota allocation.

Where can I view my quota?

Volume usage can be viewed in the customer toolbox under "Volume Usage". This allows you to view remaining quota, used quota and can give you a monthly, daily and hourly breakdowns of usage.

What is shaping? What happens when I exceed my quota?

Shaping is the term used to describe the slowing of a connection that has exceeded its allotted download allowance for a period. iiNet broadband services are shaped to 64kbps, 128kbps, 256kbps, 384kbps or 512kbps  (dependant on your plan) for the period in which you have exceeded your quota. Shaping may be applied to the upload or download stream (dependant on your plan). For example, if you exceed your off-peak quota, your connection will only be shaped during off-peak times; on-peak will operate at full speed.

At the end of your monthly cycle, the normal speeds of your plan will resume and your quota will be reset. We never charge excess fees on plans that include shaping. If the customer wants the service to remove the shaping before the quota reset, they must upgrade their plan.

On plans that count uploads and downloads toward the same total, customers need to be aware that once they're shaped, they'll notice their download and upload speeds decrease. The download and upload shaping speed is dependant on the plan specifications.
 

What constitutes a month for my monthly data allowance?

A month is defined as the period between anniversary dates. This can be checked via the "Volume Usage" section of the customer Toolbox.

What quota do I get when I bundle?

Bundling results in additional peak and off-peak quota. The exact effect can be found on the products page.

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 monthly cycle you will receive the full quota available on your new plan.

Your internet traffic is automatically timestamped so 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.

Does traffic usage on the backup dial-up account contribute to my quota?

Yes. Usage will be deducted from the monthly quota allocated to your broadband account.

What is the Freezone?

All broadband accounts accounts include access to the Freezone. The Freezone is a selection of servers and sites on the Internet that you can access without it counting towards your quota allocation. If you do reach your quota, downloads from anywhere in the freezone are not affected by shaping, so you can still access it at full speed.

Learn more in our Freezone content guide.