As we’ve discussed, we enjoy watching streaming video content in our RV via our Roku box (http://amzn.to/11E4DUX). However, a reader brought to light an unfortunate dilemma that many of us face: Internet bandwidth is often available in limited quantities. Many of us have restrictive data usage plans that cap bandwidth in 5, 15, or 30 GB limits.
Bandwidth caps are an unfortunate fact of modern life. You dare not exceed a bandwidth cap, for this gives your friendly neighborhood telecom an excuse to charge you ridiculous sums of money in overage fees. (Remember late fees at video stores? Remember expensive long distance phone calls? Well, now we have Internet data bandwidth cap overage fees to enjoy.)
So let’s quickly outline 10 steps RV campers (and really anyone) can take that will reduce Internet data usage and help avoid “bandwidth cap” overage fees.
10. WATCH VIDEOS IN LOW RESOLUTION
We all like to watch YouTube videos, and videos on other online sites. These videos may have selectable resolution from a low of 144p to a high of 1090P (or even 4k). More resolution requires more data. Therefore, you can save yourself a lot of bandwidth by watching video in the lowest resolution settings. Avoid HD whenever possible.
9. DISABLE AUTOMATIC SOFTWARE UPDATES
No matter what operating software you may be running on your computer of choice, chances are that it wants to automatically update from time to time. This is true with Windows, Android, and Apple products. These auto updates are often large files that consume a lot of your bandwidth in the process (and in our experience, they rarely seem to update much of significance). Turn off these updates to save bandwidth. Only update your software when meaningful changes are available.
8. USE MOBILE INTERNET SITES
Most websites these days have a “mobile” vesion that presents the same basic information but with stripped down graphics and art. It usually loads faster and without a lot of fancy frills. That’s because frills eat bandwidth. These mobile sites can sometimes be frustrating to navigate, but they consume much less bandwidth than their full featured counterparts.
7. INSTALL AND RUN ANTIVIRUS / ANTIMALWARE SOFTWARE
Many computer viruses eat bandwidth for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That’s because they surreptitiously download and upload data in the background while your computer is running. Effectively, they are stealing your bandwidth. Install a quality antivirus and/or anti-malware program and monitor for viruses regularly. One great free anti-malware program is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
6. HEY! HEY! YOU! YOU! GET OFF OF THE CLOUD!
The buzz these days is the Cloud. No, we’re not talking about the breathing atmosphere in your local cigar shop. We’re talking about the practice of automatically backing up your data on faraway Internet hard drives and servers. The Cloud is a forward thinking idea and it works pretty well as a basic data backup service. Alas, automatically uploading and downloading all of this data can eat up your precious bandwidth. Make sure your Cloud settings are appropriate for minimum bandwidth consumption. Turn off the automatic features.
5. AVOID VIDEO CHAT
Yes, we all love video chat, whether it’s Skype or Facetime or Facebook or whatever. Alas, video chat eats bandwidth because you are constantly uploading and downloading video and audio in every session. Hey, if you must use video chat to see the grandkids, that’s certainly understandable. Just be aware that you are consuming bandwidth in the process. Nothing online comes without a bandwidth cost attached.
4. COMPRESS YOUR PHOTOS BEFORE UPLOADING
One irony of modern digital photography is that cameras generate huge photo files that are rarely ever viewed online in their full native resolution. Even JPG files (which are by definition compressed by the camera) may be 5MB or greater in size. Most people upload their photo files directly to the Internet for sharing. Transferring large photo files to the Internet eats up large chunks of bandwidth. Solution? Compress your photo files first before you upload them to the Internet. If you are not certain how to compress files, look up the topic on YouTube – and don’t forget to watch the video in a low resolution format.
3. AVOID TORRENTS AND ONLINE GAMES
If you really want to conserve bandwidth, forget about large unnecessary downloads via torrent software (which, let’s face it, is often of questionable legality) or online gaming (which means you’d better pay attention to that game your grandson has been playing). Yes, online games can eat up bandwidth faster than Pac Man eats dots and ghosts (or whatever else Pan Man eats).
2. CACHE CONTENT
Make sure your web browsers are set to cache redundant website content so you don’t waste bandwidth downloading the same stuff every time you visit a page.
1. AVOID STREAMING MUSIC (OR STREAM LOW QUALITY)
We all love streaming content from the Internet. Music is an especially enjoyable content to stream. Alas, streaming music eats bandwidth. The constant stream means constant data usage. If you do decide to stream music, be certain to stream the “low quality” stream instead of “high quality.” Odds are that you will not notice much of a difference in casual listening, but you will use much less bandwidth.
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We love our Roku 3 streaming box, but we use it primarily with park wifi and other unlimited free Internet hot spots. Whenever you are faced with a capped data plan, you must always consider methods to conserve bandwidth.