Huge Internet data bill

[James18]

I have hosted 15 guests over December and NY period. I've allowed guests Internet access on the strict condition that they limit their internet usage as we have a limited monthly data plan and will be charged for excess usage. It was both a trust and gesture thing but now the bill has arrived and $280 over our typical monthly bill I'm shocked to find out one, maybe more of guests have gone crazy with Internet usage. What to do? Mn more than one guest had stayed at a time so simply differentiating between usage on which days would be another issue. It maybe too late or maybe Airbnb may offer a better resolution.

[Lisa7]

I've heard questions like this before, @James18. Unless you have a way to set a limit on data usage (Per day, week, etc.) or monitor it remotely, I think you need to be prepared for the guests to use a ton of data. If I were traveling on vacation, I wouldn't want to be limited in this day and age by a data cap. Furthermore, frankly I don't know how much data I use, because I have unlimited data here, and so I honestly have no concept of how much data, say, downloading a song or playing Spotify or even watching netflix takes up.

How much more expensive is unlimited data?

I realize this probably isn't the answer you want to hear. But unless you a) have a way of finding out (checking the dates with your ISP or whatever) which guest was the data hog and b) clearly laid out exactly how much data they were allowed (2 GB a day or whatever), I don't think you can expect the guests to reimburse you.

[James18]

Hi Lisa, yes I realise that controlling data limits is an issue. In New Zealand we are especially at the mercy of Internet providers and exaggerated charges due to lack of competition.
I was specific to my guests that Internet would be provided on the basis they would not watch 4K videos or download data heavy applications. In hind sight this generous and trustful offer was more than wishful thinking.... and neither factoring in my 'insurance cover' for any excess charges that may have been incurred through Internet.
We have applied for unlimited internet, already 2 months ago, but this seemingly takes forever and amazingly does not kick in until after fibres have been installed and the company can clear our property for unlimited data..... rather than the logical concept of lifting the data cap, start Charging unlimited data fees asap. It's a money gauging thing by the providers. .. regardless... it's cost me a fortune and wiped out weeks earnings and work, broken my trust.. and I've decided to withdraw my listing until further notice.

[Isabelle3]

I am so sorry for you James - anyway to can talk to your provider to cap usage?

[Kevin1322]

I don't know how much help this is, but years ago I had this problem with my kids here in the UK when we were on a capped plan.   It did my head in.

In the end I bought a better router than the ISP supplied, one with a QOS feature where I could limit data download speeds to (for example) the wireless, or limit  an access point or limit a router port.  Set that at, say, 2mb (or 1,5) and they'll still be able to stream but in 720 max, not 4k. They probably won't notice the difference, and It'll save you an awful lot of data.

[Momi0]

@James

Its not fair to you to take such a monetary loss in paying for this bill because of the huge usage.  So I wanted to share something with you that recently happened to me while on a cruise trip to Alaska a few months ago.  Disney Cruise Lines gave me an option to buy into the WIFI plan at $100 per day of 1GB per day.  If you used the 1GB , your WIFI was cut off. As you can probably imagine, by Day 2, myself and my family were no longer using their WIFI plan...hahahaha.....I think my WIFI bill came out to be $280, with me answering maybe 12 work emails and my daughter doing IG for 15 mins.  It was simply crazy.  Thank goodness we were able to get off the ship 3xs so I could access my Iphone to contact my clients.  Yes, I work on vacation too.  haha

My only suggestion is, either offer WIFI at a small fee or dont.  Giving the client the option to use WIFI at your home or finding a nearby place to use WIFI like most visitors do in Hawaii by sitting in Starbucks for 15 mins to access free WIFI and write home.  Its perfectly ok to communicate this issue of high cost of WIFI in your profile.  I had to do the same thing with Air Conditioning as Hawaii has the hightest cost of electricity in the entire USA nation.  We can't afford to have Air Cond for ourselves in our own house, so the guests understand this from the get go. But we are kind enough to offer some very good fans that cost me $150 per fan. They are that good.

Think about what it would cost for a guest to use WIFI per day based on your holiday usage and add it to your profile.  IF not, maybe you can buy an unlimited plan from a cable service or mobile company to help you offset.  That's what we did.  We bought an unlimited plan that cost us $200 a month but its great to not worry about how much the guests are using AND MY 12 YEAR DAUGHTER......hahahah

Hope I was able to help.......

[Jo12]

I am also in NZ and had the same issue.  Luckily vodafone sent me a warning that I had reached 80% of monthly cap when two guests (who I had specifically asked not to go crazy with the internet) managed to chew through 10gb in two days.  I had to ask them to stop what they were doing (tellingly they were both sitting on the bed with laptops at the time) and they claimed they had just used a bit of skype - (not possible - to use 10gb of data you would have had to be on skype non-stop for about 35 hours!!!) Anyway, I got a mediocre review off them which was galling, but I now keep an eagle eye on the online internet usage monitor which vodafone has when I have guests so I can warn them if they are using too much.  I usually say "skype is fine, but please don't go too crazy streaming - watch TV instead".  Most people are very respectful of this.  The guests who used all the internet were young backpackers who had been booted out of their hostel as there was a big event on in Wellington that weekend.  I don't get many backpackers and most other people have not had a problem with just a bit of skype etc.

I have thought about buying unlimited internet (not a problem here in Wellington) but since I use so little data myself managing guests is certainly a cheaper option.  

[Alex218]

Here are some insight from a frequent traveller who relies on internet to stay connected with work (while on vacation 😞 )

I've stayed at quite a few places with internet caps, where I've maxed out the internet after simply checking my e-mail for 15 minutes. The culprit: Automatic updates and background app refreshes.

Most people's iPhones and laptops are set to automatically download updates. A new iOS update can be 1GB+. If the person happens to have Xcode installed (the tool developers use to build apps for iPhones) and an update comes out (usually in paralell with an iOS update), then that's easily another 3GB download. Then when you consider all the apps people have on their phones and all the updates that happen with those, that's easily 50MB+ PER APP download. Add to this that usually when a new iOS update comes out, many of your exisiting apps also get updated in parallel to support the new features.

Then consider that it is not uncommon to have each person staying with you own 3 or more devicices: Laptop, iPad, Iphone, and maybe even an iWatch. If an iOS update comes out that is 1GB in size, and all 3 devices download it, that's 3GB in a single day before your guests have even checked e-mail.

Not to mention that if you open up your Facebook app to check messages from friends, it starts to auto-play videos weather you watch them or not, etc... Plus all the other apps running in the background constantly checking weather, mail, sports scores, notifications, etc...

So consider this scenario: You have 4 tech savvy guests staying at your house, each with an apple laptop, iPad, iPhone, and an apple watch for good measure. Because of bad luck and the universe conspiring against you, apple releases a software update while they are staying with you. All their devices start downloading updates at the same time. In the background. Without them even knowing it.

Total data usage that day: 24 GB

Each device: 1GB system update + avg 10 app updates @ 50MB each = 1.5GB

x 4 devices x 4 people = 24GB

A total of 24GB in usage in a single day. Possibly without any of your guests even touching their machines.

All this to say, that it is very possible that the guests were following your instructions, and limiting their internet usage, and are just as frustrated as you are that they've hit usage caps.

I'm not sure what the solution is. But when I travel, I make sure to disable all auto-updates on my laptop and phone to avoid needless data usage. (Since I often tether my laptop to my cellular personal hotspot, it can be devastating to my data plan if my laptop decides to download a large update). Although not super complex to set this up, I think it's too much to expect your guests to know how to do so.

So currently I don't think you have a great set of options:

(1) Not offer wifi (but then you lose renters like me who need wifi) or

(2) Get unlimited bandwidth plans or

(3) consider blocking access to apple's and microsoft's update servers (requires technical know how on your end) or

(4) continue to eat the overages.

Hope this helps...

Best,

Alex

[Andrew90]

You can also limit usage see this article.

http://www.wirelesshack.org/routers-that-track-bandwidth-data-usage-an-limit-it-per-a-device.html

You can now by routers preconfigured with DD-wrt. They are a little more complex to set up then most consumer routers but they offer as advanced features normally found on commercial rigs.

[Ashley86]

I've just received an excess data usage bill for $390, relating to a single 10-day Airbnb booking (that only earned me $299). Needless to say, I have learnt my lesson. It is important to be expicit about what quantity of Internet is being provided. I rather naively assumed that guests travelling from overseas would be using Internet for maps/tourist information rather than streaming Netflix all night.

This has been an awful experience and will affect my decision to offer Airbnb accommodation again.

[Andrew90]

@Ashley86 your may want to look at my previous post just above yours on this thread.   Might need some help from someone techsavy to setup but once you get it configured it will help you limit the amount of data each guest can access. 

The guest probably didn't know you are on metered internet as most travelers are probably used to free unlimited internet. 

[Ellen99]

We are currently readying a house separate from ours for airbnb, and this thread scares the $@it out of me. Please  airbnb hosts, (in US), any suggestions for cheap wifi that won't end up costing hundreds? We are in a beach location and hoping to attract families. Its a 3 bedroom home, most likely business tavellers would not choose us. Why in God's name people would spend hours online when they are coming to this gorgeous spot to vacation in Michigan is beyond me...but we know Internet is a must. THANK YOU in advance ...

[Robin4]

@Ellen99

Hi Ellen, this seems to be an extreme example and if that is what certain customers are being charged for internet access then I would have to say, more fool them! 

My monthly internet is a DSL2 plan which costs me $60 per month and this is for unlimited data and free voIP phone service with unlimited free calls to anywhere in the world. This is a widely available plan in Australia and I can't imagine that the US would be very different. If anyone is paying more than that they need to do a bit of searching.

If the only service you have available is a cellular service give them a USB plug-in with 3 Gbts of data on it and tell them, that lot is on the house but any aditional data they will have to recharge themselves, or use their own. That's only fair!

Cheers.....Rob

[Rachael26]

@Ellen99

Look into Satellite providers (Wild Blue/Exede or Hughes Net) - landline telephone not needed (another good thing if you have a rental).... you will just have a dish placed on the house. You can have a basic plan (Liberty 12 with Exede is what I have) for $60 per month - provides users with 12GB per month - and when/if that is used up - the plan does not cut off - or charge more - it just reduces in speed (sometimes unnoticable) until the new month cycle begins.

I use this in my guest cabin - and on 2 separate occasions a guest has used up more than 8-10GB in just a couple of days(!) and only halfway through the billing cycle - but it had no impact on my monthly bill - nor was noticed by the subsequent guests checking in after.

I am sure there will be other options - but this one I have used over the last 5 years and been very happy with service and internet provision.

Best Wishes.

[Stephanie478]

Were in the United States, we have a 400 GB limit, 1GB is used up on things like 2 hour streaming of Netflix and the like. Somehow our guest is using 40GB A DAY! We have no idea how! We have never gone over 158-200 GB a month and thats with streaming Sling/Netflix/Youtube on 3 devices. We just had to pay to up our data cap to 1000 GB and will be talking to the guest who is here another 20 days about limiting use cause at this rate they will also go over the 1000 we upped it to! This is ridiculous what are these people doing to use so much data?