Frequently Asked Questions

The following are answers to commonly asked questions about BeyonDSL. If you have a question not answered here, please contact us.

Fair Use Policy
  1. What is the Fair Use Policy?

    As with all Internet Services, there are download and speed limits. This protects the user experience of most ordinary users from congestion caused by very heavy users dominating the bandwidth. The limits are more strictly applied during congestion & peak hours to share the overall bandwidth more fairly.

    Peak Hours are usually 5pm - 10pm weekdays and 10am - 10pm weekends. Heavy internet congestion (e.g. due to large software updates) can also cause congestion and slower overall speeds.

  2. Using FreeZone Effectively

    FreeZone lets you download as much as you like without affecting your daytime speedstep and data quota.

    Large files like software updates, audio and especially video can soon use up large amounts of data and this can put you on a lower speedstep before you'd expect it.

    FreeZone gives you unlimited downloads between 11.00pm and 05.00am UK time daily. These overnight downloads do not count towards your normal monthly data quota.

    FreeZone means you can use a download manager to schedule all your heavy downloads: audio or video files, software updates and so on; into this free data quota time and leave your daytime data and speedstep completely unaffected.

    FreeZone is included in ValueZone 1M, 2M, 3M and 4M and it can be added for a small monthly cost to MaxValue 4M, Home 1M, Expert 2M, Pro 3M and Office 4M. For more details, please visit the Packages section.

    There's a guide to using a download manager here.

    If you find you are regularly downloading a large amount of data which isn't particularly time-sensitive and could be scheduled overnight, you should consider using FreeZone to keep your daytime browsing free and easy.

    FreeZone is unique to ASTRA2Connect: it's the only satellite broadband service with unlimited data download that doesn't affect your daytime browsing.

  3. What is a Top-Up?

    Top-Ups only apply to Value and Nomad packages. If you need more data than what you have remaining you can purchase a Top-Up to increase your data allowance for the remainder of the month (or year for Nomad packages). If you exceed either your download or upload allowance before you have bought a Top-Up don't worry, you will be redirected to My Account automatically where you can purchase a Top-Up and review your usage.

  4. What is a FUP Reset?

    FUP Resets only apply to Standard Packages. Standard Packages have Speed Steps which come into effect as you use more and more data within your month. If you have used so much data within the FUP for your Package that you are on too low a Speed Step for your needs then you have two choices:

    1. Check the data reset date in your My Account page. Your Speed Step and Data Amount will be reset to top Step at this date.
    2. You can buy an FUP Reset at any time in the month which will reset your Speed Step and Data amount to top Step straight away (can take up to 30 minutes to activate).

     

    If your data reset date is close, then you may prefer to wait for a normal regular Reset. However, purchasing an FUP Reset does put you back on to the top Step if you can't wait until then.

    A FUP Reset resets your Account Data Usage - and hence the relevant Speed Step - to what it would have been if you hadn't used any data in the month. Data Usage and Speed Step then proceed as normal.

  5. How does the Fair Use Policy affect me?

    Unlike many of the other Satellite Internet providers we try to be as upfront about the Fair Use Policy as possible. At anytime you can visit our My Account section and view the current network congestion, your current speed-step (if on a Standard package) and your data usage.

    This is a graph of how the amount of data downloaded each month effects your maximum possible speed:

    fup-chart-june2010

    As you can see Standard Packages can download unlimited data but the more you download the slower your maximum speed becomes. So, for example, with the Expert 2M package in any given month after downloading 2.5GB your speed is reduced from 2048kbps to 1536kbps.

    However, if we take a Value package such as Value 2M you can see that the maximum speed remains 2048kbps until you have have downloaded 1.67GB; at this point you must purchase a Top-Up if you want to continue to use data.

    Please note that all download/upload limits are calculated separately and with Standard Packages you have separate speed steps for both. However, with Value Packages if you exceed your allowance for either upload or download you will need to purchase a Top-Up. Remember; you can check your data usage, limits and speed-step at anytime by visiting "My Account".

    There are similar allowances and limits for uploads as for downloads but for most people these upload limits are not an issue. If you think it might be for you then please contact us and/or check your data usage in My Account.