Forum Discussion

Damselfly72's avatar
Damselfly72
New Poster
7 years ago

10gb to stream a movie

Really? I was completely out of data, aside from bonus bites. Bought 10gb and ordered a movie from Amazon Prime, (HD). No other devices connected to the network other than the router and the Samsung s...
Data Management
  • Amanda's avatar
    Amanda
    7 years ago

    Hi Damselfly72,


    I believe this is because apparently Amazon is using a higher bitrate and does not seem to allow quality/rate adjustments outside of their own proprietary Fire TV products. Basically this means that Amazon won't automatically adjust itself based on multiple factors (screen size, bandwidth, device capability) like other video providers do, resulting in you having to receive video in the format Amazon has on file. Adjusting this setting using built-in options on devices like Roku's may change what you see, but won't change what you get. Sometimes this will also cause buffering or poor visual quality. Read more here

     

    Regarding your mobile provider... I'm not sure who you have, but many providers are now automatically turning on their own versions of "VDS" to help save mobile data and ease network congestion. This might be enabled on your service plan, so it's worth a check. VDS is enabled for all customers on Gen4 and Gen5 service plans.

     

    I hope I was able to offer some helpful info :) 

     

    -Amanda

Amanda's avatar
Amanda
Moderator

Hi Damselfly72,


I believe this is because apparently Amazon is using a higher bitrate and does not seem to allow quality/rate adjustments outside of their own proprietary Fire TV products. Basically this means that Amazon won't automatically adjust itself based on multiple factors (screen size, bandwidth, device capability) like other video providers do, resulting in you having to receive video in the format Amazon has on file. Adjusting this setting using built-in options on devices like Roku's may change what you see, but won't change what you get. Sometimes this will also cause buffering or poor visual quality. Read more here

 

Regarding your mobile provider... I'm not sure who you have, but many providers are now automatically turning on their own versions of "VDS" to help save mobile data and ease network congestion. This might be enabled on your service plan, so it's worth a check. VDS is enabled for all customers on Gen4 and Gen5 service plans.

 

I hope I was able to offer some helpful info :) 

 

-Amanda

Damselfly72's avatar
Damselfly72
New Poster
7 years ago
Thanks for that info regarding Amazon. However, I am not using an external device to receive the video feed, ie. Roku, Chromecast, etc. The television is capable of receiving directly from the provider such as Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
As I stated in prior comments, this instance was a test to see how much data would be used for the one movie in this instance. I do have Gen4, as the equipment was installed 2+ years ago. We rarely use the ISP for watching movies or other television shows for the example this has provided.
About a year ago I tried to watch a movie and after 20 minutes of on and off buffering and 10gb of wasted data, I gave up. This has been a consistent trend, hence the reason we rarely try to watch anything.
Until recently, I had the ProPlus Plan. In a typical month, we would have blown through the 15gb in less than 2 weeks with basic usage. Emails, web browsing, online shopping, Facebook, other social media outlets, rare instances of short YouTube videos, and occasional music downloads from Spotify. There have also been several months that we have used the 50gb in the Bonus zone. There has to be some "unseen data hog" that I haven't determined.
We have multiple laptops, all dual-bootable (Windows/Linux). Mine is the only one running Win10 which I am aware is beast of a data hog and I have it set for a metered connection, pop up & ad-blockers, etc. installed. Anything and everything attempting to conserve the precious download speeds.
For what I have spent purchasing extra data in the past 13 years from Satellite ISPs, I could have paid Spectrum/TimeWarner cable the $25k they want to run the 2400ft of cable across a bridge to my house.
  • Amanda's avatar
    Amanda
    Moderator
    7 years ago

    Hi Damselfly72,

     

    The Amazon bit rate 'problem' would basically apply to anyone who isn't using a FireTV/stick device. So through a Smart TV app, website, etc  then there is no way to change the resolutions or bit rate to reduce usage. VDS being on while watching an Amazon video can potentially result in buffering, but would not reduce the data usage since Amazon is delivering at their format/rate no matter what. :(

     

    -Amanda

  • BirdDog's avatar
    BirdDog
    Assistant Professor
    7 years ago

    Chromecast can be a real problem if you haven't taken steps to reduce its background use especially with Backdrop images. The new Home update has a "low bandwidth" setting which helps and also turn off the other feeds like news that are defaulted to on.

     

    Even then, if you have the Chromecast powered with the supplied adapter it will use data 24/7 using WiFi which really adds up at a low trickle rate. Should power it through a TV USB port that turns off when the TV is off or you manually remove power when not in use.

    • maratsade's avatar
      maratsade
      Distinguished Professor IV
      7 years ago

      Birdog, the OP wrote that "However, I am not using an external device to receive the video feed, ie. Roku, Chromecast, etc."   

      • BirdDog's avatar
        BirdDog
        Assistant Professor
        7 years ago
        maratsade wrote:

        Birdog, the OP wrote that "However, I am not using an external device to receive the video feed, ie. Roku, Chromecast, etc."   

        Dang, that little "not" got me again! Think I'll just leave it though as good info for anyone reading this thread.