Streaming Video - Bandwidth Usage

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Polemus

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Hi Peeps,

I am soon to be adding Netflix to my bouquet, I won't be cutting the cord with DSTV just yet. Currently I have a WebAfrica Business Capped account 90GB Peak, 310 Off-Peak.

I want to be able to stream and use the net quite comfortably, Can't let the wife experience buffer. My household loves watching TV, so there will be approximately 8-10 hrs of streaming p/day between all of us.

Questions

  1. Will my current data package suffice if I decide to eventually turn off DSTV?
  2. What line speed do you suggest.
  3. On avg., how much data do you use for streaming p/m?
 
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Polemus said:
Hi Peeps,

I am soon to be adding Netflix to my bouquet, I won't be cutting the cord with DSTV just yet. Currently I have a WebAfrica Business Capped account 90GB Peak, 310 Off-Peak.

I want to be able to stream and use the net quite comfortably, Can't let the wife experience buffer. My household loves watching TV, so there will be approximately 8-10 hrs of streaming p/day between all of us.

Questions

  1. Will my current data package suffice if I decide to eventually turn off DSTV?
  2. What line speed do you suggest.
  3. On avg., how much data do you use for streaming p/m?
Click to expand...

You need to double your daytime GBs if you want to get rid of DSTV.
 
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10Mbps if you can get it would be ideal.
I use about 4GB per day for streaming at medium quality, you could triple that if you want HD, also if you streaming two TV's at once it would be be more.

Go on these data values and you should be okay. Remember to account for downloading and other internet usage you might have.

ultimate-guide-smoother-netflix-streams-any-device-anywhere.w654.jpg
 
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If you set Netflix to low quality, you can expect to use around 400mb and hour, medium you're looking closer to 600mb and on high you will probably be around 800-900mb - this is on a 4 meg line.

Unless you're a super snob for HD, you can easily get away with medium quality - I ran low quality on a 50" tv for a while and even that was perfectly watchable.

You're paying R419 for business capped, but I often used a standard capped WA package for HD sport streaming, without any issues. For R399 you can get 120gb of anytime data from WA which might be the better and more cost effective solution.
 
Polemus said:
cool, so my package is fine if i want to get netflix :D
Click to expand...

3GB is not even close to sufficient for 8-10 hours of HD streaming per day. Never mind all the other things you'd need the internet for.
 
Polemus said:
I was just taking the piss out of Chevron's comment :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I know. Just answering the question in the OP. Your connection needs to rain gigabytes to stream 8-10 hours of HD content a day. That's probably over 600GB a month.
 
I have a 100GB Axxess (50+50) account that I use about 75GBpm on average on with streaming. Netflix in 720p with DD5.1 eats just over 1GB per hour on a 4Meg line.
 
lcbxx said:
I have a 100GB Axxess (50+50) account that I use about 75GBpm on average on with streaming. Netflix in 720p with DD5.1 eats just over 1GB per hour on a 4Meg line.
Click to expand...

what is the rate per second for your 720p streaming?

Is there much left do do other internet related stuff whilst streaming on a 4mb line?
 
Polemus said:
what is the rate per second for your 720p streaming?

Is there much left do do other internet related stuff whilst streaming on a 4mb line?
Click to expand...
3000Kb/s + some overhead; I would hazard a guess at around 3250Kb/s total. You can see this by watching the "Example Short 23.976" video on Netflix. Netflix will automatically (and seamlessly, on a PS3/4/Roku/AppleTV at least) scale the video (not audio) down if usage on the line goes up - it does not hog bandwidth like a download would.
 
Bryn26 said:
3GB is not even close to sufficient for 8-10 hours of HD streaming per day. Never mind all the other things you'd need the internet for.
Click to expand...

where did he say 3GB? has something been edited?
 
Masataka said:
If you set Netflix to low quality, you can expect to use around 400mb and hour, medium you're looking closer to 600mb and on high you will probably be around 800-900mb - this is on a 4 meg line.

Unless you're a super snob for HD, you can easily get away with medium quality - I ran low quality on a 50" tv for a while and even that was perfectly watchable..................
Click to expand...

good info, thanks Masataka.
 
Hi.
I would just like to know would i be able to watch Netflix in HD on my 4meg uncapped account? And what is the costs I'll be looking at for Netflix on a monthly basis?
 
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