RS.com and downloaders

This is from the FAQ in the “Premium Users” area

Q:The display of the used traffic is incorrect.
A: Download Managers cause additional data traffic, e.g. if you download a large file in parallel parts, as opposed to downloading the whole file at once. This results in more data traffic than corresponds to the size of the file. The more such parallel streams are initiated, the more additional traffic is generated. RapidShare accurately logs the data traffic that leaves our own network.

can anyone explain this to me.
I always assumed that if I was downloading a 100 MB file, the amount of data downloaded would be the same whether it was one 100MB file or split into four
25MB file.
Is there anyway to calculate beforehand the additional cost to your download credit of splitting a file?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Answer #1
I think the quote is talking about a different thing…Because of the way some download managers can be set to download using 3 or 4 jobs at the same time for the same file to speed up the download……
Answer #2
Thanks for responding . Much appreciation.
And you are right, they are referring to splitting a file into streams, which my DL proggie does.
I use IDM 5.12. But I still don’t see why a 100MB file should use more than 100MB’s of download credit, no matter how many stream it uses.
I know I have more simultaneous connections (say four instead of one) but each one is downloading less data. Approximately one quarter of the total file, which when the download is done is still 100MB !
Why should that use more download credit than downloading the whole 100MB’s as a single file?
What is the difference between data and data traffic?
I have e-mailed RS support for an explanation. If I receive anything more than a form letter in return, I will share the information here.
In the meantime Any ideas? Anyone?
Answer #3
There’s something called overheat traffic mate. Download managers can give a lot of it depending on the way it connects. For example Flashget will continuously disconnect and reconnect throughout the download which will result in more traffic eaten out of the quota. IDM will only connect once for the entire download (if you don’t pause it) so IDM will give a lot less overhead.
Answer #4
Thanks for the info DA. Makes sense.
Much appreciation
Answer #5
RS IS LAME, I hate to abandon flashget!
Answer #6
No doubt because the Download manager needs a small amount of buffer to put the files back together?