diff --git a/src/dbjson.c b/src/dbjson.c
index 61bde18..1e5b0c7 100644
--- a/src/dbjson.c
+++ b/src/dbjson.c
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ void jsonpercentile(const interfaceinfo *interface)
 {
 	percentiledata pdata;
 
-	if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, interface->name)) {
+	if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, interface->name, 0)) {
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/dbshow.c b/src/dbshow.c
index 78cb4cb..e85dd6f 100644
--- a/src/dbshow.c
+++ b/src/dbshow.c
@@ -884,7 +884,7 @@ void show95thpercentile(const interfaceinfo *interface)
 		printf("         \"5MinuteHours\" is currently set at %d.\n\n", cfg.fiveminutehours);
 	}
 
-	if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, interface->name)) {
+	if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, interface->name, 0)) {
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
@@ -922,7 +922,7 @@ void show95thpercentile(const interfaceinfo *interface)
 
 	showpercentiledataminavgmaxtable(&pdata, 7);
 	indent(7);
-	printf(" 95th %%   %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata.rxpercentile, 300, 15));
+	printf(" 95th %%     %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata.rxpercentile, 300, 15));
 	printf("%s |", gettrafficrate(pdata.txpercentile, 300, 15));
 	printf("%s\n", gettrafficrate(pdata.sumpercentile, 300, 15));
 
@@ -932,23 +932,23 @@ void show95thpercentile(const interfaceinfo *interface)
 void showpercentiledataminavgmaxtable(const percentiledata *pdata, const int indentation)
 {
 	indent(indentation);
-	printf("                 rx       |       tx       |     total\n");
+	printf("                   rx       |       tx       |     total\n");
 	indent(indentation);
-	printf("--------------------------+----------------+---------------\n");
+	printf("----------------------------+----------------+---------------\n");
 	indent(indentation);
-	printf("minimum   %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->minrx, 300, 15));
+	printf("minimum     %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->minrx, 300, 15));
 	printf("%s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->mintx, 300, 15));
 	printf("%s\n", gettrafficrate(pdata->min, 300, 15));
 	indent(indentation);
-	printf("average   %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->sumrx, (time_t)(pdata->count * 300), 15));
+	printf("average     %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->sumrx, (time_t)(pdata->count * 300), 15));
 	printf("%s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->sumtx, (time_t)(pdata->count * 300), 15));
 	printf("%s\n", gettrafficrate(pdata->sumrx + pdata->sumtx, (time_t)(pdata->count * 300), 15));
 	indent(indentation);
-	printf("maximum   %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->maxrx, 300, 15));
+	printf("maximum     %s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->maxrx, 300, 15));
 	printf("%s |", gettrafficrate(pdata->maxtx, 300, 15));
 	printf("%s\n", gettrafficrate(pdata->max, 300, 15));
 	indent(indentation);
-	printf("--------------------------+----------------+---------------\n");
+	printf("----------------------------+----------------+---------------\n");
 }
 
 int showbar(const uint64_t rx, const uint64_t tx, const uint64_t max, const int len)
@@ -1054,12 +1054,13 @@ int showalert(const char *interface, const AlertOutput output, const AlertExit a
 			printf("         \"5MinuteHours\" is currently set at %d.\n\n", cfg.fiveminutehours);
 		}
 
-		if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, ifaceinfo.name)) {
+		if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, ifaceinfo.name, limit)) {
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
 		timestamp = pdata.dataend;
 	}
 
+	// "limit" and "used" are always in either bytes or bytes/second
 	switch (condition) {
 		case AC_None:
 			return 0;
@@ -1119,12 +1120,6 @@ int showalert(const char *interface, const AlertOutput output, const AlertExit a
 			break;
 	}
 
-	// cfg.rateunit and cfg.rateunitmode are set for AT_Percentile in parsealertargs()
-	// TODO: should everything else also follow this logic?
-	if (type == AT_Percentile && cfg.rateunit == 1) {
-		used *= 8; // bytes to bits
-	}
-
 	if (debug) {
 		printf("used: %" PRIu64 "\nlimit: %" PRIu64 "\n", used, limit);
 	}
@@ -1264,13 +1259,33 @@ int showalert(const char *interface, const AlertOutput output, const AlertExit a
 					}
 				}
 			} else {
-				// TODO: check that these center the text well enough
-				printf("                 %s", getratestring(used, 14, 2));
-				printf(" of %s (%0.1f%%)\n\n", getratestring(limit, 0, 0), percentage);
+				// TODO: make these center the text in all cases
+				printf("          ");
+				if (condition == AC_RX) {
+					printf("rx");
+				} else if (condition == AC_TX) {
+					printf("tx");
+				} else if (condition == AC_Total) {
+					printf("total");
+				}
+				printf(" - %s ", gettrafficrate(used, 1, 0));
+				if (percentage <= 100000.0) {
+					printf("(%0.1f%%)", percentage);
+				} else {
+					printf("(%s)", ">100000%");
+				}
+				printf(" of %s limit\n\n", gettrafficrate(limit, 1, 0));
 				cfg.ostyle = 1;
-				showpercentiledataminavgmaxtable(&pdata, 6);
-
-				printf("                      %4" PRIu32 " entries", pdata.count);
+				showpercentiledataminavgmaxtable(&pdata, 5);
+
+				printf("           %4" PRIu32 " entries", pdata.count);
+				if (condition == AC_RX) {
+					printf(", %" PRIu32 " (%0.1f%%) over limit", pdata.countrxoveruserlimit, (float)pdata.countrxoveruserlimit / (float)pdata.count * 100.0);
+				} else if (condition == AC_TX) {
+					printf(", %" PRIu32 " (%0.1f%%) over limit", pdata.counttxoveruserlimit, (float)pdata.counttxoveruserlimit / (float)pdata.count * 100.0);
+				} else if (condition == AC_Total) {
+					printf(", %" PRIu32 " (%0.1f%%) over limit", pdata.countsumoveruserlimit, (float)pdata.countsumoveruserlimit / (float)pdata.count * 100.0);
+				}
 				if (pdata.count == pdata.countexpectation) {
 					printf(", 100%% coverage\n");
 				} else {
diff --git a/src/dbxml.c b/src/dbxml.c
index c993e6a..bdca779 100644
--- a/src/dbxml.c
+++ b/src/dbxml.c
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ void xmlpercentile(const interfaceinfo *interface)
 {
 	percentiledata pdata;
 
-	if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, interface->name)) {
+	if (!getpercentiledata(&pdata, interface->name, 0)) {
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/percentile.c b/src/percentile.c
index fa360b3..cef3cd2 100644
--- a/src/percentile.c
+++ b/src/percentile.c
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #include "percentile.h"
 
 // TODO: tests
-int getpercentiledata(percentiledata *pdata, const char *iface)
+int getpercentiledata(percentiledata *pdata, const char *iface, const uint64_t userlimitbytespersecond)
 {
 	uint32_t entry = 0, entrylimit;
 	uint64_t *rxdata, *txdata, *sumdata;
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ int getpercentiledata(percentiledata *pdata, const char *iface)
 	dbdatalist *datalist = NULL, *datalist_i = NULL;
 	dbdatalistinfo datainfo;
 
+	pdata->userlimitbytespersecond = userlimitbytespersecond;
+	pdata->countrxoveruserlimit = 0;
+	pdata->counttxoveruserlimit = 0;
+	pdata->countsumoveruserlimit = 0;
+
 	if (!db_getdata_range(&datalist, &datainfo, iface, "month", 1, "", "")) {
 		printf("Error: Failed to fetch month data for 95th percentile.\n");
 		return 0;
@@ -80,6 +85,19 @@ int getpercentiledata(percentiledata *pdata, const char *iface)
 		rxdata[entry] = datalist_i->rx;
 		txdata[entry] = datalist_i->tx;
 		sumdata[entry] = datalist_i->rx + datalist_i->tx;
+
+		if (userlimitbytespersecond > 0) {
+			if (rxdata[entry] > userlimitbytespersecond * 300) {
+				pdata->countrxoveruserlimit++;
+			}
+			if (txdata[entry] > userlimitbytespersecond * 300) {
+				pdata->counttxoveruserlimit++;
+			}
+			if (sumdata[entry] > userlimitbytespersecond * 300) {
+				pdata->countsumoveruserlimit++;
+			}
+		}
+
 		datalist_i = datalist_i->next;
 		entry++;
 	}
diff --git a/src/percentile.h b/src/percentile.h
index f7a7954..c7f56ab 100644
--- a/src/percentile.h
+++ b/src/percentile.h
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ typedef struct percentiledata {
 	uint64_t min, max;
 	uint64_t sumrx, sumtx;
 	uint64_t rxpercentile, txpercentile, sumpercentile;
+	uint64_t userlimitbytespersecond;
+	uint32_t countrxoveruserlimit, counttxoveruserlimit, countsumoveruserlimit;
 } percentiledata;
 
-int getpercentiledata(percentiledata *pdata, const char *iface);
+int getpercentiledata(percentiledata *pdata, const char *iface, const uint64_t userlimitbytespersecond);
 int compare_uint64_t(const void *a, const void *b);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/vnstat_func.c b/src/vnstat_func.c
index 7b0487e..5635006 100644
--- a/src/vnstat_func.c
+++ b/src/vnstat_func.c
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ void initparams(PARAMS *p)
 	p->alerttype = 0;
 	p->alertcondition = 0;
 	p->alertlimit = 0;
+	p->alertrateunit = -1;
+	p->alertrateunitmode = -1;
 
 	/* load default config */
 	defaultcfg();
@@ -779,13 +781,17 @@ int parsealertargs(PARAMS *p, char **argv)
 			// override configuration to use same units as user gave as parameter
 			if (u > 2) {
 				cfg.rateunit = 1;
+				p->alertrateunit = 1;
 			} else {
 				cfg.rateunit = 0;
+				p->alertrateunit = 0;
 			}
 			if (u == 0 || u == 3) {
 				cfg.rateunitmode = 0;
+				p->alertrateunitmode = 0;
 			} else {
 				cfg.rateunitmode = 1;
+				p->alertrateunitmode = 1;
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -805,6 +811,14 @@ int parsealertargs(PARAMS *p, char **argv)
 
 	p->alertlimit = alertlimit * unitmultiplier;
 
+	if (p->alerttype == AT_Percentile && cfg.rateunit == 1) {
+		if (p->alertlimit < 8) {
+			printf("Error: Limit needs to be at least 8 bits per second.\n");
+			return 0;
+		}
+		p->alertlimit /= 8;
+	}
+
 	if (debug) {
 		printf("Alert unit %s is %d %d = %" PRIu64 "\n", argv[currentarg], u, i, unitmultiplier);
 		printf("Alert real limit is %" PRIu64 " * %" PRIu64 " = %" PRIu64 "\n", alertlimit, unitmultiplier, p->alertlimit);
@@ -881,6 +895,11 @@ void handleshowalert(PARAMS *p)
 
 	validateinterface(p);
 
+	if (p->alertrateunit > -1 && p->alertrateunitmode > -1) {
+		cfg.rateunit = p->alertrateunit;
+		cfg.rateunitmode = p->alertrateunitmode;
+	}
+
 	alert = showalert(p->interface, p->alertoutput, p->alertexit, p->alerttype, p->alertcondition, p->alertlimit);
 
 	if ((alert || p->alertexit == AE_Always_Exit_1) && p->alertexit != AE_Always_Exit_0) {
diff --git a/src/vnstat_func.h b/src/vnstat_func.h
index 69cd091..78fedf6 100644
--- a/src/vnstat_func.h
+++ b/src/vnstat_func.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ typedef struct {
 	char definterface[MAXIFPARAMLEN], cfgfile[512], *ifacelist, jsonmode, xmlmode;
 	char databegin[18], dataend[18];
 	unsigned int alert, alertoutput, alertexit, alerttype, alertcondition;
+	int alertrateunit, alertrateunitmode;
 	uint64_t alertlimit;
 } PARAMS;