Hughesnet Community

How to conserve data

cancel
Showing results forΒ 
Search instead forΒ 
Did you mean:Β 
Eva-79
Freshman

How to conserve data

Hello, I'm new to Hughes. I'm not tech savvy at all. I about had a heart attach when I seen how much data I used on the day it renewed. I've had the pleasure of chatting with support agents. I have to say you all are great in helping your customer.
I want to make sure I am doing everything possible to to conserve data. I have a big family 5 kids ages 21 to 10 who love to use data. The agent yesterday helped me a lot. He was able to disconnect my dish hopper from the internet. My husband is the only who uses it and he doesn't do on demand stuff. He's a little more non tech savvy than me. Lol so he leaves everything up to me. So we did that. I also tried to program the PS4 to only update or do downloads between 2am and 8 am no luck there. I was able to stop auto updates tho will that help save data? Another thing he helped me with was changing password so I have total control now. Kids don't like it but to bad.. lol sorry I can be long winded. But any hoo, now my Vizio TV it's hooked up to my blue ray which is a Sony. My daughter she's a selective mute and is struggling with depression she's 13. Anyways the only time I see her smile or laugh is watching YouTube on my Vizio TV threw the blue ray how can I get the best settings to save data on those two devices. Sorry for the long message but I'm a talker. Thanks 😊
8 REPLIES 8
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

I would suggest that you be careful with streaming anything, as this is very data intensive, and if your data package is small (10 or 20 GB per month, for example), you will find you will use the data very quickly. 

 

Use the lowest resolution for anything you stream. Make sure the Video Data Saver is enabled (you can enable/disable it by going under My Account from the top of the pages on this site). 

 

Budget your data -- if you have, for example,  a 30GB package, then you can only use around 1 GB per day per month.   To know how much you're using and keeping an eye on the daily usage, you can download the Usage Meter.  It's also under MyAccount.  This will help you make sure you stay within your limits.  

 

If you need extra data, you can buy tokens, but that can get expensive. 

 

You may also want to read this:

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/Understanding-data-usage-data-loss-and-connection-pa...

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/HughesNet-Data-Management-Tips-n-Tricks-How-To-Elimi...

Thank you for the tips. I'll make sure to apply them to my tablet as well.
Now please forgive but in the words of my children I'm old and don't understand the lingo. Lol but I do try to learn never to late to learn. Smokes starts to poor out my ears trying to retain so much info. Anyways, the tablet won't be hard to set up. The TV and blue ray maybe difficult. Oh and here's some info yesterday was our refill day I started out good. But after trying to program PS4 which I got aggravated with but finally did something. My data jumped down to 69% eek right lol. That was around 3:30 4:00 pm eastern time. And after speaking with agent who was very nice and joked around with me fix the hopper problem. Oh that was 7ish from that point to 7:30 am it jumped down to 55% I think nothing has been used since.
Can you explain how GB work. I know you suggested using 1g a day after 3 pm today we will probably have 3 devices using WiFi. And for my big family should I upgraded? I've already bought 15$ token . I've got the 20gb I do believe.
Thanks again!
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

HughesNet gives you data packages, and they have these in different sizes. In your case, you have 20 gigabytes.  The max you can get is 50 gigabytes.  

 

Think of these packages as a checking account. Whenever you buy something, your checking account gets smaller, until you put money in it again. 

 

Whenever you do anything on the Internet, some data is removed from your data package.  Streaming is the most "expensive" activity, as it can eat a lot of data very fast.  This means that your data package will get smaller and smaller very quickly.   Other things "cost" less; things like reading websites, sending emails, etc. 

 

You have a big group of people over there, and not a lot of data, so you may need to sit down and see what people are using the data for.  If everyone's streaming, then your data will be gone very quickly, and even the largest package may not be sufficient.   

 

The solution is to be very frugal with the data, because satellite internet does not give users as much data as terrestrial internet (think Comcast or other cable).   You could upgrade to a bigger data package, but you need to take into account these packages cost more, and you  may still run out of data. 

 

Eva-79 wrote:
Thank you for the tips. I'll make sure to apply them to my tablet as well.
Now please forgive but in the words of my children I'm old and don't understand the lingo. Lol but I do try to learn never to late to learn. Smokes starts to poor out my ears trying to retain so much info. Anyways, the tablet won't be hard to set up. The TV and blue ray maybe difficult. Oh and here's some info yesterday was our refill day I started out good. But after trying to program PS4 which I got aggravated with but finally did something. My data jumped down to 69% eek right lol. That was around 3:30 4:00 pm eastern time. And after speaking with agent who was very nice and joked around with me fix the hopper problem. Oh that was 7ish from that point to 7:30 am it jumped down to 55% I think nothing has been used since.
Can you explain how GB work. I know you suggested using 1g a day after 3 pm today we will probably have 3 devices using WiFi. And for my big family should I upgraded? I've already bought 15$ token . I've got the 20gb I do believe.
Thanks again!

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Eva-79 

 

One thing to also keep in mind is that, if you do happen to run out of data, you won't be cut off.  You'll still be able to access the net, and depending on the speed you still get after that point, activities like watching Youtube videos may still be possible, though likely only in standard definition (480p) or lower.  Granted, it will take longer to do some things because of the reduced speed, like downloading files and such, but you'll still have internet access.  πŸ™‚

@Gabe and Maratsade,
Thank you both for the helpful information. I really appreciate it.
Gabe I think you saved my kids lol πŸ˜‚ because I was flipping out on how much they are using. I have put restrictions on them. I can deal with lower speeds that's no problem. I really like Hughes net. We had internet threw dish yrs ago we hated it. Plus we live in the boonies surrounded by mountains. I looked at my son's phone his 10 he can only use it when connected to WiFi. He is a big gamer and he watches YouTube a lot. I restricted background I hope I did the right thing in doing that. I do believe that is the root of our problem we love YouTube to much. My self I use my tablet to play one game. I use my phone data to Google things ECT.. now last night my 13 yr old needed Google docs to do her homework. I connected my phone to WiFi (gritting my teeth while doing it) needles to say I stopped it from downloading because it was going to take a long time. I was scared to do it lol
Maratsade, you put it in to terms I can understand. Thank you for that.
I also use Amazon video app which I downloaded movies in that 2am to 8am slot. We didn't do to bad yesterday at least. I think so. From 3pm to 8 pm is when it gets used the most. I think we dropped 5% in those hrs. Kids nowadays have to use apps for homework or the internet to research.
Now yesterday I did switch my Vizio TV to standard but it's not hooked up to internet . So it's my Sony blue ray that we access YouTube threw. I went to settings and was lost ( deer in the headlights) what is resolution!? Should I put it on 480 can't remember exactly the number but it was in the 400's. And how do you change hd to standard on YouTube?
Thank you both for helping this ol' fuddy duddy new things 😊
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Eva-79 

 

You're very welcome, and I'm glad you like it.  πŸ™‚

 

I've have HughesNet for a little over fifteen years now, and Gen5 since it debuted in Mar 2017.  It's worked very well for me, and I've never really had any major issues with it.  A couple of short lived (hours) outages a few years back, and a couple of months where my speeds dipped noticeably back in the 2007 or 2008, but other than that it's been pretty steady.  I also finally convinced my folks to "upgrade" to HughesNet from their dialup back in 2016, and theirs has worked well for them too.  They live right across the street from me, so while we both had Gen4, which they still have, we were on the same satellite and spot beam, which meant our service experience was pretty much identical.  My Gen5 is faster than what they still have, but they're perfectly happy with Gen4, so they won't be upgrading anytime soon.  

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have cable or fiber just as much as the next person, but until that day happens, if it ever does, I'm happy with the HughesNet I have.  πŸ™‚

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

You're welcome, Eva. Glad to be of help. 

 

As for the resolution, go for the smallest number they have listed. Try that first, and if it's really unwatchable, go up to the next number.  If you can stand the lowest resolution, you'd be saving some data. 

 

Keep your eye on the usage monitor, too.  You can download the app for your tablet, or you can look up your usage on this community (it's under My Account at the top).   If data's being eaten up, you may have to tell people to cut the streaming for a while. πŸ™‚

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Eva-79 

 

The 480p that you were seeing in the resolutions is considered Standard Definition.  It's pretty much the equivalent to DVD quality.  144p will likely be too fuzzy, though you may find 240p or even 360p to be okay.  But I wouldn't go higher than 480p due to the amount of data that 720p and 1080p can burn through with videos.  I rarely use 720p or 1080p with Youtube, and on the occasion that I do it's only because I need to see something more clearly, like with an instructional video or something similar.  

 

Interestingly enough, some people are still able to watch videos in 1080p after they've run out of data and are in FAP.  Just for info, FAP stands for Fair Access Policy, and you'll often see people referring to being "in FAP", which means they've run out of their plan data and their speed is being throttled as a result.  

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

Also, regarding streaming, and just for some additional info, some of us have been using a service called PlayOn Cloud (that's a clickable link to their web page).  What it does is take your chosen streamed items, like from Youtube, Amazon, Netflix, etc, "catches" them while they're streaming and records them onto a DVR in the cloud.  It then converts those items into mp4 files, which you can then download and watch on anything that can play mp4 files, which most devices today can.  You can download them manually, automatically, or even schedule the downloads to a occur during a specific time period, like during the Bonus Zone.  The idea is that you're then watching the items from an already downloaded file, so there's no buffering to speak of, and you can keep the files forever, re-watching them whenever you want.  I watch them on my Smart TV from either a USB flash drive or a USB external hard drive.  My TV has a built in player to play mp4 files.  Your TV might be able to do the same, and if your Blu Ray player is less than five or so years old, it likely has a USB port on it and can play items in the same way.  I also copy the files to DVDs and/or Blu Rays for permanent storage, but I can also watch the items from those disks on my Blu Ray player.  

 

It's just an idea, but again, it's a good way to avoid any buffering, keep the items forever, and watch them whenever you want.  You have to have either an Android or Apple device to use the PlayOn Cloud app, and for which to download the items to if you do the automatic or scheduled downloads.  If you manually download them you can download them to any device that can use the net, like a phone, tablet, computer, etc, as you download them by way of an email link sent to you by PlayOn.  The service is free, but you buy credits, with each credit being good or one item, whether it be a five minute Youtube video or a three hour movie from Netflix.  The credits are 25 cents per item, but they often have sales where you can get them for under 20 cents each.  You have to have service from the service, of course (Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, etc.), and not all services work with PlayOn Cloud, but most of the big ones do.  Again, it's just an idea, and it's a good alternative to regular streaming for the reasons stated.  

 

Though it can vary a bit by service, while getting items from Netflix I've found the data usage ends up being about 1GB per hour for downloads that are in 720p and about 800MB per hour for downloads in 480p.  PlayOn Cloud only has those two settings (HD and SD, respectively).  What I do is set my Netflix playback setting so "High", and then set PlayOn Cloud to record in HD (720p), and the items look nearly like they're in full HD (1080p) when I watch them.  And again, it's about 1GB per hour of video when it's set like that with Netflix, so if it's a 2.5 hour movie the file size will be about 2.5GB.  Again, though, that's with Netflix.  The file sizes per hour with other services, like Amazon, Hulu, etc, may be more or less.  

 

It can be a little confusing at first, but if you ever decide that you want to try it, or you just want to know more about how it works, feel free to ask.  Both maratsade and I use it, and I think a couple of other "regulars" here may, as well.  I like Premium channel TV series, like The Sopranos, Rome and Spartacus, and streaming them the regular way would sometimes buffer.  I also had to watch them right then and there, so that's why I decided to try PlayOn Cloud as an alternative.