ST Alpha - "LYC: I've been attempting to track our internet bandwidth usage to figure out why we were going over the 1.2 TB per month data cap. -- (edited)" (Reading a Post)

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LYC: I've been attempting to track our internet bandwidth usage to figure out why we were going over the 1.2 TB per month data cap. -- (edited)

Posted by JaxSean (aka JaxSean) Dec 28 '20, 11:17

it really looks to be streaming videos - Amazon in particular.

I've figured in a 31-day month, we get about 38,000MB per day (38,000 * 31 = 1.18TB).

I can't get anything very *specific*, but on my Netgear Orbi app, I can keep track of internet traffic on my WiFi. I can get Today, Yesterday, This Week, and This Month totals. I check it sporadically, and have been trying to screen capture the "Yesterday" totals. Here's what I have so far:

Date: MB
12/27/2020: 47894
12/26/2020: 43860
12/25/2020: 50400
12/24/2020: 30523
12/23/2020: -- (missed capturing this date)
12/22/2020: 95116

MrsJax has been watching a lot of BritBox on Prime since we're in the 99-cent trial month, and I could watch the MB climb throughout the day as she was watching it.

Everything I look up says a lot of SmartTVs will natively pull the highest possible resolution, and this is what I've googled:
Streaming TV shows or films on Netflix uses about 1GB of data per hour, for each stream of standard definition video, up to 3GB per hour high definition video, and up to 7GB per hour of 4K Ultra HD video. Downloading and streaming on Netflix both consume a similar amount of data.

I can't figure out how to "reduce" the streaming rate on Amazon (or any of the others). Otherwise, if we stream videos for 6-8 hours per day, it seems about right. :(

Responses:

Cut the cord? HAH! You still gotta pay! -- nm - Comcast Dec 28, 11:35
What device are you streaming through? Fire TV stick or something else? -- (edited) - kilbowl full of jelly 🎅 Dec 28, 11:30 1
- No, Samsung SmartTV -- nm - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:31
Netflix used to have a setting to throttle bandwidth but not sure about the others. -- nm - spamlet Dec 28, 11:26 6
- a quick google search say Amazon Prime has the same - but I'm sure whether the setting is there is device dependent -- nm - decline Dec 28, 11:27 5
  - Yeah, I found you could do it on some devices (Fire, Firesticks, computers, etc), but not TVs. -- nm - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:32 4
    - so it may behoove you to stop using the samsung app and start using a firestick -- nm - decline Dec 28, 11:33 3
      - Hm. That's officer thinking there. Thanks! -- nm - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:33 2
        
        This was going to be my suggestion as well -- nm - kilbowl full of jelly 🎅 Dec 28, 11:34 1
        
        It just makes perfect sense. -- nm - ✨Spawn✨ Dec 28, 11:35
One possible work around would be to change the max data rate for a particular device at the router level. -- nm - JD Dec 28, 11:24 3
- but won't that just cause the video to hang since it'll still be pulling at the high rate but throttled at the router (Mop, help!) -- nm - decline Dec 28, 11:27 2
  - I was thinking that the TV app would realize that it isn't getting the high quality stream it was expecting and change the request until it settled - JD Dec 28, 11:48 1
    - I think there's a solid chance of this happening, yes. -- nm - Beryllium Dec 28, 12:45
that's a long time to stream - decline Dec 28, 11:24
The only thing we can't figure out is, "what changed?" - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:20 17
- They finally caught you. -- nm - ✨Spawn✨ Dec 28, 11:22 16
  - We've used 1.6TB thus far in December. - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:31 15
    - Nope. They just enabled the 1.2TB data limit for most folks -- nm - decline Dec 28, 11:32 14
      - Aha! So it DID just change. -- (link) - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:35 12
        
        Thank you! Knowing that it wasn't just our viewing habits or anything I had done differently helped. - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:41
        
        It appears for $30/mo you can get out from under the cap -- (link) - kilbowl full of jelly 🎅 Dec 28, 11:40 10
        
        Yeah, I had seen that. Going to have to weigh that one out, now that I know. - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:44 9
        
        I grudgingly gave into AT&T a couple years ago on this - kilbowl full of jelly 🎅 Dec 28, 11:48 5
        
        AT&T fiber doesn’t have caps if that is an option. -- nm - spamlet Dec 28, 11:51 4
        
        Available in every neighboring town but ours. Also hate that -- nm - kilbowl full of jelly 🎅 Dec 28, 11:52 3
        
        They say it's available at my house but it isn't. - spamlet Dec 28, 11:54 2
        
        F*ck AT&T. -- nm - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:56
        
        bastards -- nm - decline Dec 28, 11:56
        
        yup, I basically had to change my habits. - decline Dec 28, 11:47 2
        
        Yeah, those are our 2 as well. -- nm - JaxSean Dec 28, 11:51 1
        
        It took about 6 months but I don't mind the silence now :) -- nm - decline Dec 28, 11:58
      - yup. JaxSean is the reason we can't have (cheap) things. -- nm* - ✨Spawn✨ Dec 28, 11:33

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LYC: I've been attempting to track our internet bandwidth usage to figure out why we were going over the 1.2 TB per month data cap. -- (edited)

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