Apple TV data usage

[sleepngbear]

First three days with Apple TV, my internet usage has skyrocketed. A normal day is usually around 6 gb between just my wife and me; I work from home during the day, she usually streams Netflix or something most of the night, and I had been just watching cable myself. On weekends that usage does go up, occasionally up to 20 gb, but never over that. This past Saturday, the first full day of streaming through ATV, my usage jumped to 81 gb, then 74 gb on Sunday. Yesterday I only had the tv on for a few hours, and we still used 54 gb. I expected my usage would go up, maybe double, but certainly not quadruple.

Now, my current internet plan is listed with a 1.25 tb cap, which I’ve never come close to using. That allows for an average of around 41 gb per day, which I would easily blow out before the end of the cycle at this rate. Now, I also just learned that my state has no charges for data overages, so I basically have unlimited data, so I’m no longer worried about the cost. But I am wondering why my usage jumped so much. Anybody else notice an increase like that after cutting the cable? I’ve got the Apple TV 4K, but to my knowledge I haven’t streamed anything more than basic HD (only tv shows so far, no movies at all). What else could possibly explain such an increase in data?

 

[EdwinG]

Does your Netflix plan include 4K streaming? That would bump up your data usage, because it might be streaming 4K content, and make the Apple TV do content downscaling.

There might be a setting in the Netflix app to limit the content quality while streaming, which I would change (I only have a Netflix HD account, so I can't check that out).

Also, I would check my other app settings while there, because they might have a similar behaviour, e.g. YouTube.
Keeping in mind that it's not because a broadcasted TV show would be 720p or 1080i (North American cable or OTA ATSC1 signal), that it's not shot and made available in 4K on VoD services.

 

[sleepngbear]

Does your Netflix plan include 4K streaming? That would bump up your data usage, because it might be streaming 4K content, and make the Apple TV do content downscaling.

There might be a setting in the Netflix app to limit the content quality while streaming, which I would change (I only have a Netflix HD account, so I can't check that out).

Also, I would check my other app settings while there, because they might have a similar behaviour, e.g. YouTube.
Keeping in mind that it's not because a broadcasted TV show would be 720p or 1080i (North American cable or OTA ATSC1 signal), that it's not shot and made available in 4K on VoD services.

Thanks for that - good suggestions, but I haven’t streamed anything on Netflix yet. I’ve pretty much only used Hulu Live so far, which is the same stuff I’d get on cable. But I will look for such settings in there anyway.

Edit: While diving a bit into Settings, I noticed a bunch of apps had Background App Refresh set to On. I turned them all off - hopefully that doesn’t hamper my experience any. I assume at hese apps will still update their content when I open them?

 

[Tartarus]

Do you watch cable tv via the TV or via the tv (settop box)?

If via TV, remember that that also consumes internet data.

 

[sleepngbear]

Do you watch cable tv via the TV or via the tv (settop box)?

If via TV, remember that that also consumes internet data.

Via Apple TV. I ditched the cable box and subscribed to Hulu Live. I knew my data consumption would increase, I just didn’t think by this much. It’s more than triple what it was before ATV - some days quadruple. My wife has been doing most of her viewing on Netflix and streaming HBO Max for over a year now, and data usage had been pretty steady. When I hooked up Apple TVs just over a week ago (two of ‘em in different rooms, one is very seldom used), usage went through the roof. It’s settled down a little after about 4 days, but it’s still quite a bit higher than I expected. I’m wondering if some of it might have just been a spike from setting up two new boxes and a few apps on each.

 

[Tartarus]

Via Apple TV. I ditched the cable box and subscribed to Hulu Live. I knew my data consumption would increase, I just didn’t think by this much. It’s more than triple what it was before ATV - some days quadruple. My wife has been doing most of her viewing on Netflix and streaming HBO Max for over a year now, and data usage had been pretty steady. When I hooked up Apple TVs just over a week ago (two of ‘em in different rooms, one is very seldom used), usage went through the roof. It’s settled down a little after about 4 days, but it’s still quite a bit higher than I expected. I’m wondering if some of it might have just been a spike from setting up two new boxes and a few apps on each.

Then it’s only normal that your internet usage has increased.
Because you don’t ‘watch’ cable anymore, you ‘stream’ it.

In the old situation, you used to have a coaxial cable[\] in your tv, that provides picture.
Now that cable is replaced by a network cable[/].

The more ‘cable tv’ you watch, the more internet data you’ll use.

 

[sleepngbear]

Then it’s only normal that your internet usage has increased.
Because you don’t ‘watch’ cable anymore, you ‘stream’ it.

In the old situation, you used to have a coaxial cable[\] in your tv, that provides picture.
Now that cable is replaced by a network cable[/].

The more ‘cable tv’ you watch, the more internet data you’ll use.

Ok, one more time - as I’ve already stated, I knew my data usage would go up switching to a streaming service, I just didn’t think it would go up as much as it did. I figured it would maybe double, because 1, my wife has already been streaming everything she watches for over a year; and 2, there’s more stuff using internet data than tv viewing that hasn’t changed. But my usage has generally quadrupled, and that seems excessive to me for the amount of tv viewing I do.