Forum Discussion

Mb123's avatar
Mb123
Sophomore
7 years ago

Downloading vs Streaming data use

I read a post about using the Play On software. My question: if I were to use Play On to download during my Bonus Data, will simply downloading to watch later offline use less data than streaming to w...
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  • MarkJFine's avatar
    MarkJFine
    7 years ago
    Mb123 wrote:
    I read a post about using the Play On software. My question: if I were to use Play On to download during my Bonus Data, will simply downloading to watch later offline use less data than streaming to watch? My intentions would be to connect my laptop to my tv. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

    The short answer is, maybe.

     

    Streaming gives more opportunity for in-process packet errors, meaning more repeated packets being sent, meaning more data being used.

     

    Downloading means you get the whole thing in one shot with hopefully less time for packet errors to occur.

    All things being equal, downloading should mean less data usage than streaming.

     

    And by equal, I mean the same program at the same resolution and total file size... which brings up another advantage: With downloading you know the data you should be using, whereas with streaming it's best guess by resolution.

     

    If I'm making it seem that downloading is just an all-round better option, it is - not only for your own local bandwidth but for everyone else's as well.

     

    Edit: Should also add that if you're downloading anything much more than 3-400Mb per hour of programming you're probably wasting bandwidth.

MarkJFine's avatar
MarkJFine
Professor
7 years ago
Mb123 wrote:
I read a post about using the Play On software. My question: if I were to use Play On to download during my Bonus Data, will simply downloading to watch later offline use less data than streaming to watch? My intentions would be to connect my laptop to my tv. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

The short answer is, maybe.

 

Streaming gives more opportunity for in-process packet errors, meaning more repeated packets being sent, meaning more data being used.

 

Downloading means you get the whole thing in one shot with hopefully less time for packet errors to occur.

All things being equal, downloading should mean less data usage than streaming.

 

And by equal, I mean the same program at the same resolution and total file size... which brings up another advantage: With downloading you know the data you should be using, whereas with streaming it's best guess by resolution.

 

If I'm making it seem that downloading is just an all-round better option, it is - not only for your own local bandwidth but for everyone else's as well.

 

Edit: Should also add that if you're downloading anything much more than 3-400Mb per hour of programming you're probably wasting bandwidth.