The cost of buying bandwidth from network providers in Australia and New Zealand are extremely high. How high? Web performance company CloudFlare measured it and found that it is up to 21.3 times higher compared to Europe. The company blamed large telcos like Telstra and Optus for charging too much. Here's what you need to know.

Netflix has been very popular amongst Australians since its launch in March -- so much so that Netflix itself says the speeds we have on offer from Internet service providers aren't fast enough.

You may not realise it, but you probably use multiple internet connections every day: your home network, your phone, and even hotspots and other devices. The downside: you can usually only use one at a time. Imagine if you could combine them all into one huge pipe that delivers faster downloads, smooth streaming, and crisp video calls. Here's how to do it, with a tool called Speedify.

Windows: Your internet connection handles a variety of traffic every day. When there's a problem, it's not always easy to find out which app or site is causing it. Glasswire simplifies this process in an easy, user-friendly package.

Android: Opera rolled out its Opera Max data management tool earlier this year, but used a waitlist model to restrict sign-ups. Now the browser is generally available to Australian and New Zealand Android users.

Hey Lifehacker, I was helping a friend, who has horribly slow internet, sync files to her Google drive folder. She had large media files that take forever and completely stall the process. Is there a better way to upload large media to Google apart from moving to an NBN-friendly location?

Android: If you're on a limited data plan, or if you're just watching your battery life, you sometimes want to peek at how much data your Android device is using. NetLive keeps things simple, and puts the essential data in your notification drawer.

Ever sign up for internet that claimed 20Mb per second, only to find that your files download at 2.5MB per second? They aren't lying to you. Look closely and you'll see that those two figures use different units: megabits (Mb) and megabytes (MB). Here's what that means.

Like commuting to work or lovemaking, your network is much faster at some times than others. What implications do changing usage habits and the emergence of an internet 'peak hour' have for how we design and build networks?

Everyone you know has a smartphone and mobile data network usage is growing hugely, but what do those developments mean for IT pros when it comes to managing and deploying apps and equipment? Here are some key trends to watch out for (including average download speeds for Aussies and how many of us really use 4G) and what they'll mean for your future projects.

Dear Lifehacker, Will the introduction of the National Broadband Network (NBN) decrease bandwidth costs for data centres and therefore bring Australia lower VPS or dedicated server costs like those you find in America? Currently you can't even get a 1GB VPS for under $40, while I just bought one for $19 a year from a US provider. Any insights? Thanks, Bandwidth Blues

The ability to sync files stored on SkyDrive with your computer can be very useful, especially given the generous space allocation (7GB for everyone, up to 25GB for early adopters). However, one Lifehacker reader has noticed that keeping a large SkyDrive collection in sync can use a lot of bandwidth, potentially trigging shaping or an excess usage bill.

Dear Lifehacker, How can I see how much bandwidth I've been using? Is there any way to keep a running tally of my bandwidth so I can see when I'm online the most or find out if something is using a lot of bandwidth that I'm not aware of? I've been known to go over my 250GB bandwidth cap in my apartment.

Mac OS X Lion has officially gone on sale, but it's a 3.6GB download that's only available through the Mac App Store. Here are some simple suggestions to avoid chewing through all your monthly allowance while getting the latest Mac goodness.

Netflix dominates the US online movie and TV rental market and is integrated into all sorts of devices, but isn't officially available for Australian consumers (unless you fancy messing around with VPN and credit card details). That might change with news the company is exploring ISP deals for a potential local launch.

iOS: On most iPhone plans, you need to stay within your limit to avoid excess usage charges. The easiest way to do that is to track what you do, and My Data Usage Pro can help you do that.

Dear Lifehacker, I like to watch TV episodes from Australian TV online, but am often disappointed with jerky playback. Can you give some pointers on how to diagnose what is the worst link in the chain? And of course, if there is anything I can do to improve matters! Thanks, Square Eyes

When Foxtel launched its Xbox 360 service last October, we couldn't help but point out that it would be an expensive undertaking given that all the data you used to watch would come out of your monthly cap. That has now changed for Telstra BigPond customers, who will get unmetered access to Foxtel on Xbox 360 TV services as of today.

Nearly 2000 people have taken part in the Lifehacker Speed Wave, which currently claims an average download speed for our readers of 29.6Mb/s. The median speed of around 9Mb/s is probably closer to the mark but still high, based on newly-updated visualisation tools from Google which let you examine broadband performance across the world.