How to reduce the amount of data (and bandwidth) streaming services use

Struggling with high bandwidth usage on your company’s network? Consider these five methods for reducing bandwidth usage.

Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over your network at one time. Users on a network transfer data between points on a network to access to deliver files. The larger the network, the more bandwidth is required to handle the data transferal that happens on a day-to-day basis. For enterprises, bandwidth usage is an important metric to analyze, and one that can be affected by numerous factors.

Because networks have a cap on the rate of data transfer, enterprises need to manage their bandwidth usage to maintain network performance. Network performance monitors (NPMs) can observe how much bandwidth is being used at one time. They can also determine when and where data transmission problems happen on the network. If your network’s bandwidth usage is too high, your network performance will inevitably drop. Read on to discover 5 factors that might be wasting your bandwidth, as well as how to reduce their effects.

Malware scanning

Malware can deal a lot of damage to your network in various ways. One method that malware uses to harm networks is overloading the network’s bandwidth. By sending or requesting large amounts of data, the malware hogs the available bandwidth for devices on the network. NPMs usually come equipped with security functions to look for malware on the network and eliminate any that it finds. While this can be done automatically, NPMs also allow users to manually scan for anomalous data. NPMs will alert you if it detects any abnormal bandwidth usage, including usage caused by malware.

Quality of service (QoS)

QoS refers to the ability of networks to allocate and reserve resources for applications or data flows. In essence, this reduces the amount of available bandwidth that other devices on the network can use. If an application requires a specific amount of bandwidth to operate a specific task, an NPM with QoS capabilities can withhold that bandwidth for that application to use. This can help prevent devices from interfering with each other in regards to bandwidth usage, allowing devices that require a lot of bandwidth to operate correctly.

Setting access restrictions

Specific files and websites might be bringing down the available bandwidth on your network. Large, uncompressed files travelling along the network can hog resources that should be allocated elsewhere. Video streaming websites such as Netflix are also very resource-intensive. If either of these is occurring on your network and it’s using too much bandwidth, you can restrict access to the files and website to prevent that bandwidth from being used up.

Identifying bandwidth hogs

Sometimes, the problem is a specific user on your network hogging bandwidth that could be used for other purposes. NPMs can determine which devices and users use the most bandwidth on the network. If one device or user is monopolizing bandwidth, your NPM will detect it and alert the network team. From this, the team can take steps to address the issue.

Limiting VoIP network usage

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) allows enterprises to maintain a phone line specifically for business calls. VoIP calls can use a ton of bandwidth, so if the VoIP network is being abused, it can severely weigh down the network. NPMs can monitor the usage of VoIP networks and determine if the VoIP network is performing above typical usage. To help reduce VoIP usage, enterprises can restrict the network to be used exclusively for business-related calls. Eliminating personal calls on a VoIP network may severely reduce the bandwidth usage, depending on how the network is being used.

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Video streaming on sites like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are popular pastimes for many people. However, these services consume more much more data than normal web activities and when you have data caps to worry about, this could be an issue. Data caps are set in place by your internet provider as way to limit the amount data that can be used in a specified time period, usually a month. If you have data caps, here are a several tips to help you watch more shows and movies while using less data.

Close Applications Running in the Background

Leaving programs running in the background while trying to stream competes for and uses more bandwidth than necessary. This causes buffering and a blurry picture when you are trying to watch your shows or movies. Be sure to check your application manager before streaming to make sure there is nothing open that does not need to be.

Watch Videos in Standard Definition

When you switch your video streaming quality to standard definition, you can save three times more data each month compared to high definition. Next time you go to watch on of your streamed videos, ask yourself if it really needs to be in high definition. When you are having movie night with the family, you might splurge and watch the flick in HD. However, if you plan on binge watching your favorite show for the afternoon, switch it to SD to save your data. Below are how you adjust your quality setting on different sites:

• Netflix: Login using a computer > Account Settings > Playback Settings > Select Quality
• Youtube: Settings in the bottom right corner > Quality > Select Quality
• Hulu: Player Settings Menu > Select Playback Quality or Turn Off Auto HD

Check Your Data Usage Frequently

Most internet providers that have data caps allow you to track them through an online account. If your data cap is below 100 GB/month and you enjoy streaming movies often, it is a good idea to check your data usage on a daily basis. By doing this, you can see how your streaming habits directly affect your data cap.

Take Advantage of Data Free Zones

Some providers such as HughesNet and Exede offer customers free data to use during off peak times, typically in the very early morning hours. What this means is that you are able to browse the internet or download files without it counting toward your monthly data cap. Recently, Netflix released a feature that allows you to download movies and then watch them later without it counting toward your monthly data allowance. There are free download managers available online that allow you to schedule your downloads. Use this tool for your Netflix movies to schedule downloads during your free zone.

Save bandwidth and money.

By David Nield | Updated Aug 26, 2021 11:07 AM

In an ideal world, the highest quality audio and video would be piping to your smartphone even when you’re away from Wi-Fi. But sadly, life doesn’t always work out as we’d like—streaming high-resolution music and movies can quickly eat into your data allowance, and cost you big money if you tip over it.

Even if you’re on an unlimited data package with your network provider, there might be times when your connection is spotty and inconsistent. In that case, you’ll want to reduce the load as much as possible.

Most streaming apps let you specify the quality of the audio and video you want, and as a result, how much data they’ll consume. These are a handy group of settings to get familiar with. We’ll cover some of the most popular apps below, and if you can’t find yours, dig around in the options menu to find it.

Video streaming

You can conserve a significant amount of data when it comes to video streaming. A 1080p stream takes up a lot less bandwidth than a 4K stream without compromising so much quality, so it’s worth checking through these apps first.

In Netflix for Android or iOS, tap your account avatar (top right), then choose App Settings and Cellular Data Usage. There, you’ve got three options to pick from: Wi-Fi Only, Save Data, and Maximum Data. It’s the middle one you want to choose for a more compressed video format when streaming over a cellular connection.

If you’re using Amazon Prime Video for Android or iOS, you need to tap My Stuff, then the cog icon (top right), and Stream & download (Android) or Streaming & Downloading (iOS). When you select Streaming quality, you’ll have three or four options to pick from depending on your operating system: Best, Better, Good, and, if you’re on Android, Data Saver. Next to each pick you’ll see how much data each one uses on average in terms of gigabytes per hour.

When it comes to YouTube on Android or iOS, select your profile picture (top right), then choose Settings and Video quality preferences. Under the Video quality on cellular networks heading (Android) or inside the On cellular networks menu (iOS), you can either pick Higher picture quality (high data usage), Data saver (low data usage), or Auto (which means the app automatically adjusts the quality to match the strength of your mobile connection.

Then there’s Disney Plus for Android or iOS. Tap your account picture (bottom right), then choose App settings and Cellular data usage. The next screen lets you pick from Automatic (which adjusts the stream based on the strength of your connection) or Save data (which forces a lower quality at all times).

Finally, we’ve got the Hulu app for Android and iOS. Tap the Account button, then select Settings and Cellular Data Usage to choose between Best Available and Data Saver. As you might have guessed, it’s the last one you want to pick to limit how much data the Hulu app uses.

Audio streaming

Cutting down on audio quality won’t save as much data as cutting down on video quality, but it’s still worth it—especially if you find yourself streaming a lot of music while you’re away from Wi-Fi.

With Spotify on Android or iOS, you can tap the cog icon (top right) to get to the app settings. On Android, there’s an Audio Quality toggle switch under a Data Saver heading, while on iOS you need to tap Data Saver to find the toggle switch. Turn these switches on to limit the amount of data Spotify uses on cellular networks.

Apple Music comes built into iOS and is also available on Android. On iOS, open the main Settings app and choose Music, Audio Quality, Cellular Data Streaming, and High Efficiency to cut down on data usage. On Android, go into the Apple Music app, tap the three dots (top right) and Settings to find the Audio Quality menu—again, choose Cellular Data Streaming and High Efficiency to limit data use.

With YouTube Music for Android or iOS, tap your account avatar (top right), then Settings. If you’re running iOS, go to Playback and restrictions and Audio quality on cellular data, and if you’ve got an Android device, go straight to the Audio quality on cellular menu. There, choose Low, Normal, or High. The app also switches between these depending on connection strength, and if you’re a Premium subscriber, there’s an extra Always High option that forces a high quality stream on any connection.

Should you use Deezer for Android or iOS to play your tunes, first you need to tap the cog icon (top right). There, choose Audio and Cellular data under Streaming quality to pick between Basic, Standard, High Quality, and High Fidelity if you’re a paid subscriber, or Basic and Standard if you’re not.

Tidal for Android or iOS, is known for its high-resolution streams, but you don’t have to listen in the best fidelity if your connection is struggling to cope. Tap My Collection, then the cog icon (top right), and choose Streaming. Up to four options are available, depending on your subscription: Normal (the lowest data usage), High, HiFi, and Master.

David Nield is a freelance contributor at Popular Science, producing how to guides and explainers for the DIY section on everything from improving your smartphone photos to boosting the security of your laptop. He doesn’t get much spare time, but when he does he spends it watching obscure movies and taking long walks in the countryside.

Apr 25, 2019 — 6 min read

Cutting the cord doesn’t always mean no strings attached. Learn how to manage data usage when streaming is your primary source of entertainment.

Nearly 14 million have cut the cord in the U.S. since 2010, choosing the frugal freedom of streaming over traditional TV services. With over-the-top services like Netflix, Hulu and DIRECTV STREAM, streamers can watch their favorite shows, movies, original series and more at their convenience. One thing many streamers likely didn’t plan on watching, though, was their data usage.

Streaming all of your TV can use up a lot of data, and fast. Some internet providers limit monthly data usage to 1 TB or lower, and may throttle speeds or charge fees when you go over. Considering the fees and frustration of slow internet, it may be just as cost-effective to keep that TV subscription.

There are a few ways, however, to make sure data caps aren’t an issue after cutting the cord. The key is to know how much data you’re using and how to cut back if you’re using too much.

Does streaming use up a lot of data?

Streaming is technically a form of downloading, even though you aren’t saving a file to your hard drive. Just like when you download a song, streaming a song uses data, and the amount of data used to download vs. stream is about the same. So when you stream a large file, like a 30 minute TV show in HD, you could be using a sizeable chunk of data. Estimated data use for 1 hour of streaming:

• Music – 115 MB
• SD video – 1 GB
• HD video – 3 GB
• 4K Ultra-HD video – 7 GB

At first, 1 GB here and there might not seem like much, but when you consider how much you stream, plus all the other things you use the internet for — social media, homework, gaming, Wi-Fi cameras, etc. — data usage can add up quick.

If you have a data cap, find out how to monitor your data usage

Internet providers with data caps should have an easy way for you to keep up with how much data you’ve used for the month. HughesNet, for example, shows you how much data you’ve used and how much is left in your plan via their HughesNet Mobile app. Other providers, such as Cox and Xfinity have similar apps, and you can likely also monitor your data usage from your provider’s website.

Make it a habit to check your data usage at least once a week so there aren’t any surprises at the end of the month. Or instead of having to regularly check your data usage, see if your internet provider allows you to set alerts to notify you when you’ve approached or exceeded your data limit. Internet providers such as AT&T and Xfinity let you opt for data usage and alerts under account settings.

Another way to keep your data usage in check is to look up how much data you’ve used following a session of “binge-watching.” Long sessions of streaming TV will cause a hike in data usage, and having an idea of how much data binge-watching uses will help keep you conscious of your monthly data limit.

How to stream TV and keep your data usage in check

When checking your data usage, if you find you’re dangerously close to the limit, or you just want to stay well under the threshold, there are a few ways to cut the data you use when streaming.

Stream in SD when you can (and want to)

We get it, there’s nothing like watching a newly-released blockbuster in 4K, but do you really need to watch that Friends rerun in HD? Or how about when you have the TV on as background noise when doing chores or going to sleep? Probably not.

Being selective of what you watch in HD or 4K can save you a lot of data. Most streaming services like Netflix and Hulu let you choose the video quality under your account settings. With Netflix, you can set the streaming quality to Low (0.3 GB/hour per device), Medium (0.7 GB/hour per device) or High (3 – 7 GB/hour per device).

Explore the account settings with your streaming provider and set the video quality accordingly. Your TV might be disappointed with you cutting back on the HD, but your internet will thank you.

Make sure your streaming app or device is off

All streaming devices and services are a little different. While some feature an auto-shutoff or turn off with your TV, some may keep the stream alive long after you’ve stopped watching, eating up your data without you even knowing it.

Make sure the streaming device you use is off once you’re done streaming. In many cases, streaming devices run off your TV’s power, so simply turning off your TV will also cut power to the device. If streaming on your phone, tablet or computer, make sure the app you use to stream is closed, not just minimized and still open and possibly streaming.

Netflix, DIRECTV STREAM and other streaming services will eventually stop streaming if you leave them on (“Are you still watching?”), but usually only after a few hours have passed. That’s a few hours of lost data. The good news is the majority of these services allow you to turn the autoplay feature off. Go to the account settings for your streaming service and disable to autoplay setting if you think your TV might be watching without you.

Use an antenna for local live TV

Select streaming services like DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu Live and YouTube TV let you stream live local channels, but you don’t need a stream, and data, for that. Remember TV antennas? They can pick up lots of local networks for free.

You can get a quality antenna for around $20 and it’ll give you a reliable, data-free source for local programming. Newer antennas are even capable of HD display, so you can watch local news, sports broadcasts, primetime TV and more in HD quality, without burning through precious data.

Download videos you’ll watch over and over again

Pro tip for the parents here: download that show/movie that your child watches 24/7. That way you’ll essentially only use the data once, and they can watch as much as they want (or are allowed to) without using up more data each time they watch. You might have to pay for the download, but it beats going over your data limit because Frozen streamed non-stop for two weeks.

The same goes for music. If you pay for a music streaming service but find yourself listening to the same 12 songs, just download them. That way you can listen to them on repeat without using much data.

Choose an internet provider with no data caps

The simplest way to beat data caps is to not have one to begin with. Here are a few internet providers with no data caps:

• AT&T Fiber (AT&T 1000 plan only)
• Frontier
• Optimum
• Spectrum
• Suddenlink
• Verizon Fios
• Windstream
• Xfinity (extra fee may apply for unlimited data)

For the internet providers that do have a data cap, 1 TB per month is the most common, which is actually a lot of data. Satellite internet providers are an exception with monthly data caps starting at 10 to 40 GB per month, so you’ll want to keep a closer eye on your data usage if you have HughesNet or Viasat.

If you want to know more about internet providers in your area, including which ones have data caps, what they are and what the penalty is for going over, you can compare providers with Allconnect®.

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10 things you can do to conserve Internet bandwidth

10 things you can do to conserve Internet bandwidth

You can take a number of practical steps to reduce your organization’s bandwidth consumption. Here’s a rundown of some strategies to consider.

As organizations move more and more services to the cloud, it is becoming increasingly important to make efficient use of the available Internet bandwidth. Here are a few techniques you can use to conserve Internet bandwidth in your own organization.

1: Block access to content-streaming Web sites

If your organization allows employees to use the Internet for personal use, the first thing you should do is block access to streaming media sites, such as Netflix, YouTube, and MetaCafe. Playing the occasional YouTube video probably isn’t going to have a crippling effect on your Internet connection, but streaming videos do consume more bandwidth than many other Web-based services.

2: Throttle cloud backup applications

If you’re backing up your data to the cloud, check to see whether your backup application has a throttling mechanism. An unthrottled cloud backup solution will consume as much bandwidth as it can. This might not be a big deal if you’re backing up small files (such as Microsoft Office documents) throughout the day. But when you first begin backing up data to the cloud, an initial backup must be created. I have seen this process last for months, and if left unchecked, it can have a major impact on your Internet bandwidth.

3: Limit your use of VoIP

VoIP is another bandwidth-intensive protocol. If you plan to use VoIP, you might implement a policy stating that phones are to be used for business calls only. While I will be the first to admit that employees sometimes need to make calls that aren’t specifically related to work, almost everyone has a cell phone these days, so limiting the office phones to business use only shouldn’t be a big deal.

4: Use a proxy cache

A proxy cache can help limit the amount of traffic created by Web browsers. The basic idea is that when a user visits a Web site, the contents of the page are cached on a proxy server. The next time that person visits that Web page, the content does not have to be downloaded because it already exists in the cache. Using a proxy cache not only saves bandwidth, but it can give users the illusion that your Internet connection is much faster than it really is.

5: Centralize application updates

Today, almost every application is designed to download periodic updates over the Internet. You can save a lot of bandwidth by centralizing the update process. For example, rather than let every PC in your office connect to the Microsoft Update Service, you should set up a WSUS server to download all the updates and then make them available to the individual PCs. That way, the same updates aren’t being downloaded over and over again.

6: Use hosted filtering

If you operate your own mail servers in-house, a great way to save bandwidth is to take advantage of hosted filtering. With hosted filtering, your MX record points to a cloud server rather than to your mail server. This server receives all the mail that’s destined for your organization. The server filters out any spam or messages containing malware. The remaining messages are forwarded to your organization. You can save a lot of bandwidth (and mail server resources) because your organization is no longer receiving spam.

7: Identify your heaviest users

In any organization, there will be some users who use the Internet more heavily than others. It’s a good idea to identify your heaviest users and to determine what they are doing that’s causing them to consume so much bandwidth. I have seen real-world situations in which a user was operating peer-to-peer file-sharing software even though the administrator thought that the users’ desktops were locked down to make it impossible for anyone to do so.

8: Aggressively scan for malware

Malware can rob your organization of a tremendous amount of bandwidth by turning PCs into bots. Be aggressive in your efforts to keep the desktops on your network clean. Here are some resources that can help:

9: Use QoS to reserve bandwidth

QoS stands for quality of service. It is a bandwidth reservation mechanism that was first introduced in Windows 2000, and it’s still around today. If you have applications that require a specific amount of bandwidth (such as a video conferencing application), you can configure QoS to reserve the required bandwidth for that application. The bandwidth reservation is in effect only when the application is actively being used. At other times, the bandwidth that is reserved for the application is available for other uses.

10: Make sure you’re getting the bandwidth you’re paying for

A lot of factors affect Internet bandwidth, so you can’t expect to connect to every Web site at your connection’s maximum speed. Even so, your Internet connection should deliver performance that is reasonably close to what you are paying for.

I haven’t ever seen a situation in which an ISP intentionally gave someone a slower connection than they were paying for, but I have seen plenty of situations in which a connection was shared between multiple subscribers. In the case of a shared connection, a neighbor’s online activity can directly affect your available bandwidth. If your Internet connection isn’t as fast as it should be, talk to your ISP and find out if your connection is shared. You might pay a bit more for a non-shared connection, but the extra cost may be worth it.

More tips

• Five tips for managing employee Internet access
• Five tips for faster Web browsing
• Five tips for optimizing your Internet connection

Other suggestions?

What steps have you taken to reduce Internet bandwidth consumption for your organization?

Are you having trouble with people in your home hogging all the bandwidth? Or, maybe you want to limit how much your PC consumes. Luckily, there are a couple of ways to limit the amount of bandwidth your PC or laptop takes on your network. Follow along below to learn how.

From Your Router

Fortunately, most routers offer a lot of different options for changing your bandwidth. Let’s start with those options which pertain to any device on the network.

Change the QoS on Router

The most surefire way to limit how much bandwidth your PC consumes is through your router’s Quality of Service (QoS) technology. Just to give a quick rundown, Quality of Service is used as a technology to control traffic priority on a home or small business network. QoS takes a look at what devices are using the most bandwidth, determining which traffic is the most important. Then, QoS prioritizing that traffic accordingly.

You can configure QoS to establish and implement priorities by identifying the various types of Internet traffic, then setting set up priorities for each type of traffic: High, medium, and low.

On some router software, you can actually set up QoS to identify traffic based on a computer’s IP or MAC address, enabling you to give higher priority to specific devices, which is an easier method than identifying and prioritizing types of traffic.

Here are the steps for setting up QoS on most routers:

1. log in to your router’s dashboard
2. Find a section called QoS Setup or something similar, which is where you set Internet traffic priorities
3. Using your own computer’s MAC address or IP address, set up your traffic priority as high, medium, or low
4. You can repeat this process with each device that connects to your network

Depending on what type of software your router has, you might have more QoS options to choose from. Some routers will let you set up upload and download speeds with QoS based on a number of different factors.

Some routers will even have Intelligent QoS, which automatically or “intelligently” sets up what type of traffic gets priority. For example, it might decide that video and music streaming will get a higher priority than, say, file downloads. But, it’s often better to go ahead and set up QoS manually if you’re having trouble with machines in your home taking up too much bandwidth.

Parental Controls

A lot of new routers have options to set up ‘Parental Controls.’ Whether you’d like to limit timeframes or bandwidth, there may be some options here for you.

Log into your router’s control panel and check for a ‘Parental Controls’ option. Once there, check for your options. The Nighthawk from Netgear for example has a link to the Circle 1st Generation app. For 4.99/mo. you can manage the connected device’s usage.

Third-Party Software

Like we said above, using your router to limit bandwidth is the most surefire way to limit bandwidth; however, you can also limit bandwidth through using local utilities and software.

One of those utilities is NetBalancer, a free software package for limiting the priority of traffic coming from specific processes. Here’s a quick overview of what NetBalancer can do:

• Set for any process a download and/or upload network priority or limit
• Manage priorities and limits for each network adapter separately
• Define detailed network traffic rules
• Group local network computers and balance their traffic synchronized
• Set global traffic limits
• Show network traffic in the system tray

Your computer gives NetBalancer full control over processes and applications, enabling you to precisely limit what processes can take up what exact amount of traffic, by setting the download/upload speed or setting the priority.

NetBalancer functions similarly to how QoS works — a process or application you give high priority to will finish sending and receiving Internet traffic before another application can access your full Internet connection.

It’s a really useful tool, but might not necessarily be the best utility if you’re trying to limit the traffic of other people hogging up too much bandwidth in your home. For that, you’ll definitely want to try and limit bandwidth through the Quality of Service feature on your router.

Limiting Bandwidth for Updates

Fortunately, Windows 10 does offer an option to limit bandwidth for those pesky updates.

Open Settings

Click the Start menu on the lower left-hand side of your monitor and click the ‘Settings’ cog.

Set Your Preferences

Click on ‘Update & Security’ then ‘Delivery Optimization.’ After that, click ‘Advanced Options.’ Make the changes you’d like

In closing

This article covered a couple of methods to prioritize and limit traffic of various types and from various devices on your network, giving you fine-grained control over how bandwidth is allocated to individual machines or types of traffic.

Do you limit traffic on your own home or small business network? If so, how did you implement your traffic prioritizing or limiting system? Please let us know in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this article, you might find The Best Applications to Monitor Internet usage useful.

Justin Pot has been writing about technology for over a decade, with work appearing in Digital Trends, The Next Web, Lifehacker, MakeUseOf, and the Zapier Blog. He also runs the Hillsboro Signal, a volunteer-driven local news outlet he founded. Read more.

Does streaming video on your Roku make the Internet unusable for everyone else in the house? Are you up against your ISP’s bandwidth cap, and want to limit data usage? If so, you’ve probably browsed the Roku’s settings looking for a bandwidth cap, and found nothing.

But the Roku does offer a system-wide cap on bandwidth usage: it’s just a little hidden. On your Roku remote, you need to press a particular series of buttons in the right order. You need to press:

• The Home button five times.
• The Rewind button three times.
• And finally, the Fast Forward button two times.

Press these buttons in order and you’ll be taken to the “Bit Rate Override” screen, a hidden panel that lets you set bandwidth limits on your Roku.

Note that, by setting a limit, you are putting a ceiling on how good your streaming videos will look. Many video sites can offer 720p content with a cap of 3.5 megabits per second, the highest cap offered here. That’s not full HD, but also isn’t awful. Go much lower than 3.5mbps, however, and your videos will likely be offered at SD or worse.

Of course, this is the entire point of a bandwidth limit. Your videos won’t look as great, but they’ll also clog up your “tubes” a lot less. If that trade-off is worth it to you, this hidden screen can help you out, even if you only use it toward the end of the month, when you’re up against your bandwidth allowance.

In the new work-from-home (and school-from-home) era, between adding your family “full-time” to your home wifi and the cloud providers and ISPs scrambling to increase capacity, many of you have probably already experienced some network slow down or lag. Here are SecureSky’s “Top 10” ways to decrease load and, hopefully, increase your speed:

1. Reduce your webcam resolution/video quality – we agree it is nice to stay visually connected in these times, so we are not going to suggest totally turning off your video connection to your co-workers. But video is 70% of all network traffic. You and your spouse videoconferencing while the kids are video-learning, or watching streaming services, might create the biggest issue. All webcams have settings to adjust resolution and frames per second. Dial yours down to see if you can tell the difference. For those of you that are admins for your home or businesses, there are Quality of Services (“QoS”) settings on your network devices, network segments and service upgrades that will help, and below are links for QoS settings for three popular video/audio conferencing services:

1. Stagger start times for meetings and gaming times – this suggestion from Microsoft initially seemed silly until we tried it. If your team agrees to start meetings at 15 or 45 minutes past the hour, you will run into less traffic congestion. Also coordinating with your children’s class schedules and gaming times will reduce overlap.
2. Reduce meeting length – everyone in business should applaud this suggestion. If we all target making our one-hour meetings last 55 minutes and our half-hour meetings last 25 minutes, we give “the system” an extra 10 minutes an hour. With millions working from home worldwide, this adds up to considerable capacity.
3. Do not send attachments via email; instead use file sharing links – many companies on SharePoint or similar services already adhere to this practice. Now is the time to get into the habit.
4. For those of you with unlimited cellular data plans, take your family’s cell phones off your home wifi. If you don’t want to do this, turn off maps/GPS/locator functionality running in the background of most apps on your phones. Also, close apps that you’re not using. This is done in different ways depending upon your smartphone platform, and each platform offers a way to turn off background app refresh.
5. While you are pondering the effect your family’s cell phones have on your home wifi response, use your router application and see all of the devices you have on your network. When you add up the number of connections from iPads, Kindles, Apple TVs, Rokus, Amazon Fire Sticks, XBoxes, PlayStations, security cameras, alarm systems and video doorbells, smart outlets, switches and light bulbs on your wifi, it may surprise you. While many require constant connection, many do not. As mentioned above many newer home routers allow you to prioritize, rate limit or time limit device connections to free up bandwidth (i.e. applying additional “QoS” techniques to your home network). Also, if your wireless router offers 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz channels, make sure low bandwidth devices like printers are using the 2.4 Ghz radio, and other devices are using the 5 Ghz radio(s). The 5 Ghz radios typically have larger bandwidth capabilities and will be much more tolerant to the number of devices connected. Finally, while you are at it, change the password of your wifi, just in case a neighbor is “borrowing” your bandwidth.
6. Speaking of streaming TV devices – make sure everyone in your family understands how to turn off the streaming device and not just the TV when they are done watching.
7. Limit streaming music, video or gaming services during business hours, or at least if you have an important meeting (this will be by far the most controversial suggestion to those with bored kids right now). But it will add a tremendous amount of capacity when you really need it.
8. Similar to number 1 above, lowering your outbound video quality, lower the download quality of services such as YouTube or Netflix (if the isn’t already throttling you). If you are currently default streaming everything at 4K, consider dropping to 1080p, at least during your working hours. This can be done at the service level or device level.
9. Look at your web habits – for example, what browser do you use? (Google Chrome offers the most compression). Do you have automatic uploads to iCloud or Google Photos enabled? Do you take advantage of browser extensions to block images, JavaScript and plugins? Every little bit helps.

While this post addresses some ideas to lower bandwidth usage, we continue to see an increase of attacks on home networks, automation devices and endpoints. Make sure your router, device firmware and devices are up to date and you use encryption functionality, MFA/complex passwords, and follow security best practices: .

To close, in this day and age, we recognize the trade-offs between everyone in the family competing for the same network resources, while trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Talk with your family members so that everyone understands priorities. If you socialize with your neighbors (obviously while maintaining social distancing measures) you might even have a “driveway talk,” especially if your local ISP options are limited and you are all on the same service. We hope a suggestion or two above helps you remain productive in these uncertain times, and you and your family stay safe and healthy.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase. See our disclosure policy for more information.

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The other day my husband and I got a letter in the mail from our internet service provider stating that new data limits will be set on our current internet plan. While this does stink, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll be paying more. In fact, our provider (Cox Communications) is one of the last to enforce such limits.

How much data is your family actually using? This should be listed on your account/statement depending on which internet service provider you have. With Cox, we will get an email when we reach 85% of the data usage for the month and again when we hit 100% of our data usage for the month. Curious to see just how much you can stream/data you can use before going over? This handy tool will help no matter which provider you have. We maxed out every single option on this tool and it’s still showing below the new monthly limit. If you are big into online gaming or if you stream a lot you may have an issue.

My family is currently only using about half of the allocated data usage, and according to my husband (the former cable guy at said company) only about 2% of households will surpass this 1TB per month limit.

Still going over? Read on, friend.

Ways to Reduce Data Usage in Your Home

1. Turn off maps/GPS/locator in apps on your phone. These location services are constantly running in the background and if your phone is connected to your home’s wifi that’s just soaking up the data. Go to settings and location to see which apps are tracking you and turn them off. Bonus: it’s kinda creepy.

2. Switch browsers on your computer. Google Chrome compresses (ie: uses less) data on laptops and computers. Hey, it all adds up. If you’re not looking to change browsers, consider going to the “light” version of your preferred browser.

3. Download your music instead of streaming. Streaming music and/or video hogs up the data. Instead, play from your iTunes library or bust out those old CDs.

4. Get off the wifi. Do you have unlimited cell phone data? I know we do. While the wifi will speed up your phone’s browser, it also goes against the data usage in your home. If you’ve got unlimited phone data, get off that wifi, yo!

5. Check your router. There are routers that allow you to see what all is connected at a given time, and you can allot data usage per day to certain devices.

6. Don’t just turn off the TV. My kids have a horrible habit of turning off the TV while leaving the Roku, Chromecast or Amazon Fire Stick streaming. Get them in the habit of turning it all off at once.

7. Use lower quality streaming on YouTube. Do you watch a lot of YouTube videos? There are several channels I subscribe to and watch frequently. Did you know you can watch in lower quality which uses less data? On YouTube, just click the settings on the video (the gear) and change the quality of the video.

8. Lower the quality of streaming on Netflix. Why play Ultra HD/4K quality if you don’t have a 4K TV? Lower that to a decent/tolerable level and save that data. Don’t want to lower that quality all the time? Just do it when you notice you’re about to go over your limit for the month. Find this option under account > Playback settings.

9. Turn off auto-play. Do you fall asleep to TV? You may want to check the auto play feature on your streaming service. I know Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime all give you the option to turn off auto play. No use streaming video after you’ve fallen asleep.

10. Make sure your security is set on your router. Is your wifi not secured with a password? Your neighbors may be using your data without you even knowing. Secure, secure, secure!

What other ways are we missing? Let us know in the comments!

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Hi! I’m Ashlea, the Kansas mom that runs this crochet, food, and heart (CHD) blog. I am a frugal, yarn loving crochet addict that enjoys good food and fine wine – or an occasional whiskey. 😉 Read more about me here and see my favorite Amazon products here.

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Zoom can be a real data hog, and it only makes things worse when you share Wi-Fi with multiple people. If you want to optimize your Zoom speeds, you can upgrade your internet plan, beg your kids (or roommates) to not stream Paw Patrol while you’re on a Zoom meeting, or try these three tips:

Obviously, option number three is the easiest solution, so let’s try and figure that one out.

We feel you. Check out our guides on how to monitor your satellite internet data usage, plus how to add data to HughesNet and how to get more Viasat data.

How much data does Zoom use?

Real quick, let’s get an idea of how much data you burn while using Zoom. Before we drop a ton of internet jargon on you in the tables below, feel free to familiarize yourself with our internet speeds guide.

For a 1:1 Zoom meeting, you spend somewhere between 540 MB and 1.62 GB per hour, or somewhere between 9 MB and 27 MB per minute, depending upon the streaming quality.

The more people you have in a Zoom call, the more data you’ll use up to run the meeting. Your data usage jumps up to somewhere between 810 MB and 2.4 GB per hour, or somewhere between 13.5 MB and 40 MB per minute.

Zoom uses your internet download speeds to stream what you see on a conference call, and uses upload speed to broadcast your stream to other people on the conference call.

Okay, so we just talked a lot about MBs and GBs, but let’s give some context as to what those data measurements really mean for you.

4K video streaming

HD video streaming

SD video streaming

Uploading one image to social media

Sending emails (without attachment)

Sending emails (with standard attachment)

Viewing a web page

Now that we’ve got context for how much data Zoom uses, let’s try to dramatically lower your Zoom data usage.

1. Leave video off when you don’t need it

The bulk of your internet upload speeds are dedicated to streaming your video to other folks on the conference call. If you turn off your video feed, then your Zoom data usage drops by at least 30% by our estimation. Plus, with your video feed off, you can do Zoom meetings in your pajamas completely guilt free!

How do I turn off my Zoom video?

Before you join a meeting, you should get a prompt asking you whether or not you want to turn on your video. It will look like this:

You can click Join without Video and your video feed will be turned off at the get-go of the meeting.

If you already have started your camera in the meeting, but want to turn it off to conserve some of your data, you can just click the Stop Video button on the bottom right corner. It looks like this:

2. Turn off HD video

Reducing your streaming quality can reduce the Zoom data you use by more than 60%. Besides, do you really need everyone’s faces on a Zoom call in full high-definition? Personally, I would prefer people see me in a lower definition.

How to turn off HD video

First navigate to your Zoom settings. On the desktop Zoom client, you can find the gear icon for settings in the top right corner when you first open the app.

Once you get to Settings, click the Video tab on the left-hand side, and untoggle the box that says Enable HD. You can also apparently touch up your appearance here, too, but I can’t really tell if it’s helping.

By clicking on that box, the amount of data your Zoom requires should drop dramatically.

3. Don’t screen share longer than necessary

Screen sharing takes up more data than just broadcasting a live video. If you want to pinch pennies with data, show what you need to show with your screen sharing, and then hop back to your normal camera.

You can always use a collaborative document (like a Google Doc) instead of screen sharing. People on the shared doc can see what everyone else contributes to the doc in real time.

Are your Zoom calls always glitchy?

If your Zoom calls look as fuzzy as 1980s basketball used to look on TV, then it might be time to consider upgrading your internet—preferably to a provider that offers unlimited data. If you have options, we recommend Xfinity or Verizon Fios Home Internet as two of the best ISPs out there right now.

Data effective 12/02/2020. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*For the first 12 months. Some packages require a 1- or 2-year contract.

Data effective 12/02/2020. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*w/Auto Pay + taxes. Equipment charges may apply.

There always might be an internet service provider in your area that can give you better internet speeds for a better price. Enter your ZIP code below to see the best internet providers.

Related articles

• What Internet Speeds do I need for Zoom?
• Zoom Mobile vs Desktop App: Know the Difference
• Zoom Not Working? Here’s What to Do
• Zoom Security Precautions
• How to Connect Zoom to Essential Calendar Apps

Check out Zoom alternatives that can help you reduce data usage.

Find out how Zoom ranks compared to other video conference apps.

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Disclaimer: The information featured in this article is based on our best estimates of pricing, package details, contract stipulations, and service available at the time of writing. This is not a guarantee. All information is subject to change. Pricing will vary based on various factors, including, but not limited to, the customer’s location, package chosen, added features and equipment, the purchaser’s credit score, etc. For the most accurate information, please ask your customer service representative. Clarify all fees and contract details before signing a contract or finalizing your purchase. Each individual’s unique needs should be considered when deciding on chosen products.

If you’re a streaming and download junkie, you risk busting your monthly broadband data limit. Here’s how to keep track of your usage.

Going over your monthly broadband data usage limit can be a costly lesson. If you’re a heavy data user, unless you’re lucky enough to be on a plan with near-unrestricted usage, you’ll find yourself faced with the threat of additional expenses on top of your monthly charge.

New ways to stream content from the Internet — from online TV like the BBC’s iPlayer to gaming services such as OnLive and Steam — mean data is an increasingly precious commodity. It will disappear faster than a leaky boat on a lake unless you regularly monitor and control it.

This guide will help you track your data usage on a month-by-month basis on computers and laptops only.

Getting started

We want to get a clear picture of your desktop usage, so if you download lots using mobile devices, either refrain from doing so for a month or switch to your network’s 3G connection rather than your home Wi-Fi. If you download demos, games and updates on your games console, jot down the size of the files or updates in megabytes so you can add them to the final tally.

Some ways of tracking usage incurred from all devices in the home involve flashing custom firmware on routers — a process that can be time-consuming, complicated and risky. Instead, the following method is intended as a quick, simple and efficient means of tracking your monthly data usage.

Tracking data usage on Windows

Installing and checking basic settings:

1. To track your usage on Windows we’re going to use a free program called ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter. Download it from here. It’s important to remember every computer connected to the Internet in your house will deduct from your monthly data allowance, so you’ll need to install the program on each machine.

2. Run the program once it’s installed. You’ll see this icon —

— in the system tray at the bottom right of your screen when it’s running. Right-click the icon and choose ‘Enable IE Flash’ and ‘Show in MegaBytes (MB)’. The monitor needs to be running all of the time on any computer you want to monitor. To ensure this, right-click on the system tray icon and click Settings.

3. Make sure there’s a tick in the box next to ‘Run this program on Windows start up’. Go down the screen to where it says ‘Month Start day’ and in the box enter the day of the month that your broadband data usage resets. This varies depending on your ISP and when you signed up to your service — give them a ring if you’re unsure.

If your ISP allows you to download an unlimited amount of data during a certain period of the day, for example between midnight and 8am, then check the Enable box next to ‘Don’t track between these times’. If not, or if you’re unsure, leave it unchecked. Click OK.

Finding the name of your network interface (Windows 7)

In Settings you’ll have seen a list of network interfaces with tick boxes — all currently checked. We need to find out exactly which interface your computer is using to connect to the Internet before we can pick the one we need.

You’ll either be using a Local Area Connection (where one end of an Ethernet cable is plugged into your computer and the other end into a router), or a wireless connection (no cable from your computer to the router).

1. Click on Start and type Network into the search box under All Programs. The very top icon will say Network. Click it. Click on the words ‘Network and Sharing Center’. In the left-hand panel, click ‘Change adaptor settings’. Right-click on the icon for the corresponding adaptor that you’re using and click Properties.

2. Make a note of the name of the adaptor that’s written under ‘Connect using’ and click OK.

3. Right-click on the ShaPlus icon in the system tray and click Settings. Uncheck all of the boxes for the devices listed next to ‘Select the Network Interfaces to monitor’. Now find the name of the interface that you noted down and check the box next to it. Click OK.

Checking your current and monthly usage

1. Double-click on the ShaPlus icon in your system tray. It has a self-explanatory interface, the only two of interest being Today (data downloaded that day), and This Month (data downloaded over the month). Click on the pin icon next to the Close button in its top-right corner to stop it from disappearing.

2. To view your monthly data usage in a grid, right-click on the ShaPlus system tray icon and click ‘Monthly Totals. ‘. You’ll then notice the following grid that you can keep checking throughout the month to see the amount of data you’ve used.

Checking your usage on a Mac

1. To track usage on a Mac, we’re going to use the free app SurplusMeter. As the app only monitors data on that particular Mac, you’ll have to install it on all of the Macs in your house that you want to monitor. Grab it from here. Note, for it to work properly, you have to copy the app itself to your applications folder before running it rather than mounting it from a volume.

2. Click on the Apple logo in your Mac’s menu bar, open System Preferences, click on ‘Users & Groups’, click on your account and click ‘Login Items’. Scroll down and check that SurplusMeterAgent is in the list and that the box to the left of it’s checked. This now means you can close SurplusMeter and your data usage will still be monitored in the background.

3. Run SurplusMeter. Under ‘Month starts on’ enter the day that your monthly data usage is reset. Under ‘Download limit’ enter what your monthly data limit is. Under ‘Connection type’ select the option of how your computer connects to the Internet — AirPort if you’re using a wireless method or Ethernet port if a physical cable goes from your Mac to your router.

4. To view your monthly data usage, open SurplusMeter, click on Controls in the menu bar and select View Archive. After the first full month, you will start to see the recorded results of data used.

Adding up the data

It’s easier (and more accurate) to use Megabytes when totting up your total amount of usage at the end of the month. If you’re using ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter, find the total in ‘Monthly Tools’. If you’re using SurplusMeter, have a peek in ‘View Archive’ or next to Total in the main window.

It’s also useful to write the data down in grid form like this:

Feed this figure into the handy Megabyte to Gigabyte converter on this page, and we’re left with a total usage of 27.614GB for the month.

Data-heavy apps and services will quickly dry up your monthly smartphone data plan. Find out how to keep tabs on your data usage and prevent going over your limit.

Vice President of Content / CNET

Sharon Profis is Vice President of Content CNET.

With data plan pricing on the rise and unlimited plans being throttled (seriously, why bother calling it “unlimited”?!), it’s increasingly important to control your data usage.

As we gradually move toward a cloud-based mobile experience with services such as iCloud, Amazon Cloud, and Google Music, going over your data limits will be easy. Naturally, service providers like AT&T and Verizon don’t mind–they’ll gladly hit you with a $10 to $30 overage charge whenever you exceed your allotted bytes.

Connecting to Wi-Fi as often as possible is key to minimizing cellular data usage, but there are a few other best practices to follow. Once you have those on lock, monitoring your usage in real time will help you avoid any overage fees. Here’s how:

First, cut back on data-hogging apps

Minimize use of streaming services. Apps like Pandora, Netflix, and Spotify will quickly eat up your data allowance. Even a low-bandwidth app like Pandora will kill as much as 30MB per hour–that’s a lot of data, especially when you’re on an introductory 200MB plan. Save most streaming for when you’re on Wi-Fi, or check out a service like Slacker, which lets you cache music stations.

Download apps on Wi-Fi. While your friends may have convinced you to get the latest with Friends game, hold off on downloading it until you’ve connected to Wi-Fi. Some storage-hungry apps (like Dictionary.com) will immediately ask you to connect to Wi-Fi upon downloading, but you should follow this practice with all apps.

Turn off needy apps. Push e-mail, app notifications (especially Facebook–you probably get those frequently), and GPS services should be disabled whenever possible. These needy services constantly communicate with the network, so you’ll save a lot of data by manually enabling them.

Now, monitor your data usage

Screenshot by Ed Rhee

Android: Check out MyDataManager (free). The app tracks your data usage in real time and offers you a detailed breakdown of how much data each app is hogging. This way, you can identify which apps use the most data. The best feature? Data threshold alerts. MyDataManager lets you set thresholds (like 200MB, 1GB, 2GB, and so on) and get notified whenever you pass a threshold.

iPhone: Users recommend DataMan (free). The app tracks your data usage in real time, and while it doesn’t offer details about which apps are using the data, it does let you set thresholds and receive alerts when you’re close to hitting your data allowance.

I recently got an email from my Internet Service Provider alerting me that my unlimited internet usage was soon going to be capped at 200GB per month. Laughable, especially for a family likes ours where the vast majority of our TV consumption comes from Netflix, which I assume generates the bulk of our data usage.

Instead of limiting our daily use of Netflix, I figured that I should probably look into reducing the data used by the app. In this post, we will see how much data Netflix uses and how to reduce the amount of data used by Netflix when streaming. With finer controls over the streaming quality, we should be able to significantly reduce our data usage without limiting our time watching Netflix.

How much data does Netflix use?

Netflix data usage depends a lot on what you are watching, how long you are watching it for, and most importantly, the quality of your internet connection. By default, Netflix will adjust the quality of your stream based on your internet connection, so of course, the higher the quality, the higher the data use. When this default is set, it is hard to estimate how much data Netflix actually uses.

However, when switching from the default auto adjustment to one of the three tiers of streaming quality Netflix offers, we are able to get a better idea of how much data one might use per hour of streaming:

• Low quality will use about 0.3 GB of data per hour
• Medium quality (SD) will use about 0.7 GB of data per hour
• High quality will use about 3 GB of data per hour in HD, and about 7 GB of data per hour for Ultra HD

Assuming you have a decent internet connection and that Netflix delivers HD quality streaming to your device at the rate of 3 GB of data per hour, the savings in data usage can be gigantic simply by switching to SD quality.

Note that this average data usage applies regardless of the device used to stream. Whether you are streaming on your iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, or any other device, the average usage quoted above will apply.

How to adjust Netflix playback settings to use less data

Netflix offers a couple ways to reduce data usage. There is what I’d call a “master switch” that allows you to cap Netflix streaming quality at the profile level, which we will look into right now. There is also a more granular way to reduce data usage for mobile devices at the device level. We’ll look into this later.

To reduce data consumption and put a cap on your Netflix streaming quality at the profile level, follow these instructions:

1. Log in to your Netflix account using a web browser (not from the Netflix app).
2. If there are several profiles set under your account (ie. profiles for your kids), choose the profile for which you want to adjust playback settings. This is important because playback settings are set at the profile level, meaning you can have one profile stream in HD, while you have other ones stream in SD.
3. Once that profile is selected, go to Account, scroll all the way to the bottom, and select Playback settings under My Profile. Note: for some reason, it seems you can’t access a Kid’s account settings directly from a web browser on a computer. Instead, you either have to access the profile from your iPhone browser, or if using a computer, select the Kid profile first, then click on this link from your browser: You will then be able to access Playback settings, even for a Kid account.
   
4. By default, your playback settings should be set to Auto. In my case, I want to set it to Medium, which should not use more than 0.7 GB of data per hour. Select your playback setting, then click Save.
   
5. Repeat these steps for all profiles under your account, as needed. Note that it will take several hours for the changes to take effect.

Pick and choose streaming quality per profile

Because playback settings are set at the profile level, you can choose the streaming quality of each profile independently of others. For example, you might set your kids’s profiles to stream in Medium quality, while setting your own profile to stream in Auto or High quality. You be the judge.

Playback settings are capped across all devices

When you adjust your playback settings, these new settings will be the same across all devices. For example, let’s say you set your kid’s profile to Medium quality. Your kid’s data usage will then be capped to about 0.7 GB of data per hour regardless of the device used to stream Netflix, whether it is an iPhone, a Fire TV stick, a Chromecast, an iPad, etc…

Less data means lower quality…

In my experience, going from Auto to Medium quality was noticeable on Apple TV, but not in an obvious way. There seems to be minor tiling happening during action scenes, but not to a point where it bothers me. My wife, for example, hasn’t noticed any decrease in quality. Neither did my kids. Your mileage may vary, but just be aware image quality will take a hit when you downgrade playback settings.

How to use less cellular data on Netflix on mobile

Now if you want to reduce cellular data usage on Netflix without adjusting overall playback settings, you can do so directly from the mobile device used to stream Netflix, which in most cases is going to be your iPhone.

1. On your iPhone, launch the Netflix app.
2. Tap the hamburger menu in the upper left corner, scroll down and select App Settings.
3. Select the Cellular Data Usage tab.
4. By default, the Automatic mode will be selected. Untick the selection, then pick Save Data.
   

Choosing this setting will use about 1 GB of data for about 6 hours of streaming.

Regardless of what is set at the device level, data usage will never go over what was set at the profile level, as described above. That means that if you set your kid’s profile to stream in Medium quality, his/her cellular data usage will not go over 0.7 GB of data per hour streamed, regardless of the playback settings selected directly on the mobile device.

Photo Credit: David Pupaza

How much data does Spotify use? The answer depends on your streaming quality and maybe your carrier incentives. Here’s a quick breakdown.

Spotify uses less data than equivalent times of video streaming, but you could rack up more data usage than you expect. That’s especially true if you’re streaming higher-quality audio tracks and podcasts. Spotify offers five different sound quality settings in the app that govern how much data Spotify uses.

Spotify Sound Quality Settings

You can access these options by navigating to the Spotify app ‘Settings‘ and scrolling down to ‘Music Quality.’ There are five different settings to choose from, including:

• Low (24kbps)
• Normal (96kbps)
• High (160kbps)
• Very High (320kbps)
• Automatic

The automatic option will choose a sound quality option based on your network connection. You can download high-quality music to your device to avoid massive data charges.

How Much Data Does Spotify Use?

Let’s break this down by sound quality tier to see how much data Spotify uses based on sound quality. The app uses anywhere from 0.5 MB up to 8 MB for a song.

A full hour of streaming music can use upwards of 150 MB of data. That means a single hour of streaming per day can add up to over 6 GB of data usage just for streaming music.

Low (24kbps)

• Per Minute: 0.18 MB
• Per Hour: 10.8 MB
• Streaming Hours to Reach 1 GB: 92.5 hours

Normal (96kbps)

• Per Minute: 0.72 MB
• Per Hour: 43.2 MB
• Streaming Hours to Reach 1 GB: 23.1 hours

High (160kbps)

• Per Minute: 1.2 MB
• Per Hour: 72 MB
• Streaming Hours to Reach 1 GB: 13.8 hours

Very High (320kbps) – Spotify Premium Only

• Per Minute: 2.4 MB
• Per Hour: 144 MB
• Streaming Hours to Reach 1 GB: 6.9 hours

Remember: You can avoid Spotify consuming your mobile data each month by downloading your favorite playlists, albums, and podcasts to your device before leaving the house.

Carrier Incentives May Include Spotify Streaming

Some North American phone carriers like T-Mobile don’t count music streaming data against your data plan. T-Mobile calls this its Music Freedom benefit, which lets customers “stream all the music they want from participating streaming services without using data.”

This plan includes several music providers like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, YouTube Music, Slacker, SiriusXM, and many more. T-Mobile’s Music Freedom perk is enabled automatically on eligible plans. Just remember that non-music streaming data still counts against you.

Most music streaming services include small amounts of non-music streaming data, like album artwork. The amount of data those non-music files consume varies by streaming partner and the device being used.

How to Make Spotify Use Less Data

Are you running up against your monthly data allotment because you’re streaming Spotify? There are a few steps you can take to reduce your music streaming data usage. Here’s a quick overview of those options.

Download Your Music

Spotify Premium offers users up to 10,000 songs for listening while away from WiFi. You can even turn on an offline mode so Spotify can only play tracks, albums, and playlists you’ve previously downloaded to your device. Spotify Premium costs $9.99/month for a single person, $12.99/month for the Duo plan, and $15.99/month for the Family Plan.

Turn on Spotify’s Data Saver Option

Don’t want to subscribe to Spotify Premium? You can enable the ‘Data Saver’ option in Spotify to keep audio streams at 24kbps and disable the Spotify Canvas feature. Spotify says its data saver feature can reduce Spotify data use by up to 85%.

If you use Apple Music on an iPhone, you might have streamed music using cellular data. Since cellular bandwidth is often limited, you might want to preserve your cellular data and use “High Efficiency” mode for Apple Music. Apple Music uses the HE-AAC format to lower the data usage in “High Efficiency” mode. With this setting, you can stream music for a longer period of time while using limited data.

Apple Music’s streaming quality reaches a maximum number of 256 kbps which consumes a little above 5 MB of data at the high-quality setting. If you do not download music and rely on streaming through cellular data, it could cost you a lot. Learn how to limit the amount of cellular data Apple Music uses on your iPhone in a few simple steps to conserve your cellular data.

Learn how to limit the amount of cellular data Apple Music uses on iPhone

1. Launch Settings on iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap on Music to adjust the app’s settings.

If your device is running iOS 14.6 or later, the Cellular Streaming setting will be found under the Audio Quality section. On older versions of iOS, a similar setting will be found under Playback & Downloads.

Lastly, tap on High Efficiency.

Note that this quality change only applies to streaming over cellular. When you are connected to Wi-Fi, Apple Music will use a higher quality setting.

We hope this guide helped you learn how to limit the amount of cellular data Apple Music uses on iPhone. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below.

Asma Hussain

Asma is an editor at iThinkDifferent with a strong focus on social media, Apple news, streaming services, guides, mobile gaming, app reviews, and more. When not blogging, Asma loves to play with her cat, draw, and binge on Netflix shows.

Twitch is one of the most popular streaming services at the moment and you might be one of those streamers broadcasting your video games on the site. Twitch has more than 2 million active broadcasters and to stand out in that crowd, you need to be technically proficient. Even if you come up with the most brilliant commentary in the world, your stream is going to be a tough sell at sub-HD resolutions.

The Basics of Video Game Broadcasting

Essentially, you’re uploading a video game in real time, complete with an audio track, and possibly a second video of a webcam focused on you. The higher the quality — on both video feeds — the more bandwidth you’ll need to establish a stream, and maintain it without too much lag or tearing. (Lag is an inconvenience while streaming a movie; it’s an absolute nightmare.)

It means that the ability to stream will be based on the upload speed in your plan, as you are uploading videos to the internet.

Generally, the higher quality live streams will use 4500-6000 kbps on 1080p 60fps settings and the lower qualities will use 400-1200 kbps at 480, 360 and 240 video quality options. These settings depend on:

• your PC settings
• software you are using
• the output you have chosen
• the upload speed limit of your plan

Most popular streamers offer 1080p quality, but you should aim for at least 720p. To stream consistently at a 1280 x 720 resolution at 30 fps — all other things being equal — you’ll need an upload speed of about 3.6 Mbps. Of course, all other things are never equal, between Twitch servers, your own internet provider and whatever program you use to broadcast, so let’s round up and say 4 Mbps.

How Much Bandwidth Does Twitch Use?

This handy chart will show you how much internet data you use in 1 hour of twitch streaming. Speed on twitch is measured in Kilobits per seconds, but on sites like speedtest.net, your upload speed is measured in Megabits per second.

We converted Twitch’s kilobits per second to megabits per second and then we converted that to MegaBytes per second to gigabytes, then we multiplied the gigabytes by 3600, or for every second in an hour, we eventually came up with an approximation of how much internet data is used in 1 hour of streaming.

You can also use the following formula in order to calculate how much data you are consuming on Twitch:

avg bitrate * (9/20) = GB per hour

It is quite simple and easy to remember. And to make your life easier, you can always ballpark your consumption by just estimating using 50% instead of (9/20).

Live Streaming Bandwidth Calculator

If making your own calculations with formula does not sound fun to you, you can always use a live streaming calculator to quickly discover the best settings for your casting. This tool can help you figure out if you have the right internet plan for your stream.

Conclusions

Having the right internet plan will help guarantee a high-quality experience for your viewers. You might need to consider getting a faster upload rate from your internet provider. Failing that, consider recording your gameplay sessions and uploading them so that people can watch them on-demand. It’s not as instantaneous as live-streaming, but pre-recorded shows can build up quite a following if the content is good.

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Different smart home devices use varying amounts of data, so it’s a good idea to learn which ones use the most.

S mart home devices can be an exciting way to automate your home. The ease of controlling everything from the temperature of your home, when your lights turn on or off, your children or pets’ well-being and many more household tasks have made this a fast-growing trend in home electronics.

Many of these devices use very little data, but others can use quite a lot. For Viasat Internet customers without an unlimited plan, it’s something that bears watching.

To help our customers get a better handle on this, here’s a look at how some of the most popular smart home devices use data:

Smart home hubs/assistants

Devices such as the Amazon Echo Dot and Google Home can act as hubs for all your smart home utilities. By linking your Wi-Fi-connected lights, window blinds, vacuums and other devices, you can control these everyday functions with your voice.

Most of these hubs are Bluetooth speakers, and usage will depend on the function you’re requesting. For example, if you ask your smart speaker to turn on your lights, set a timer, or answer a question, that requires a minimal amount of data. But if you stream music or a radio station, you’ll use the same amount of data as if you were streaming on a regular device. That could clock in at approximately 100 MB per hour.

Using an advanced model such as the Echo Show, capable of displaying video, could eat up even more data.

If you use Google Home, be aware of the Cast feature. To function properly, the device sends packets in 20-second intervals, and if left in a prolonged sleep mode, the packets will be delivered in a very high speed and very short time once the device is awakened. That can create a spike in usage. To prevent this issue, reboot the device or disable the Cast feature.

Thermostats

Smart thermostats let you adjust your home temperature via your phone to ensure your house is comfortable upon arrival. That’s not only a cool invention, it’s also data efficient.

Smart thermostats typically use very little data.

Wi-Fi connected thermostats use a small amount of data and will impact your utility bill more than your data bank. Data is required for system updates, but should use no more than 50 MB each month.

Cameras

Wi-Fi connected cameras are ideal for home security and monitoring your children or pets while away. But they use the most data of all smart home devices currently available. That usage varies according to a few factors.

Setting the resolution has a major impact on data usage. A medium resolution setting on a camera will consume about 60 GB per month. By contrast, a high-resolution setting will bump it to 140 GB. At the lowest resolution, you’ll need about 18 GB a month.

High activity also plays into data usage. A busy area such as a kitchen will trigger more streaming, and thus consume more data than a camera mounted in a quiet room.

If you use the popular Nest Cam, the settings you use can make a great difference in data usage. If it’s used just as a live video camera – say, to check on your new puppy or look at the front porch – Nest Cam’s data consumption is modest.

But if you subscribe to Nest Aware − the paid cloud service that saves Nest Cam’s video stream to your history − you’ll use an average of 120 GB of data a month at that same mid-range setting. At high-resolution, that average rockets to 300 GB.

And if you opt for Nest Cam IQ, you’ll exchange potentially 400 GB of data for facial recognition and other nifty features.

You can drop these numbers significantly by changing the resolution to its lowest setting, or scheduling the Nest Cam to operate only at specific times.

Smart doorbells

The increase of porch pirates – opportunistic thieves who nab packages from outside homes – and missed package deliveries has triggered high interest in video doorbells as a security device. Video doorbell cameras typically use a higher resolution than other cameras, and that means they can use between 50-300 GB a month. As with security cameras, this varies dramatically with the resolution settings.

Take a look at the device’s manual for more details on how much data each device uses and opt for settings that use less data.

Smart bulbs and smart plugs

These devices let you remotely control your lights and other electronics via an app or your voice, if connected to a device such as an Echo Dot or Google Home. It’s a cool function that requires only minimal data since they largely only use data for system updates and to very briefly respond to on/off commands. You can expect to use somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 MB each month depending on manufacturer.

You may have more to be concerned about with security than data with smart appliances.

Smart household appliances (smart vacuums, microwaves, refrigerators, etc.)

As we’ve discussed, virtually every smart device collects and transmits data about how you’re using it – that’s part of what makes it “smart.” For most household appliances, that data usage is manageable, though you should still keep an eye out for software updates and other data-gobbling events.

But even smart appliances (and any connected device) present another data-related issue: privacy. In 2017, the CEO of iRobot startled some customers when he said the company was open to selling maps of users’ homes created by Roomba vacuums to third-party firms. While he later clarified that iRobot would not share customer data without permission, the incident serves as a reminder that smart tech comes with privacy tradeoffs.

No matter what device you’re using, know that Viasat takes customer data usage and privacy extremely seriously. You can always keep an eye on your data using the Viasat customer portal. A simple test would be to compare a period before you set up a new smart home device and then look at the data use a day or two after installation.

In a world where more and more internet service providers are placing caps on the amount of data their customers can consume each month, now it’s more important than ever to know exactly how much data the most popular apps on your connection is using: streaming services.

Even though they might all stream in the same quality ranges (generally 480p to 4K for video, 128Kbps up to 320Kbps for audio), not all compression algorithms are created the same. How much data is your favorite streaming service using?

Also read: How Fast Does Your Internet Connection Need to Be?

Netflix

Might as well start with the biggest data user of them all in the room, Netflix. According to the company’s website, the Netflix streaming service breaks down like this in terms of the amount of data they use for each connection:

• 300MB per hour on the lowest video quality
• 700MB per hour for SD video quality
• 3GB per hour for HD video quality
• 7GB per hour for UHD (4K) video quality

This means if you have a 1TB cap (one of the more common cap rates in the United States), you could stream roughly 142 hours of 4K video before you reached your limit.

Hulu is one of the most watched streaming services in the US, which means that anyone with a data cap should keep a close eye on how much data the services is sucking up. Here are the stats:

• 680MB per hour in standard def
• 1.3GB per hour at 720p
• 2.7GB per hour at 1080p

Hulu is one of the few streaming services that doesn’t offer any sort of 4K option, so data-conscious streamers won’t have to worry about that overloading their cap.

Amazon Prime Video

Though Amazon Prime Video’s selection of movies and TV shows may not be as broad as its competitors, it still sucks up a comparatively large amount of data for every piece of media that leaves its servers:

• 800MB per hour in standard definition
• 2GB of data per hour in HD
• 6GB of data per hour in 4K

These figures mean that while both the HD and 4K streams of Amazon’s content compare nicely with its competitors, the standard definition eats up literally twice as much as Netflix. This suggests that even if you intentionally downgrade your Amazon stream to the lowest quality in order to save on data, it will still hit your cap pretty quickly.

Spotify

Because songs take up such a smaller footprint than video, you shouldn’t really have to limit much of your Spotify usage over a monthly basis, even if you are operating under an oppressively low data cap. That said, add up enough of these streams across enough devices, and it’s obvious how that impact could add up quickly. All that said, it’s also much easier to determine the rate at which Spotify will use your data since the bandwidth is tied directly to the quality of the music:

• Normal quality (96Kbps) – 40MB of data per hour
• Medium quality (160Kbps) – 70MB of data per hour
• Extreme quality (320Kbps) – 150MB of data per hour

Wrap Up

As long as you’re responsible about what types of content you’re streaming and how often, it’s unlikely that you’ll break through your data cap using streaming alone if it’s 1TB or higher. That said, streaming combined with gaming, downloading, and general browsing can quickly break through even the largest caps, so be sure you budget your hours carefully, and always choose the streaming quality option that fits your limit best!

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By Zoe Samios and Fergus Hunter

US entertainment giant Netflix will reduce the data its streaming service in Australia consumes in a bid to reduce broadband congestion as mobile and internet providers struggle to cope with rising demand from people stuck at home.

Netflix was due to compress the bit rates of its streams from Tuesday evening to help telecommunications providers cope with high levels of demand, following a similar move in Europe. Netflix Australia is the first local provider to reduce bit rates.

Netflix is experiencing a sharp uptick in usage as people stay home. Credit: Bloomberg

Ken Florance, Netflix’s vice president of content delivery, said the reduced rates will be enforced in Australia for the next 30 days.

“Given the crisis, we’ve developed a way to reduce Netflix’s traffic on the telecommunications network by 25 per cent while also maintaining the quality of our service,” Mr Florance said.

“Consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan – where it’s ultra-high, high or standard definition.”

Bit rates are used to describe the amount of data per second consumed on a digital network. Netflix uses many different streams for a single film or television show, some with higher bit rates. The latest decision means the highest bandwidth streams have been removed.

Netflix says consumers will still get the quality they pay for – ultra-high, high or standard definition – but “if you are particularly tuned into video quality you may notice a very slight decrease in quality within each resolution”.

The NBN and telecommunications providers have been put under increased pressure over the last couple of weeks, as more Australians isolate and work from home causing congestion. Netflix and other streaming services account for a large portion of internet traffic during peak times. Its usage has spiked during the pandemic. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has been working with the telcos and NBN Co on ways to reduce congestion.

In addition to congestion on the fixed broadband network, telcos have also been experiencing spiking demand on mobile networks. A spokeswoman for Telstra said was increasing daily and congestion was affecting 3-4 per cent of calls, with “no impact on data as yet”.

“Overall mobile call volumes on certain routes and geographies are up by more than 50%. Specific numbers to Government call centres are experiencing three times the call volumes compared to last week, and over twenty times the normal call volume,” the spokeswoman said.

“Yesterday we made significant improvements to capacity and call routing on our network, which has allowed us to manage the significantly higher call volumes.”

Netflix’s announcement on bit rates follows a letter from Mr Fletcher, sent on Monday, asking them to immediately consider reducing bit rates in Australia during the crisis, consistent with the decision in Europe.

Mr Fletcher welcomed Netflix’s “proactive decision” to ease demand on the broadband network.

“NBN is accommodating increases in peak hour traffic, and there is substantial headroom for retail service providers to meet further demands,” he said.

“The measures taken by Netflix are sensible and helpful in anticipation of greater traffic and data use on residential broadband in the near-term. At the same time, there is unlikely to be a noticeable change for viewers.”

Mr Fletcher said he had “every expectation that other over-the-top providers will adopt similarly helpful measures in the community’s interest over this period”.

After a meeting with the telco industry last week, Mr Fletcher sent an initial letter to streaming and gaming platforms asking them to “work collaboratively” with NBN Co to manage the high consumer demand of the network. NBN Co has already provided 40 per cent extra bandwidth to internet service providers for free.

In Europe, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon have all lowered their bit rates to help with congestion.

Internet Speed

Download and upload speeds can impact your Internet experience. Generally, the faster the speed, the quicker you can complete a task such as downloading or uploading a file. For some applications like high definition video streaming, you will need 5 to 10 Mbps of download speed to ensure a high quality viewing experience. If you have a Wi-Fi network with multiple Internet-connected devices attached you will also need to consider the number of devices that may be online concurrently. For example, if one member of you household is using a PC to download the latest operating system update (generally a very large file) while another member is watching a movie online via a gaming console, sufficient bandwidth must be available to enable a quality viewing experience while still supporting a fairly quick download of the software file. This issue grows exponentially with additional users in the home. In general, email and light web surfing with one or two people in the household requires significantly less bandwidth than a household with multiple users and devices in the home using more bandwidth intensive applications such as video streaming, video chat and uploading video and photos.

Data Usage

Usage: Data (or bandwidth) usage is the amount of content transferred to and from your computer through your cable modem. Usage consumption is not strictly correlated with the amount of time spent online. Although time spent surfing, streaming, downloading, uploading, etc. is a factor; the type of application used is an even more significant contributor to consumption. Different online activities require different usage amounts. For example, downloading a movie will use more of your usage allowance than sending a text email message, because the movie contains a lot more data than the email message. Video and high resolution photos typically drive the highest amounts of usage. Conversely, web surfing and email (without large attachments) consume less usage.

Click here to check your data usage using the Data Usage Tool.

Excessive Data Usage

Data usage thresholds are commonly used in the industry, and CableAmerica has established in the Company’s Internet Usage Agreement Data Usage Allowances for residential service. You can view current Data Usage Allowances by clicking here.

Customers who exceed the Data Usage Allowance established for their current level of service will be notified by CableAmerica, either via email, telephone or message on their computer, that they have exceeded their monthly threshold. Customers will have the option to continue to utilize the internet at a reduced speed for the remainder of the calendar month, upgrade to a service tier that better meets their usage requirements, or purchase additional bandwidth. CableAmerica Representatives will help identify possible causes and offer suggested ways the customer can reduce bandwidth consumption.

If you’ve ever streamed video from the Internet, you’ve undoubtedly experienced a sudden drop in quality. A silly cat video that starts in crystal clear HD video becomes a murky mess of pixelated digital vomit. If you’ve ever scratched your head wondering why exactly that occurs, wonder no more. The culprit is bandwidth.

Simply put, not everyone’s Internet speeds are the same. There are many factors that contribute to Internet speed, including location, service provider and more. While you may not be able to control these factors, you are not completely helpless. Read our guide to find out how you can potentially improve your Internet speed with little to no cost.

What Is Bandwidth?

Simply put, bandwidth is the speed at which data can be transmitted between your computer (or other Internet-enabled device) and a website or service (like Netflix). The amount of bandwidth you have will impact the rate at which a web page loads or how long it takes to download a file. Long story short, more bandwidth equates to a faster Internet connection.

Speeds Required for Internet Video Streaming

A bit (short for binary digit) is the smallest unit of data measured by computers. Bandwidth is measured in “bits” per second, most often as kilobits and megabits. Kilobits, or kbps, is 1,000 bits per second, whereas Megabits, or Mbps, is 1,000 kbps.

So what sort of Internet speed do you need to stream video? Fortunately all of the major video streaming services have similar requirements and measure speed in Megabits per second. Since Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services available, we will take a look at their recommended Internet connection speeds.

Note: other services may have slightly different requirements. Be sure to check the specific details of the streaming service you are interested in.

• 0.5 Megabits per second (500 kbps) – Required broadband connection speed
• 1.5 Megabits per second (1,500 kbps) – Recommended broadband connection speed
• 3.0 Megabits per second (3,000 kbps) – Recommended for Standard Definition (480p) quality
• 5.0 Megabits per second (5,000 kbps) – Recommended for High Definition (1080p) quality
• 25 Megabits per second (25,000 kbps) – Recommended for Ultra HD (2160p) quality

It should also be noted that the above speeds reflect one stream. For simultaneous streams, multiply the connection speed by the number of active streams.

How to Check Your Internet Speed

Checking your Internet speed is fairly simple. There are a number of online services that can give you a fairly accurate idea of what sort of speeds you are achieving. The Netflix-backed Fast.com is one of the simplest and easiest to use. Navigate to the site, and it will automatically calculate your download speed in real time.

If you want a little more information, check out Ookla’s online diagnostic tool. This will give you both download and upload speed. Most folks are only concerned with their download speed; however, if you upload large files (e.g. publish videos on YouTube), then you’ll want to know your upload speed as well.

How to Improve Internet Speed

So your Internet speed is lacking and you can’t seem to watch YouTube in anything higher than 144p, the lowest quality available. Does this mean you are relegated to envying friends with faster Internet connections? Not necessarily. There are a number of steps you can take in order to maximize your Internet speed.

1. Password protect connection

Modern routers use a security protocol known as WPA2. What this means is that your Internet connection is password protection. Having a password-protected WiFi network not only keeps you safe but also prevents any random person within range of your router from connecting to your WiFi. Failure to do this could result in increased data usage and a siphoning of valuable Internet speed.

2. Move router

This seems dumb, but seriously, move your router. Modems and routers aren’t exactly the most aesthetically pleasing devices, so it’s only natural that people want them out of sight. Hiding them behind bookshelves or in closets can significantly hinder your connection speed. The ideal spot for your router is in the center of your home, as a router transmits the WiFi signal in all directions.

3. Wired connection

If possible, consider running an Ethernet cable from your modem/router directly to your devices. Wired connections are almost always faster and more reliable than wireless ones. WiFi signals have to travel and pass through impedences like walls and doors, negatively affecting the speed and reliability of your connection. It may not be practical to wire everything in your home or workplace, but even hardwiring a handful of devices can result in faster speeds.

4. Schedule heavy network usage (torrents, etc.)

Downloading and uploading large amounts of data can seriously sap your Internet speed. For example, downloading a large torrent file while trying to Skype can result in slow download speeds for the torrent and crummy Skype video quality. Get into the habit of conducting bandwidth-heavy tasks during times of the day that you will not be actively using the Internet, such as when you’re sleeping or at work.

5. Inquire with ISP

Have a look and see what sort of speeds your Internet Service Provider claims you should be getting. If the speeds you consistently experience are significantly lower than what your ISP advertises, it might be time to get in touch. Your ISP might be able to give you advice as to how to improve your connection speeds or offer an explanation as to why it’s so slow. If you’re not satisfied, you can always consider jumping ship and going with a different ISP.

Have you suffered from slow Internet speeds? What did you do to improve your situation? Do you have any tips for others who may be experiencing a lethargic connection? Let us know in the comments!

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Netflix can use quite a lot of data but there are ways you can restrict it

One of modern life’s woes is worrying how much data we’re using up whether that’s watching a video, sending a trillion WhatsApps, or scrolling through social media.

When it comes to Netflix it may be a more pressing concern given you’re streaming or downloading video.

If you have unlimited data it may not be so much of a worry, but if you don’t and need to watch how much you use then we have a few tips.

How much data does Netflix use?

• SD – up to 1GB an hour of video
• Full HD – up to 3GB an hour of video
• 4K ultra HD – up to 7GB an hour of video

Watching Netflix TV series or movies on the streaming site uses about 1GB of data an hour for every stream using standard definition video. Netflix uses 3GB an hour for each stream of HD video. Downloading and streaming actually use similar amounts of data, so it makes little difference if you’re using WiFI.

You also need the space to store your downloads so keep that in mind too. These figures for data are also the worst case scenario and you may use less depending on the length of the show, the frame rate, colour depth and whether you’re watching HDR.

• For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.

How to get Netflix to use less data

If you’re on a data plan (and not unlimited) then you’ll probably keen to cut down how much data Netflix us using. No one wants to pay out for watching a 4K video as it rinses your data.

Netflix has a few features that help you cut down your data usage. While you can’t set your data limit you can choose from four options: automatic, maximum data, save data and WiFi only.

• Automatic: This option is your wallet pinching mode. It balances your data usage with good video quality to ensure you can get more hours per GB.
• Maximum data: This option means you’re streaming the highest quality for your device and for the content you’re wanting to watch – this is probably 4K Ultra HD.
• Save data: This option is pretty obvious. It does what it says on the tin. You will have a reduced quality video scaling down the data usage to the minimum it can go to. You can get about six hours per GB.
• WiFi only: This option means you can only stream while you’re connected to WiFi. You can still watch your downloaded content when your WiFi is off or you’re out.

There will probably be one option out of these that stands out for you. If you know which one is the best for you then head to your Netflix app to adjust it.

• Open your Netflix app
• Choose Menu that’s in the top corner
• Click Celluar Data Usage
• Choose Automatic, Maximum Data, Save Data or WiFi only.

You can also set a data cap for your profiles which allows you to watch on different devices. This works well if you have a child’s plan and don’t want them working through data.

There is another set of options here that give you restrictions based on data usage per hour.

• Automatic: Your data is adjusted to give you the best quality based on your internet connection speed.
• Low: This gives you 0.3GB an hour per device.
• Medium: This gives you 0.7GB an hour per device with SD resolution.
• High: This gives you up to 3GB an hour per device for HD, 7GB an hour per device for 4K Ultra HD.

For profiles you need to set usage setting:

• Sign in to Netflix.com
• Select the profile you want to change the settings on
• Tap Account in the top corner
• Choose My Profile, click Playback Settings
• Choose your option as above

If you’re wondering what Netflix show to watch now, then check out our best series on Netflix guide or best movies on Netflix list. If horror is your favourite genre we have the best horror movies on Netflix or best comedies on Netflix if you’re looking for something lighter.

One of the most common issues encountered during live streams is video buffering. It’s an issue which can be extremely frustrating for the viewer and in some cases the solution can be quite simple. In this article we will offer solutions for both the live stream broadcaster and the viewer.

For Live Stream Broadcasters

As a broadcaster it’s easy to blame the viewer for buffering problems, however, in some cases it’s actually a result of an issue on the broadcasters end. The following points provide a few valuable troubleshooting tips for broadcasters.

1. Ensure your internet connection has sufficient upload capacity.

You should always test your internet connection at the venue you will be live streaming from. It is generally recommended you have an upload capacity of at least double the desired bitrate of your live stream. There are a range of websites which let your test your upload speed, the most well-known one is SpeedTest.net.

2. Test the live stream on a different computer and internet connection.

We always recommend testing the playback of your live stream on a different computer and internet connection to the one which is doing the live stream encoding. This will let you rule out computer and network issues.

3. Avoid using WIFI and 4G internet connections.

We recommend live streams are broadcast via ethernet on a dedicated internet connection. If you must use a mobile 4G internet connection, it’s strongly recommended that you use a bonded connection. A bonded connection utilizes multiple 4G connections to increase the stability of your live stream.

4. Is your computer powerful enough?

If you’re live streaming from a computer (not a hardware encoder), make sure it’s powerful enough to broadcast the live stream. If the computer is reaching 100% CPU usage it can result in dropped frames which can cause video stuttering in the live stream.

5. Have you set up your live stream encoder correctly?

A misconfigured live stream video encoder can cause a plethora of issues. This applies to both software and hardware encoders. If you’re not sure what settings to use, we recommend you contact the support team of the live streaming service you’re using.

6. Does your live streaming provider have PoPs (points of presence) in the areas your viewers will be watching from?

If the provider you’re using doesn’t have a decent global coverage of PoPs then users in regions not covered may experience buffering as a result.

7. Live stream in multiple bitrates.

For example two streams qualities, one in HD the other in SD. This will allow viewers who have slower internet connections to view the lower quality stream. Enable adaptive playback if your live stream provider supports it. Adaptive playback automatically switches between video qualities depending on the internet connection of the viewer.

For Live Stream Viewers

As a viewer there can be a range of issues that are causing a live stream to buffer. Below we’ve listed out some common causes.

1. Turn off any downloads that might be occurring in the background.

Background downloads can saturate a users internet connection. Make sure the computer isn’t downloading any updates, and close any open windows with streaming services like Netflix and Youtube loaded.

2. Check to see if anyone else using the same internet connection is downloading.

If someone else on the same network is performing any of the actions listed in the previous point, then it can cause buffering. It’s also worth checking your smart phone/devices to see if they’re downloading any updates.

3. Check your internet connection, it might not be fast enough.

If the bitrate of the live stream exceeds the maximum speed of the internet connection, then it will likely cause buffering issues.

4. If the stream has multiple video qualities, select the lowest one.

By selecting the lowest video quality it will reduce the amount of bandwidth required to view the video.

5. Check to see if the ISP has any network issues.
Some ISPs have issues with congestion during peak video streaming hours, usually in the evenings (thanks Netflix!).

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully the above steps have allowed you to successfully stop your live streams from buffering. Please leave a comment below if you have any other suggestions on how to stop live streams from buffering.