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Netflix - Bandwidth?

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blurb23

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 25, 2007
524
0
Hey guys,

I've tried searching the forums but didn't really get any definitive answers. If there is already a thread on this, please point me towards it.

Anyways, here's my question: Does anyone know how much bandwidth watching a TV show (30 minutes or 1 hour) and/or a movie on Netflix take up on an iPhone (4, if it needs to be specific) while on 3G?

I'm going on a cross country road trip tomorrow, and only have the 2GB plan. Hopefully I'll be able to watch some Netflix and have some bandwidth left over for the rest of the month heh.
 
T

tempusfugit

macrumors 65816
May 21, 2009
1,112
1
Chicago
blurb23 said:
Hey guys,

I've tried searching the forums but didn't really get any definitive answers. If there is already a thread on this, please point me towards it.

Anyways, here's my question: Does anyone know how much bandwidth watching a TV show (30 minutes or 1 hour) and/or a movie on Netflix take up on an iPhone (4, if it needs to be specific) while on 3G?

I'm going on a cross country road trip tomorrow, and only have the 2GB plan. Hopefully I'll be able to watch some Netflix and have some bandwidth left over for the rest of the month heh.
Click to expand...

The bitrate varies based on the present quality of the connection.

The good news is, AT&T sucks on the highways of the US (in terms of 3G data coverage) and you won't be able to do it much anyway :D

Worst case scenario, you pay an extra $10 for one gigabyte.

You can check your bandwidth usage along the way by dialing *3282# on your phone. These numbers are usually delayed by a few hours though.
 
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ItsJustafnPhone

macrumors 6502a
Jul 26, 2010
659
0
blurb23 said:
Hey guys,

I've tried searching the forums but didn't really get any definitive answers. If there is already a thread on this, please point me towards it.

Anyways, here's my question: Does anyone know how much bandwidth watching a TV show (30 minutes or 1 hour) and/or a movie on Netflix take up on an iPhone (4, if it needs to be specific) while on 3G?

I'm going on a cross country road trip tomorrow, and only have the 2GB plan. Hopefully I'll be able to watch some Netflix and have some bandwidth left over for the rest of the month heh.
Click to expand...

:facepalm:

I honestly can't believe you are asking this with a 2gb plan

there is no way to tell how large the netflix files are because you cannot buffer the entire file = could be anywhere from 200-400mbs for just a 30min episode

absolutely a bad idea to do this if you only have a 2gb plan. You are better off

a)downloading free apps ( you can download on your computer and transfer to your iphone via itunes to not use any data)
b) convert your own movie files using handbrake
c) listen to an audiobook
d) take a nap
 
M

MrX8503

macrumors 68020
Sep 19, 2010
2,292
1,614
ItsJustafnPhone said:
:facepalm:

I honestly can't believe you are asking this with a 2gb plan

there is no way to tell how large the netflix files are because you cannot buffer the entire file = could be anywhere from 200-400mbs for just a 30min episode

absolutely a bad idea to do this if you only have a 2gb plan. You are better off

a)downloading free apps ( you can download on your computer and transfer to your iphone via itunes to not use any data)
b) convert your own movie files using handbrake
c) listen to an audiobook
d) take a nap
Click to expand...

:facepalm:

This is the worst advice ever. Option A and B is too much work and takes up too much space.

200MB-400MB is way off for a 30min video.

OP, what I would do is use the Netflix App and check your usage through settings as that will give you instant data usages.
 
webbuzz

webbuzz

macrumors 68020
Jul 24, 2010
2,356
7,553
Data usage is more like 750MB to 1GB per hour.

MrX8503 is correct. Reset your data usage, fire up Netflix and watch a show over 3G. That will be your answer.
 
I

ItsJustafnPhone

macrumors 6502a
Jul 26, 2010
659
0
MrX8503 said:
:facepalm:

This is the worst advice ever. Option A and B is too much work and takes up too much space.

200MB-400MB is way off for a 30min video.

OP, what I would do is use the Netflix App and check your usage through settings as that will give you instant data usages.
Click to expand...


so all you did is put down my comment, yet have absolutely no solution to offer, or for that matter any experience

it takes too much space ?
it takes too long ?

have you ever converted a video using handbrake before?
It's simple process and you can do batches of videos at one time/overnight

btw tested this out 22min tv show used 992kb up/192mb down so 200-400mb per 30 minutes was a pretty good estimate
 
F

flyingember

macrumors member
Feb 16, 2011
61
51
I know this is old (and I searched and it's the newest I could find on the topic) but it's a good idea to keep current data on bandwidth usage high in the search terms

I just did 36 minutes of netflix on an iphone 4 att that used 191mb. I reset right before pressing play.

that's 5.3mb/minute

so 200mb for 30 minutes is the amount to count on when figuring usage

I had a really good connection at the time, the tower is two blocks away at most.
 
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