Data usage?

I'm seeing 1.6 to 2.0 GB/hour for TVE.

That might Be more accurate. I was also counting ESPN which has a high bitrate.

I dropped them a note about data usage. Noticed that my Xfinity usage for the month is around 650GB with half the month to go. I have a 1TB cap :frowning:. My NAS is showing 135GB downloaded for the week, with not a lot of cable channel watching. So yeah, it seems to be using a lot of data. Cancelled about 20 random movie recordings, which contributes to the data usage. Have to figure out how to turn that off.

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Yeah, this all pretty much validates my concern about using TVE with my current data usage and cap.

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I have Comcast internet (400mb service), and I usually get close to the 1TB cap and occasionally exceed it. I have been using Plex, Emby, and Kodi, and switched from DirecTV to Youtube TV. Youtube TV accounts for most of the data usage, but when there is a program on Netflix or Amazon Prime that we like, usage goes WAY up, especially if the content is 4k.

If this TVE beta goes well, I'll be able to dump Youtube TV (which upped their subscription to $50/month), because I have Spectrum Cable included in my condo maintenance fee. I expect that my data consumption will remain about the same, or possibly rise slightly.

Here's a hint for Comcast. They charge $10 per 50GB over the 1TB cap, and they charge $50 for unlimited data. They also provide two grace months of overages before they start charging. So, after you have used up the two grace months, watch your usage carefully. If it gets to point that they are going to charge you $50 in incremental overages, buy unlimited, even if it's near the end of the billing cycle. Then cancel unlimited data the next time that you don't go over the cap. After you've done that, it takes them a couple of billing cycles to update your account, and they give you two more grace months! Then start the cycle over again. The net cost of unlimited data using this method is a lot less than the full $50/month. Also, be sure to watch your usage closely. They will charge you up to $200 in overages if you don't buy unlimited!!!

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Why not get Spectrum internet, they have no data caps.

Because cable companies usually have franchise agreements with cities, and only one cable provider is available. While I am lucky to have Spectrum with no data caps, there are no other options for high speed internet at my location. (And no, DSL, satellite and wireless/LTE do not count as viable options for high speed internet.)

I was responding to the @jay343 with Spectrum cable and Xfinity internet

True that! At the moment, Comcast is the only broadband provider at my home address with better than 50Mb/s service. AT&T fiber is available only a couple blocks away, but for whatever reason, my neighborhood is always last on AT&T's priority list. AT&T offers 1Gb service with no data cap, at least in their introductory offer, but I can't get it, so Comcast calls the shots.

I have Spectrum internet with cable TV, but I have Comcast in another house where I want to also use my Spectrum cable account. Channels DVR is the first fully functional and convenient way to do it in the last 15 years!

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Ok I didn't read where you said you had two places.


For those that are curious here’s my data usage. Easy to spot when TVE was turned on. I figured out that I had a bad season pass (Apple TV bug) that was causing 5-6 random movies to be recorded every day. I’ll see how the data looks now that the pass has been fixed.

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I'm bringing back an old thread, but topic is still relevant. I started using Channels DVR a few weeks ago and am attempting to replicate the "unlimited DVR" that Youtube TV provided. I'm now thinking that might get me in some difficulty with ISP. I'm recording a lot via both TVE and OTA, and in this billing cycle I've consumed 1.2TB after just 5 days, so I'll probably be hitting 6-7TB. In prior months I've never come close to hitting 1TB. I'm on AT&T with gigabit fiber, which doesn't have a cap, but wondering if this is going to get me noticed and either have them change my monthly rate or boot me from the service? Has anyone who's been using TVE for a long time had any issues with ISPs on uncapped plans? This would obviously not work financially if I lost the uncapped ISP option. Of course, I can definitely kill off passes that are things I may watch "someday", and with a lot of the kids programming it will slow down on its own once I catch up with all the old episodes.

Anyone that does a lot of TVE had any ISP issues?

U you have to dig into the fine print and usage policies of your ISP.
For me, I have US Internet 1gig down/up, no cap.
For years, i push normal average monthly usage of about 2TB, and that was before dumped cable and wen tall streaming, moved over to Channels DVR and use mainly TVE...and other streaming services. I torrent and also run a few file servers from time to time.

One month, 2 years ago, i retired my local NAS, and moved to Backblaze unlimited online backup. That was about 18TB worth of files uploaded in one month.

A friend a couple miles away, as USI 10Gig package, and he pushes at least 80TB a month.

Mys ISP has never complained, or throttled bandwidth....but again, every ISP and service area is different.

I did enjoy a couple of months where Comcast suspended their data caps. Sadly, now they are back. I'm slowly disabling some TVE channels to force Channels to use the Cable channel to save some data usage.