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Netflix data usage

Hi,
So like an idiot I "upgraded" to the new T-Mobile "unlimited" plan with the 2 GB limit. At the time, it made sense to switch; I'd save money on minutes, and I'm not a heavy data user. Right now I use ~200-300 MB a month. At most, I've used 6xx MB recently. My data heavy data apps right now are Pandora and Sling player. And, I'm on wifi when at home, and on campus.
However, I have now started to deeply regret my derision now that Google has announced their new cloud and music services, Netflix has finally launched their app for select android devices (including my N1), and T-Mobile announced free Wi-fi calling on new devices. I'm not asking for pity or reticule, but I need some questions answered.
Does anyone have any idea how much data the new Netflix app uses when using 3/4G? AT&T iPhone users, some of you use Netflix with similar caps, how easy is it for you to reach the cap? Those of you have gone over the 2GB limit on T-Mobile, how badly did they throttle you, if at all?
Finally, I thought I'd share my two cents worth on data usage and caps. I'll gladly stay a capped customer on T-Mobile if such moves allow T-Mobile to return to profitability without the likes of AT&T. Data is data, and data caps on home internet service are abominations. However, bandwidth is not free, and broadband cell service is one of the most expensive last-mile solutions to maintain; it is also primarily a supplemental form of connectivity for most customer So, I have no problem with T-Mobile trying to make a buck and stay afloat, so long as they maintain their current levels of quality and customer service.

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

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

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

xsteven77x said:
Let me get this straight. The straight up "Unlimited plan" is even more limited than the regular unlimited 4g web??? Wow, some of that att mentality is already creeping up into that dump i see....
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Yarp. You read that right!

go to sprint, fully unlimited bud

Here is my experience..
I'm on t-mobile with the MyTouch 4G. I haven't used netflix as of yet, but I do stream a lot on my phone with other various apps and websites to watch TV shows. I do accounting so I'm usually in my office alone through the day and I have the capabilities of watching shows on my phone, since accounting is extremely boring and i need something to keep me going.
Anyway, on average, a regular TV show (like friends), runs about 25 minutes. And in that time, I use anywhere from 70 - 100mb. Fortunately, I still have t-mobile's "unlimited" data which caps at 5gb.
I have reached the cap once, and for 2 days, they limited my throttle to edge speed! It was ridiculous!
There are a few apps in the market that help keep track of the data you are using. What I personally did was calculate how much data I could use per day and limit myself to that. I could check the apps to make sure I wasn't passing my limit. It's been working pretty well so far.
I hope this helped to whoever needed it!
Thanks are appreciated to all that this helped!

seanthegeek said:
Well, that answers my throttling questions thanks. Video streaming is done using a variable bit rate, meaning that data usage can rise and fall along with the quality of the video. I'm sure Netflix takes data usage into account when streaming the video over cell. They recently had to preform similar actions for their Canadian costumers, many of whom are subject to ridiculous caps on their home internet connections. I also think that I will rarely watch a full-length movie entirely on 3/4G. So, I'm not too concerned as of yet. I'll experiment once my next billing cycle starts, track my usage, and report the results an a new thread.
I would be willing to bet your friend did a fair bit of tethering?
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you're welcome dude. And yes, he made the soar mistake of tething his computer, then bridging his comp to his xbox a few times. lmao. told him it was a bad idea. the only thing i dont get is why they throttled him more. he's now getting slower than he did before. I dont think he tethers anymore...
you can also get Movie Stream app off the market. its pretty sweet. Watch movies without a monthly payment. it just streams them from a few different sites. Same Developers as TV Shows Stream app. pretty cool stuff d-('.')-b

desikilla said:
Here is my experience..
I'm on t-mobile with the MyTouch 4G. I haven't used netflix as of yet, but I do stream a lot on my phone with other various apps and websites to watch TV shows. I do accounting so I'm usually in my office alone through the day and I have the capabilities of watching shows on my phone, since accounting is extremely boring and i need something to keep me going.
Anyway, on average, a regular TV show (like friends), runs about 25 minutes. And in that time, I use anywhere from 70 - 100mb. Fortunately, I still have t-mobile's "unlimited" data which caps at 5gb.
I have reached the cap once, and for 2 days, they limited my throttle to edge speed! It was ridiculous!
There are a few apps in the market that help keep track of the data you are using. What I personally did was calculate how much data I could use per day and limit myself to that. I could check the apps to make sure I wasn't passing my limit. It's been working pretty well so far.
I hope this helped to whoever needed it!
Thanks are appreciated to all that this helped!
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Click to collapse
Your actually pretty lucky dude. Edge speeds really are not that bad in comparison to GPRS/1G/whatever you want to call it. Most of the time getting throttled means getting 1g speeds. I do know that if you go into networks and change it to edge only networks you can get edge speeds, but somehow you were lucky enough to get them off the bat.

According to Netflix streaming for one hour will use about 1gb of data, 2gbs for HD.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

k_nivesout said:
According to Netflix streaming for one hour will use about 1gb of data, 2gbs for HD.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
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bahahahaa. thats whyyy they want you to use wifi.
thats about the worse news you could tell someone who has a cap lmao

Yeah when I saw that I was pretty surprised. Sucks especially with carriers capping at 2 or 5 GB. Fortunately on Verizon with unlimited data.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

k_nivesout said:
According to Netflix streaming for one hour will use about 1gb of data, 2gbs for HD.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
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That's probably for desktop streaming, not mobile. Someone I know who uses it on the iPhone said it uses ~200-300 MB/2 hours.

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

seanthegeek said:
That's probably for desktop streaming, not mobile. Someone I know who uses it on the iPhone said it uses ~200-300 MB/2 hours.
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I think this is about right. That did sound like way too much for mobile streaming but the FAQ didn't specify.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

How much data do YOU use?

I just got online and checked my data usage on AT&T, and I used about 100 Gig this pay period...good thing i have unlimited after being transferred from Alltel
How much do you all use?

100gig WTF ARE YOU using that much data for .. BTW this is nothing more than a e-peenis stroking contest ... and will turn south REALLY fast

I use my phone for Wifi at home. and I didn't mean to create a thread doomed for disaster...let's hope it doesn't become that!?

and this ladies and gents is WHY phone carriers put caps on data ... don't try and defend it 100g is ****ing crazy simple crazy your phones data is not meant to POWER the whole freaking house's internets

alright??? maybe this thread should be locked... my bad.

1.8 gb, Im a normal user.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

~0.75-1.5 GB.... never crossed 1.5 GB. Typical - 0.75 - 1.25 GB in any given month, including use of maps, etc. I don't stream music or videos, except maybe once in a while when totally bored.
And as far as using as WiFi at home, get a basic cable internet for like 20 or 30 a month. You'll atleast help people connected to your tower get better speeds.

Porn in HD....takes alot of data....
Just saying...from what I've heard...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

bigjoe2675 said:
Porn in HD....takes alot of data....
Just saying...from what I've heard...
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Ok... you better refrain from posting these kind of answers during work hours... its strange the way people around here see me when I giggle at the screen

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

lol well I tether to my laptop to watch Netflix in the back of my truck out and about, and i use Pandora quite a bit... 100gig is my biggest month ever, but i loved alltel and they gave me unlimited data no problem...so ATT had better honor that for what i pay, and i do plan on getting Wifi at home, however most of my data usage is movies on the go.

Let me guess: when you get busted using your 100 gigs tethered, the next thread will be "att is mean to me and it's not fair! "
Sent from my not-an-iPod

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

apallohadas said:
Let me guess: when you get busted using your 100 gigs tethered, the next thread will be "att is mean to me and it's not fair! "
Sent from my not-an-iPod
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no, my next thread would be "Transferred to Straight Talk and suddenly had enough money for WiFi"

jacob1189 said:
lol well I tether to my laptop to watch Netflix in the back of my truck out and about, and i use Pandora quite a bit... 100gig is my biggest month ever, but i loved alltel and they gave me unlimited data no problem...so ATT had better honor that for what i pay, and i do plan on getting Wifi at home, however most of my data usage is movies on the go.
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fat chance they will shut you down lol

My biggest month? 114mb. Seriously.
Which is why I've used GoPhone for the last year. Ten bucks a month.
That is, until AT&T just decided that in order to get data, I need to buy $25 worth of airtime I don't need. F*** AT&T.

jacob1189 said:
no, my next thread would be "Transferred to Straight Talk and suddenly had enough money for WiFi"
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guess what they monitor data usage more than att ( i sell cellphones ) i have loads of people coming in *****ing about straight talk

CheesyNutz said:
guess what they monitor data usage more than att ( i sell cellphones ) i have loads of people coming in *****ing about straight talk
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Yeah i know, my girlfriend has them and they called her around 2GB and said to stop being excessive or they will close the account. but if i wasn't paying $80 for my plan, i could afford Wifi, so I think i'd be *ok*

jacob1189 said:
no, my next thread would be "Transferred to Straight Talk and suddenly had enough money for WiFi"
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You said most of your usage was on the go. So I'm not sure what wifi has to do with it unless you're talking about a mobile hotspot.
Sent from my AT100 using xda premium

apallohadas said:
You said most of your usage was on the go. So I'm not sure what wifi has to do with it unless you're talking about a mobile hotspot.
Sent from my AT100 using xda premium
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yeah that's the downside to using regular data and having wifi at home... i lose the ability to watch movies "abroad" but i guess i'll deal with that dilemma when it's here.

Need a little help getting a handle on data usage.

I have a 2GB data plan. With the HOX only having 16 gb storage I'm guessing I'll be streaming a lot more audio via either pandora or spotify. If I were to stream say 1 hour of audio a day, every day along with the other stuff we normally use our data plans for, will I go over? Should I just bump up to 3 GB?

gunnyman said:
I have a 2GB data plan. With the HOX only having 16 gb storage I'm guessing I'll be streaming a lot more audio via either pandora or spotify. If I were to stream say 1 hour of audio a day, every day along with the other stuff we normally use our data plans for, will I go over? Should I just bump up to 3 GB?
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I stream at work using Pandora probably 2.5 hrs a day, 5 days a week. I use around 1.5 GB of data a month. I'm on wifi when home. I would honestly recommend you bump it up to 3GB just be on the safe side.

Thank you, that's helpful.

Otherwise, plan your downloads/streaming for when you have WiFi ;-)
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

ATT Data on the One X

So I have had the One X since the day after it was released. I have Unlimited ATT Data and today, what 18 or so days after I bought it I hit 2 GB of data. The reason is I am using Google Music to stream, I use it everyday for about an hour on my jog. Sure I do a little surfing and searching, but really so far nothing else.
So I'd say about 3 gb of data a month will be my usage because of the low amount of storage I have to use Google Music.

Mazel tov!

That's not a lot. I was using more than 200mb every day but I had to switch to WiFi since I'm on the 2gb plan.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

I hit 4 GB after two weeks. Tethering plus my email app went haywire and started burning up data for some reason.

Cool Story Hansel.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can have Play(Google) Music cache music locally so you don't have to burn up data (and battery life) streaming it. Might not be a big deal in this particular situation, but just FYI.

I think it is odd that pandora uses less data then google music does.

mesasone said:
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can have Play(Google) Music cache music locally so you don't have to burn up data (and battery life) streaming it. Might not be a big deal in this particular situation, but just FYI.
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Yeah that won't eat up 16gb of storage quickly or anything
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I do have Google Music set to cache, but that is only for buffering. I think what you mean is to download music and play the songs offline. I have around 800 songs thats about 4 gb of data. I added all the songs and the end result was I only had 2.9 gb of total storage left on the phone.
This is almost a deal breaker for me, I've had the One X for a few weeks and in fact I had the International version before which of course has 32 gb of storage, which IMO is just the right amount. The ATT version is to low and no expandable sd cards make it worse.
I have pre ordered a Galaxy S 3 and will mess with them both to see which one works best for me. I also have my iPhone 4S to fall back on, but the screen size makes it almost not doable anymore.

Netflix is the bane of my data plan. I'm sure AT&T hates me by now.

I noticed the same thing. I dont pull down nearly as much data streaming 128k streams from tunein as I do from google music (not set to high quality).
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

bothfly said:
So I have had the One X since the day after it was released. I have Unlimited ATT Data and today, what 18 or so days after I bought it I hit 2 GB of data. The reason is I am using Google Music to stream, I use it everyday for about an hour on my jog. Sure I do a little surfing and searching, but really so far nothing else.
So I'd say about 3 gb of data a month will be my usage because of the low amount of storage I have to use Google Music.
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AT&T unlimited data plan users have up to 5gb in a month before their data speed would be reduced. At 3gb per month, you should be fine.
I have used 3.1 gb in 22 days.

does anyone know the transfer bitrate of the music from google music, both on the high quality and lower quality streams? i stream almost exclusively over wi-fi at my office, so i haven't really followed my GM data usage too closely.

How do people survive with such little data..?
Next Bill Cycle: 06/06/2012
Data (MB): 6658.7 of Unlimited (Deactivated)
Data (MB): 35956.7 of Unlimited
The deactivated one was from May first until the 8th when I picked up a One X. Used a whole gig just getting it setup that night.
---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------
fitchpuckman said:
does anyone know the transfer bitrate of the music from google music, both on the high quality and lower quality streams? i stream almost exclusively over wi-fi at my office, so i haven't really followed my GM data usage too closely.
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Google's support documents state upto 320kbps. So that'd be high quality, normal would probably be 192kpbs.

powerhoghp said:
How do people survive with such little data..?
Next Bill Cycle: 06/06/2012
Data (MB): 6658.7 of Unlimited (Deactivated)
Data (MB): 35956.7 of Unlimited
The deactivated one was from May first until the 8th when I picked up a One X. Used a whole gig just getting it setup that night.
---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------
Google's support documents state upto 320kbps. So that'd be high quality, normal would probably be 192kpbs.
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Thanks, I thought I had seen 320kbps at some point, but i missed it on a quick search. I half expected a www.lmgtfy.com response to my question. Normal quality was really what i was wondering...sounded like at least 192kbps, since 128 probably would push out such his data rates. Speaking of which, how the hell are you going through so much data?! that's impressive, i must say.

I hit 3 GB within the first week, and 4GB a week later. Mostly tethering and app experimentation (one went haywire and burned through a ton of data).
I got throttled a few days after that, but AT&T seems to have lifted the throttling today. Not sure why but not complaining.

AT&T throttles back speeds of those who still have unlimited plans...I upgraded data w the vivid but wonder how much they reduce speeds by..I stream music through Rhapsody at 192 kbps and my data hits at least 3 gb per month..usually 4 but it's only another ten bucks...just hate that there is no true unlimited plan left..well I guess sprint does but their coverage is horrible..
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Does anyone have an issue where their One x eats data by an insane amount in a short period?When I first got my One X I went thru 1GB of data in like 2 days. I tethered for like an hour and the rest was just basic usage from my X itself. I've done a master reset since then and loaded a few my apps and usage seemed to have slowed but it still seems to use data more than normal. I noticed "Android OS" was using a lot of data. A lot of it was when I watched YouTube clips. Has anyone had this issue?
Edit: So I turned off wifi for a moment to browse on just the mobile network. The few pages I clicked on and scrolled thru for the past 5 or 6 minutes resulted in 4mb of data used with just the browser. Does that seem normal to anyone?

toomuchgame441 said:
Does anyone have an issue where their One x eats data by an insane amount in a short period?When I first got my One X I went thru 1GB of data in like 2 days. I tethered for like an hour and the rest was just basic usage from my X itself. I've done a master reset since then and loaded a few my apps and usage seemed to have slowed but it still seems to use data more than normal. I noticed "Android OS" was using a lot of data. A lot of it was when I watched YouTube clips. Has anyone had this issue?
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Do you have auto-sync and auto-backup turned on? Settings>Privacy>Backup and Settings>Accounts
---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 PM ----------
austin4913 said:
AT&T throttles back speeds of those who still have unlimited plans...I upgraded data w the vivid but wonder how much they reduce speeds by..I stream music through Rhapsody at 192 kbps and my data hits at least 3 gb per month..usually 4 but it's only another ten bucks...just hate that there is no true unlimited plan left..well I guess sprint does but their coverage is horrible..
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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You "upgraded" to tiered data? That's far from an upgrade.. The unlt'd plans you get atleast 5GB(for lte owners) unthrottled, usually more, with a few hours/days unthrottled after. Even throttled you can do 500kbps.

powerhoghp said:
Do you have auto-sync and auto-backup turned on? Settings>Privacy>Backup and Settings>Accounts
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I do have auto sync turned on. But I turned off auto backup (just now, I have tried turning off auto backup beforei wiped but it didn't change anything ). The weird thing is its not like usage happens out of no where its when I actually access data apps like the browser or FB. I can literally see my data usage go up from the last time I checked it a few minutes ago on the usage meter.

Simple Mobile raises 3G Speed!

I noticed my web pages loading faster than usual today, did a speed test, and lo and behold; the speed is now capped at 240kbps. much better than the previous 120kbps.
Not exactly 3G yet, but they're getting there.
can anyone confirm?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA

After rebooting ICS so I could get data gain (gdangit), I ran a quick test...
Sure enough, you're right! On the $40 plan, now have 240 down and 300 up.
EDIT: Attatchment seems to be failing.... dunno why.
But, it's just a speedtest screenshot which is also available here: http://db.tt/UTRDeGv4

Great to hear. I switched back to tmobile because of really slow speed. I might think about switching back to simple again. 240Kbps sounds reasonable. Some more concerns though. Does youtube play fine at that speed or not. I dont need HQ, low quality like 240p is also fine .

old thread, but relevant...
It seems the may have raised their speeds again? I activated my simple mobile SIM today and ran a speedtest. Getting 297kbps. I guess the new cap is 300. Posting from NYC.

Wow! Simple mobile offers international texting.... I'm switching right away.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

simple mobile sucks dont get it they have data caps they suspended my account after 1 gb cut off data go with tmobile 50 or net 10 they have no data caps

SimonHenryz said:
Wow! Simple mobile offers international texting.... I'm switching right away.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
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Simple has completely shut my data off in the first 3 days of service 3 months in a row. They have no set data cap, if you use their data, they shut you down. Do not go to simple, it is like wiping with a fifty, then flushing.
[email protected]

mustangtim49 said:
Simple has completely shut my data off in the first 3 days of service 3 months in a row. They have no set data cap, if you use their data, they shut you down. Do not go to simple, it is like wiping with a fifty, then flushing.
[email protected]
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Hasn't happened to me.... I average between 1 to 2gb a month and they haven't shut me off. I was on the $40 plan and upgraded this past month to the $50 plan.