Avoid your broadband giving you the red card!

The Fifa World Cup is well underway and Britons are clambering to watch every single second of the action they possibly can.

And a lot of the time that will be happening on laptops and computers once employees get back from work to catch up on what they've missed throughout the day.

Don't subject yourself to a World Cup upset

But how do you make sure one of the biggest upsets of the competition doesn't come when you open up your broadband bill next month?

Because the fact is, with so much content to be streamed online - matches, highlights, interviews and expert comment - the month-long tournament can cause you to use up a lot of data.

According to recent figures from Broadband Choices, viewing just one match online will guzzle up some 2.4GB and trying to keep up with a large proportion of the games could lead to terms of your contract being breached.

Product director at the organisation Michael Phillips comments: "The convenience of internet TV coupled with the immense popularity of the World Cup games means a significant number of people are now more likely to be tuning in through their broadband connection. Unfortunately this also raises concerns over download limits and fair usage policies."

And of course it's not just the World Cup that this applies to.

The Wimbledon Championships are also underway - taking place until July 4th - and millions will be cheering on their favourite players, hoping they can go one better than last year and lift the famous trophy.

Then we've got the Commonwealth Games in Delhi coming up in October and the 2012 London Olympic Games - goodness knows how much content will be available for us to stream by then!

Every GB could cost you

Broadband Choices states a big problem for fans of internet television is that it could cost them up to £1 for every additional GB downloaded once they've exceeded any limits in place.

So what can we do to make sure we save the pennies and don't run into any big, unexpected fees?

Mr Phillips says: "We strongly urge any World Cup viewers planning to watch through their broadband connection to check with their broadband provider before downloading any content. Even if they have an 'unlimited' package there are still likely to be rules in place they must adhere to."

Choose your internet provider carefully

In addition, the body states it's important to choose carefully what internet service provider you go for if you're planning on downloading or streaming a lot - even after the World Cup is over.

What's more, you need to make sure you keep a watchful eye on the amount of data you're using up.

The body notes running a broadband download monitor for free could come in handy, explaining "you can even set alarms to alert you as you near your limit".

It seems so cruel that we live in a time where we have to constantly tighten our purse strings but still try to avoid the temptation of the plethora of sporting action that is on offer.

As with anything these days, however, it's clearly important to make sure you keep track of what you're using and steer clear of putting yourself at risk of incurring hefty charges and pricey World Cup penalties.