How do websites track users?

[blbarclay]

There's a website I visit that only allows 10mb of bandwidth, before you must pay to use.

1. How does the website know how much bandwidth I've used? IP address, or cookies?
2. I have a Mac, PC, and two iPhones and it's blocking me regardless of whether I'm on wifi, the Mac or PC. I've only used bandwidth on the Mac though.

 

[R_1]

IP addresses, cookies, and supercookies. I'm sure theres more

 

[gangrel]

Keebler elves.

 

[rgd1101]

so either pay up or stop leeching

 

[USAFRet]

There's a website I visit that only allows 10mb of bandwidth, before you must pay to use.

1. How does the website know how much bandwidth I've used? IP address, or cookies?
2. I have a Mac, PC, and two iPhones and it's blocking me regardless of whether I'm on wifi, the Mac or PC. I've only used bandwidth on the Mac though.

That site only sees your public IP address. That which is given to you by your ISP.
Everything in your house flows through that connection and IP address.
Ergo, all your 28 friends and devices count as 1, according to that website.

Quit doing that, or pay up.

 

[blbarclay]

That site only sees your public IP address. That which is given to you by your ISP.
Everything in your house flows through that connection and IP address.
Ergo, all your 28 friends and devices count as 1, according to that website.

One of the iPhones isn't connected to the house wifi. If I make a personal hotspot, meaning the Mac is using the phones 3G, the site still knows. How??

 

[blbarclay]

That site only sees your public IP address. That which is given to you by your ISP.
Everything in your house flows through that connection and IP address.
Ergo, all your 28 friends and devices count as 1, according to that website.

One of the iPhones isn't connected to the house wifi. If I make a personal hotspot, meaning the Mac is using the phones 3G, the site still knows. How??

 

[rgd1101]

don't matter how, no one is going to help you cheat a website.

 

[USAFRet]

Then it is also using other items.
Cookies, account specifics, probably many other things.

You might want to think about what you are receiving from this site, and whether the value you get is worth it for you to suffer under a 10mb limit.

In any case, they know.
Pay up or suffer.

 

[JonnyPolygon]

10mb limit? what kind of website is that? That's like 3-4 pages