Netflix Data use

Forums › Online streaming services › Netflix Data use

Giggs

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#139417 8-Feb-2014 17:22

Hi

I had a look but could not find a thread for my question...

I am looking to go down the Netflix route but I am curious as to what sort of data usage I might expect. Currently I use Telecom ADSL 80gb package which we are lucky to use half of. So does anyone have any ball park figures if you watch say 2 to 3 shows a week?

In case it is relevant I am tossing up between getting an Apple TV box or just running it through a laptop each with Unblock US. Laptop is tempting since as I understand it I can access the BBC as well. If I had a choice I would go the Android - Chromecast direction but it all looks a bit hard to implement access outside of the States.

Cheers

1 | 2

13457 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#982346 8-Feb-2014 17:24

all depends on what quality you watch the content in :)

HD will use more than SD obviously

overkill

222 posts

Master Geek

#982375 8-Feb-2014 17:55

We have a ADSL connection with 150 gig on the home plan and with the kids (3 and 6) watching a couple movies and a day, maybe throw in a few 1/2hour shows and the wife and I watching a few movies a week, are lucky to hit the 80 gig mark, and this was over the holiday period. A lot is in HD aswell. Will go up alot more when they start watching YouTube clips :)

We use the AppleTV for our Netflix as it is going through a Matrix to four panels.

"Setting the Standard in Quality and Commitment"

BigPipeNZ

1170 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

BigPipe

#982376 8-Feb-2014 17:56

depends on the quality you watch in.

By default, it tries to play the highest quality it can. On apple TV, for a lot of shows that is either 'HD or 'super HD' which means it will be somewhere between 4 and 7Mbps

So as a very rough estimate, it will work out (very roughly) 1.5-2GB/hour of watching.

bigpipe.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ
https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

nakedmolerat

4629 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#982399 8-Feb-2014 18:33

I have subscription to Hulu Plus, Netflix & Amazon which completely replace our Sky TV. We stream HD whenever possible including YouTube. ~125GB a month

BigMal

996 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#982400 8-Feb-2014 18:47

Netflix as 4 playback quality settings:

Low = 0.3GB per hour
Medium = 0.7GB per hour
High = 3GB per hour
Auto

I recommend signing up for the free Netflix trial and free unblock-us trial and trying multiple devices before settling on a device as Telecom's transparent proxy has a tendency to cause havoc with Netflix playback.

Giggs

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#982521 9-Feb-2014 07:10

Thanks for the replies. That is very helpful.

Yeah I gather Telecom could be a problem. As it looks like we will need to up the data cap I might look at a new provider while I am at it.

bongojona

253 posts

Ultimate Geek

#983151 10-Feb-2014 08:45

'high' setting means full HD when available (1080p)

'Medium' seems to cap out at 480p or roughly DVD quality and is a very good clean image normally

From Netflix support page:

To adjust Netflix' playback settings, navigate to Your Account and click Playback Settings. This will allow you to reduce the amount of data you consume when playing movies and TV shows on Netflix.

There are 4 data usage settings to choose from:

Low (uses up to 0.3 GB per hour)
Medium (uses up to 0.7 GB per hour)
High (uses up to 1 GB per hour, up to 2.8 GB per hour if watching HD, or up to 4.7 GB per hour if watching 3D)
Auto (adjusts itself automatically to deliver the highest possible quality, based on your current internet connection speed)

I keep it on 'Auto' since it was introduced, and am happy with my data usage. I am on a 500Gb plan and used less than 200Gb last month total (No kids to share with however) That included many other uses of data of course.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#983191 10-Feb-2014 10:12

Giggs: Thanks for the replies. That is very helpful.

Yeah I gather Telecom could be a problem. As it looks like we will need to up the data cap I might look at a new provider while I am at it.

I use Netflix on and AppleTV (through UnblockUS) with Telecom ADSL. Never had an issue.
I do not know how to tell if it has ramped up to FullHD, but the shows/movies all look just fine from where I sit. Sometimes if I get up and walk right up to the TV, it looks awful, but that is always at the start of a broadcast.
I do not think you can force the AppleTV to try for a high resolution?

steve2222

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#983202 10-Feb-2014 10:29

Giggs: Thanks for the replies. That is very helpful.

Yeah I gather Telecom could be a problem. As it looks like we will need to up the data cap I might look at a new provider while I am at it.

Telecom has NEVER been an issue with us with Netflix.

BigMal

996 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#983209 10-Feb-2014 10:44

steve2222:

Telecom has NEVER been an issue with us with Netflix.

Interesting. How do you play back Netflix? PC Broswer? ATV? Roku? Playstation? Xbox?

nakedmolerat

4629 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#983217 10-Feb-2014 11:07

bongojona: I am on a 500Gb plan and used less than 200Gb last month total (No kids to share with however) That included many other uses of data of course.

200 Gb a month = 25GB. This is very little.

steve2222

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#983221 10-Feb-2014 11:13

BigMal:
steve2222:

Telecom has NEVER been an issue with us with Netflix.

Interesting. How do you play back Netflix? PC Broswer? ATV? Roku? Playstation? Xbox?

In order of most common method:

iPad

iPhone

Windows laptop.

In all cases the Netflix stream is via WiFi from the home router.

The signal is then passed to the TV via a 7m HDMI cable.

Works a treat.

BigPipeNZ

1170 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

BigPipe

#983243 10-Feb-2014 11:59

steve2222:
BigMal:
steve2222:

Telecom has NEVER been an issue with us with Netflix.

Interesting. How do you play back Netflix? PC Broswer? ATV? Roku? Playstation? Xbox?

In order of most common method:

iPad

iPhone

Windows laptop.

In all cases the Netflix stream is via WiFi from the home router.

The signal is then passed to the TV via a 7m HDMI cable.

Works a treat.

Those methods all seem to work fine on Telecom. (at least, they did for me when I was on Telecom)

Playback via PS3 seems to be the problem a lot of people have. (and sometimes ATV3)

bigpipe.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ
https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

kingjj

1728 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#983263 10-Feb-2014 12:22

BigPipeNZ:
steve2222:
BigMal:
steve2222:

Telecom has NEVER been an issue with us with Netflix.

Interesting. How do you play back Netflix? PC Broswer? ATV? Roku? Playstation? Xbox?

In order of most common method:

iPad

iPhone

Windows laptop.

In all cases the Netflix stream is via WiFi from the home router.

The signal is then passed to the TV via a 7m HDMI cable.

Works a treat.

Those methods all seem to work fine on Telecom. (at least, they did for me when I was on Telecom)

Playback via PS3 seems to be the problem a lot of people have. (and sometimes ATV3)

Recently got my wife a Netflix box (aka PS3) connected via Telecom ADSL. Have never had any issues with playback. The PS3 app is great and worked well straight out of the box. We also watch on Android and Windows and have always had good viewing experiences.

BigMal

996 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#983280 10-Feb-2014 13:17

My experience was the opposite on Telecom VDSL as I posted in another thread.

My Android Nexus 5, Roku 3, Chromecast and PS4 would fail more often than not at 25%. My ATV3 and MacBook Pro would playback without failing but couldn't get HD and would regularly have to buffer.

I tried multiple DNS services and VPN services but none solved the problem.

I then requested a static IP from Telecom that DOESN'T go via the proxy cache and now every device works perfectly and they all stream in HD within 30 seconds of the stream starting and I never have buffering issues. It is SUPERB.

Weird how this isn't consistent behaviour with what others get, maybe you already have static IP's that don't go via the proxy cache?

1 | 2