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Anonymous User
Not applicable

massive data usage for 2 films

Hi there,

 

Just recently bought a NOW tv box with free month cinema pass. I watched 2 films at the weekend and it used a massive 13 GB of my data allowance (which is not unlimited) and i only found out because BT contacted me to say i was nearing my monthly allowance.

Is it just movies that use up a lot of data? Or will watching iplayer, all4 etc use up a lot of data also.? 

Thank you in advance.

35 REPLIES 35
commanda6
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

I have a 45GB allowance on BT and average monthly use is between 10-20GB and that's watching catch up and Net Flix on my smart TV.  But since having this Now tv box (in the bedroom) it seems to use a lot more, well the movies did anyway.


Hi @Anonymous User

 

NowTV content has a maximum resolution of 720p (1280×720) , so I'm surprised it used that much data.

I would always advise people that if they going to use streaming services regularly, then they need to be on a connection which has unlimited data. Unlimited data is not uncommon these days for fixed line connections. In fact, they are more common than connections which have data limits.

 

To ensure that people don't sign up to something that has data limits I would advise everybody not to go for the broadband deals that you see in TV adverts Most of these have data limits. If you wish to look for broadband deals go to the websites of ISPs, then you should easily be able to see whether a deal includes unlimited data. A lot of ISPs now provide unlimited data as standard.

 


I do not work for Now . I am simply a Now customer trying to help I am a Community Contributor This means that I know a lot about the service. But just like you I am still a customer. This means I cannot help you with issues that would involve looking into your account directly. A member of the now TV forum team or live chat will need to assist you with these issues.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Netflix uses about 3GB/hour for HD, so I suspect a 720p stream would be about half that for an hour.   Which means you would use about 3GB for a 2 hour movie.  With differing compression a bit more for action movies and a bit less for animated movies.

 

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306

 

Each estimate below is per stream:

  • Low (0.3 GB per hour)
  • Medium (SD: 0.7 GB per hour)
  • High (Best video quality, up to 3 GB per hour for HD and 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD)
ukbobboy
Legend

@Anonymous User @Anonymous User @commanda6 @Anonymous User

 

Hi KM

 

To be honest, I really do not have much to add to what the other contributors have posted already other than having a monthly data usage allowance is somewhat outdated and was designed for people who do nothing more than read emails, occasional browsing some rare downloads.

 

However, if you want to watch Internet delivered TV then you are into a different ball game, you are not dealing with megabytes anymore you are actually streaming gigabytes of data, throw in a few downloads and your now dealing with a "hundred plus" gigabytes. Plus, if you start watching HD or Ultra HD films and your usage grows even more, despite the compression techniques being used.

 

For example, my usage is nothing special but, according to my ISP, my last month's usage was 191.29GB and so far this month it's 172.04GB. And that's just my family and I using the Internet for NowTV viewing, a few downloads, Internet stuff such as You Tube and Daily Motions, music downloads from Amazon UK and shopping.

 

So I guess what the other forum members and I are saying is that you should ditch the old monthly data usage plan and go for an unlimited plan, which will work out cheaper in the long run especially if you want to watch online TV.

 

 

UK Bob

Anonymous User
Not applicable

No sure if im replying to all here, but thank you for all your help.

 

Something very odd is  going on, I've just checked my BT broadband usage which re-started today, 1 Feb and its say i have used 13GB so far.

I'm not even at home, what the ____ is going on here.!?  The box is switched off too. PLease help. 

Thank you.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Thanks Bob, yeah i've obviously got a rubbish BT deal, though i doubt they will let me go unlimited without charging me more money, which is already too much for what I've got. 

 

ukbobboy
Legend

@Anonymous User

 

Hi again KM

 

You know, I ditched BT sometime ago because their definition of "unlimited" is different to everyone else's, including the dictionary.

 

So I will never (ever) be a BT customer again.

 

 

UK Bob

Anonymous User
Not applicable

the only real reason i stay with them is because i use their BT wifi  in my workshop as i dont have hardwired wifi there.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@Anonymous User wrote:

Thanks Bob, yeah i've obviously got a rubbish BT deal, though i doubt they will let me go unlimited without charging me more money, which is already too much for what I've got. 

 


@Anonymous User  If you aren't in some onerous contract, then it would be worth giving them a call and telling them you want to give notice because Sky/Virgin/Vodafone/Talk Talk etc.  have offered you unlimited for £xx.  They will probably make you an offer you can't refuse.  Well Virgin always do it with me.  http://www.broadbanddeals.co.uk/ for best deals (Origin £18/month unlimited in my case)

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Some people do not have the luxury of a high speed broadband connection due to there being no service available where they live. Like me. To get a decent speed - I need to connect using mobile broadband and that comes expensive and with a limit - £30 for 50Gb a month with a vodafone dongle. 

 

Only 80% of the country now has a high speed service. The rest of us are lagging well behind - worse than in some so called developing countries.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Netflix has the facility where you can restrict the download to standard quality - the lowest usage of bandwidth - which makes watching an hour online work out at about 300mb, not 2.5 GB like the NOW 720p stream does. 

 

NOW TV ought to provide this facility too for those people who need it.