Please can the forum computer nerds wizards recommend a free download/bandwidth usage monitoring tool that will run on Windows7? Many of them seemingly only work on XP, etc.

bit of background:
A friend of mine is a completely computer illiterate pensioner, who provides accommodation for foreign students to help pay the bills. As all the students asked her for broadband, she agreed to have it installed, despite not owning a computer of her own. She was sold BT's cheapest broadband option, without the sales staff taking the time to find out what her household's usage might be. Surprise-surprise, she got stung with a £200 bill for excess usage when the students used Skype and downloaded/streamed video/music, etc.

Now, personally, I think BT should hang their heads in shame for a) not taking into account that the woman has no idea what "router" or "gigabyte" means and b) for not finding out who is living in her house and what they might be using the internet for. But that seems to cut no ice with BT.

As far as I'm aware, it should be perfectly possible for 2 people to use Skype for a couple of hours a day without exceeding any reasonable bandwidth limit. Or am I wrong?

So, what she now needs is for her students to be able to show her what they are using. They have agreed to knock off the downloads/streaming, but they still want to Skype their families. Hence the need for a simple, free piece of software to demonstrate that they aren't going to bankrupt their host.

Can anyone direct me to such a thing.

Most routers will come with software installed on them to give basic usage figures.

I would have thought that any usage software as you describe it, would have to be installed on the machines locally and could easily be circumvented.

What she needs is a webserver, or a router which will provide accurate and itemised usage reports, which again she'll probably not understand anyway.

A quick google shows that BT offer an online usage monitor under the "My Account" section of their website.

This is apparently much more accurate than the stats you get from the hub itself as the stats on the hub clear when it resets.

However the stats are often a day in arrears.

Nobody is trying to hoodwink the woman (except possibly BT) by circumventing the software, the students are happy to limit their use to Skype and email/surfing. If they can't keep their use under the limit, she'll simply unplug it, so it's in their interests. It will have to be installed on the students' laptops and enable them to simply show how much they are using. There is no point in providing accurate, itemised reports on a webserver or router, as you might as well order her a gramophone with woofers, tweeters a Dolby and a bag on the head.

It might be worth bearing in mind how radically different the various Broadband packages can be, in respect of download limits. For example, I was on a cheaper package with Plusnet, but kept tripping the limit. Since subscribing to their more expensive package (i.e. another £5 per month), I never get any problems. I can download all the porn philosophical lecture videos I ever need, and never reach the limit.

I would have thought that upgrading to an all inclusive package would be the best option. I'm with virgin and my package doesn't have any limits (ooer missus)

we have broadband with orange, totally unlimited internet, bt line rental and anytime calls for £27 per month which i think's pretty decent

suprisingly we only got offered this when we said we were going to leave and go for a cheaper package as we were previously paying £20 just for the internet and then other charges to bt for the line rental and anytime calls

That "my account" thing could be the answer Truffle. It doesn't really need to be real-time, just reassure the woman that she's not going to get hammered again. She has been moved by BT (still very unconvinced that they have tried hard enough to make sure that the package fits) onto a higher tarrif that allegedly will suit her needs, but time will tell. She is understandably bewildered that something she was doing as a favour costing £14.99 or whatever has now doubled and she gets to cough up an extra £200 because she was miss-sold.

Out of interest, how much bandwidth would using Skype for 4 hours a day take? (2 students, 2 hrs per day each). I've seen various figures, but I'm struggling to equate them to a monthly amount.

Not sure. Depends on a number of factors really. Skype can basically be used as a text messaging service to start with, or they could choose to use just audio, or they could go whole hog with video/audio.

and again the quality would go up and down throughout the 'call' depending on the available bandwidth. (so the bits sent and received per second would go up and down as well).

Just found this:

worth a go ?

https://ben.cheetham.me.uk/resources/net/data-usage-calculator

Thanks for your help, Truffle, I'll pass that on too...

I'm talking about full-fat video/audio Skype.

When I lived in France, I had a crap 1/2 meg connection and managed to use Skype reasonably effectively. Don't imagine it could have used much bandwidth or data because I didn't get much.

Wouldn't she just be better off upgrading to a full fat broadband service and charging the students accordingly.

BT broadband unlimited is only £25 per month.

and charging someone £200 for a months broadband is shocking. If they can do it unlimited for £25 then why didn't they flag it and offer her the upgraded service. Complaint should be sent surely.

BT have told her that the cheapest (still capped) they can give her is £36/month. She can't charge extra for the broadband as the students have paid an all inclusive price. This isn't generally an issue as most host families use it themselves and just allow the students to join in.

I complained about it on Twitter and got a response. But still feel BT have seriously let her down.