Netflix data usage

[seanthegeek]

Hi,

So like an idiot I "upgraded" to the new T-Mobile "unlimited" plan with the 2 GB limit. At the time, it made sense to switch; I'd save money on minutes, and I'm not a heavy data user. Right now I use ~200-300 MB a month. At most, I've used 6xx MB recently. My data heavy data apps right now are Pandora and Sling player. And, I'm on wifi when at home, and on campus.

However, I have now started to deeply regret my derision now that Google has announced their new cloud and music services, Netflix has finally launched their app for select android devices (including my N1), and T-Mobile announced free Wi-fi calling on new devices. I'm not asking for pity or reticule, but I need some questions answered.

Does anyone have any idea how much data the new Netflix app uses when using 3/4G? AT&T iPhone users, some of you use Netflix with similar caps, how easy is it for you to reach the cap? Those of you have gone over the 2GB limit on T-Mobile, how badly did they throttle you, if at all?

Finally, I thought I'd share my two cents worth on data usage and caps. I'll gladly stay a capped customer on T-Mobile if such moves allow T-Mobile to return to profitability without the likes of AT&T. Data is data, and data caps on home internet service are abominations. However, bandwidth is not free, and broadband cell service is one of the most expensive last-mile solutions to maintain; it is also primarily a supplemental form of connectivity for most customer So, I have no problem with T-Mobile trying to make a buck and stay afloat, so long as they maintain their current levels of quality and customer service.

 

[caffeinated chris]

those are some good questions. I do know that streaming video takes ALOT of data. So you would be able to do mabe 2 full netflix videos a week would be about my guess. but then again you stream audio too so in doing that, I would say maybe 1 video a week.
I have a friend with the SGS4G and he got put on that plan and hates it. He was using it alott, mainly bc he came from crappy verizon service with maybe 1mbps download to this phone which he hit 21mbps. anyways, when he went over 2gb and got throttled down to just under 2mbps. now that its later in the month, it seems to be they are slowing him down more. He lately has only been getting .06mbps

So yea, it sucks for him. reallly bad.

 

[seanthegeek]

Well, that answers my throttling questions thanks. Video streaming is done using a variable bit rate, meaning that data usage can rise and fall along with the quality of the video. I'm sure Netflix takes data usage into account when streaming the video over cell. They recently had to preform similar actions for their Canadian costumers, many of whom are subject to ridiculous caps on their home internet connections. I also think that I will rarely watch a full-length movie entirely on 3/4G. So, I'm not too concerned as of yet. I'll experiment once my next billing cycle starts, track my usage, and report the results an a new thread.

I would be willing to bet your friend did a fair bit of tethering?

 

[xsteven77x]

Let me get this straight. The straight up "Unlimited plan" is even more limited than the regular unlimited 4g web??? Wow, some of that att mentality is already creeping up into that dump i see....

 

[seanthegeek]

Let me get this straight. The straight up "Unlimited plan" is even more limited than the regular unlimited 4g web??? Wow, some of that att mentality is already creeping up into that dump i see....

Yarp. You read that right!

 

[kgbcapthowdy]

go to sprint, fully unlimited bud

 

[desikilla]

Here is my experience..

I'm on t-mobile with the MyTouch 4G. I haven't used netflix as of yet, but I do stream a lot on my phone with other various apps and websites to watch TV shows. I do accounting so I'm usually in my office alone through the day and I have the capabilities of watching shows on my phone, since accounting is extremely boring and i need something to keep me going.

Anyway, on average, a regular TV show (like friends), runs about 25 minutes. And in that time, I use anywhere from 70 - 100mb. Fortunately, I still have t-mobile's "unlimited" data which caps at 5gb.

I have reached the cap once, and for 2 days, they limited my throttle to edge speed! It was ridiculous!

There are a few apps in the market that help keep track of the data you are using. What I personally did was calculate how much data I could use per day and limit myself to that. I could check the apps to make sure I wasn't passing my limit. It's been working pretty well so far.

I hope this helped to whoever needed it!

Thanks are appreciated to all that this helped!

 

[caffeinated chris]

Well, that answers my throttling questions thanks. Video streaming is done using a variable bit rate, meaning that data usage can rise and fall along with the quality of the video. I'm sure Netflix takes data usage into account when streaming the video over cell. They recently had to preform similar actions for their Canadian costumers, many of whom are subject to ridiculous caps on their home internet connections. I also think that I will rarely watch a full-length movie entirely on 3/4G. So, I'm not too concerned as of yet. I'll experiment once my next billing cycle starts, track my usage, and report the results an a new thread.

I would be willing to bet your friend did a fair bit of tethering?

you're welcome dude. And yes, he made the soar mistake of tething his computer, then bridging his comp to his xbox a few times. lmao. told him it was a bad idea. the only thing i dont get is why they throttled him more. he's now getting slower than he did before. I dont think he tethers anymore...

you can also get Movie Stream app off the market. its pretty sweet. Watch movies without a monthly payment. it just streams them from a few different sites. Same Developers as TV Shows Stream app. pretty cool stuff d-('.')-b

 

[xsteven77x]

Here is my experience..

I'm on t-mobile with the MyTouch 4G. I haven't used netflix as of yet, but I do stream a lot on my phone with other various apps and websites to watch TV shows. I do accounting so I'm usually in my office alone through the day and I have the capabilities of watching shows on my phone, since accounting is extremely boring and i need something to keep me going.

Anyway, on average, a regular TV show (like friends), runs about 25 minutes. And in that time, I use anywhere from 70 - 100mb. Fortunately, I still have t-mobile's "unlimited" data which caps at 5gb.

I have reached the cap once, and for 2 days, they limited my throttle to edge speed! It was ridiculous!

There are a few apps in the market that help keep track of the data you are using. What I personally did was calculate how much data I could use per day and limit myself to that. I could check the apps to make sure I wasn't passing my limit. It's been working pretty well so far.

I hope this helped to whoever needed it!

Thanks are appreciated to all that this helped!

Your actually pretty lucky dude. Edge speeds really are not that bad in comparison to GPRS/1G/whatever you want to call it. Most of the time getting throttled means getting 1g speeds. I do know that if you go into networks and change it to edge only networks you can get edge speeds, but somehow you were lucky enough to get them off the bat.

 

[k_nivesout]

According to Netflix streaming for one hour will use about 1gb of data, 2gbs for HD.

Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

 

[caffeinated chris]

According to Netflix streaming for one hour will use about 1gb of data, 2gbs for HD.

Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

bahahahaa. thats whyyy they want you to use wifi.
thats about the worse news you could tell someone who has a cap lmao

 

[k_nivesout]

Yeah when I saw that I was pretty surprised. Sucks especially with carriers capping at 2 or 5 GB. Fortunately on Verizon with unlimited data.

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[seanthegeek]

According to Netflix streaming for one hour will use about 1gb of data, 2gbs for HD.

Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

That's probably for desktop streaming, not mobile. Someone I know who uses it on the iPhone said it uses ~200-300 MB/2 hours.

 

[ld006]

looking at the quality of the mobile movies/shows I'd say about 250mb an hour

 

[k_nivesout]

That's probably for desktop streaming, not mobile. Someone I know who uses it on the iPhone said it uses ~200-300 MB/2 hours.

I think this is about right. That did sound like way too much for mobile streaming but the FAQ didn't specify.


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