Data usage?

[ramor69]

Just moved into a new flat which has no landline, so no internet. I am presently using payg mobile wifi for internet but my data limit is 1gb per month. I don't want to increase my limit if I can help and I don't want to be tied into a contract. Does anyone know how much data will be used if my openbox is hooked up to a pay server 24/7?
Thanks.

 

[Gman496]

Does anyone know how much data will be used if my openbox is hooked up to a pay server 24/7?

I'd imagine your provider will treat any/all data transfer (Streaming) the same as they would actual downloads or uploads?

If that were to be the case? my best guess would be that you should consider securing a mortgage to cover your mobile charges ;)

 

[ramor69]

I'd imagine your provider will treat any/all data transfer (Streaming) the same as they would actual downloads or uploads?

If that were to be the case? my best guess would be that you should consider securing a mortgage to cover your mobile charges ;)

Maybe I'm grabbing the wrong end of the stick here but am I streaming? I would consider streaming as for instance watching a footy match, (like when myp2p was up and running), but surely with the openbox and a pay server, the data usage would be the pay server checking and confirming my entitlement to view what I have paid for, as all that is happening is encrypted channels are opened up.
:dunno:

 

[dan-ger-ous]

Maybe I'm grabbing the wrong end of the stick here but am I streaming? I would consider streaming as for instance watching a footy match, (like when myp2p was up and running), but surely with the openbox and a pay server, the data usage would be the pay server checking and confirming my entitlement to view what I have paid for, as all that is happening is encrypted channels are opened up.
:dunno:

Correct.

The actual video and audio content is transmitted through the satellite/cable. When it comes to connecting your Open Box to the pay server, it will send codes roughly every 5 seconds or so, the data transmitted through the internet will not be very big, perhaps 5KB - 10KB every 5 seconds.

You could always test it for a day and see how much data is transmitted since you say that you have a 1GB monthly limit.

The information I provided to you in this post comes from personal experience.

 

[ramor69]

Cheers Dan, as I stated earlier, my new flat has no landline and I'm presently using payg mobile wifi for internet connection. My daughter has the openbox at my previous flat which I am still paying for, (grrrr), so I think I'll go for another box and take it from there.

 

[steadysskull]

Members often ask how much internet usage the Spiderbox uses and although it is low I hate not being able to answer this question fully.
I decided to measure my SD5000 over a week and to do this I setup a second router connected just to my Spiderbox (well almost)*.
I used a Netgear MBR 624 which is a 3G router and a 3net USB modem (dongle) the reason I used a 3net USB modem is a lot of users will just have mobile internet and not have access to a landline.
The setup was run for 15 hours a day for the 7 days which I would consider to be fairly heavy usage.

Ok at the start of the test I checked the 3net modem's data allowance (for the test I used a 3net sim removed from a 3net mobile phone fitted into a USB modem)** and the remaining data allowance was 469MB at the end of the week the remaining allowance was 437MB so the Spiderbox had used 32MB*.
Note this is 32MB which equals 0.032GB (1GB=1000MB).
What this means is the Spiderbox uses 1GB in 32weeks or put another way approximately 1.7GB a year.
I think we all agree this is indeed very low internet usage, clearly there will be some variation in members usage.
Things that will alter the usage will be the number of hours of TV viewing a day, the ratio of FTA to encrypted channels and so on but I think the results will be fairly typical.

*There will be some margin of error as I logged into my 3net account daily to check usage and on the odd occasion forgot to disconnect from the Spiderbox router and continued to use the web.

** If you do decide to use a USB modem just be warned that exceeding you monthly allowance comes at a high price, 3net charge £10/GB over your allowance and O2 charge £25/GB over your allowance.
The Spiderbox will never approach even a basic 1GB a month limit but surfing the net could easily exceed it.
You can ask your ISP to limit your usage when you reach it, this will prevent excessive charges.

Because I made a few mistakes I will run the test over the next week making sure I logout of the Spiderbox router before using the net. I will update this post next week.

Updated 4th October, As promised last week I have rerun the usage test and find my original errors were not as large as I first thought. This weeks total usage reading is 28MB (0.028GB) so it would take 250 days to use 1GB or put another way approximately 1.5GB a year.
Again this setup was used for around 15 hours a day for the 7 days so represents fairly heavy usage.
For members on a limited internet allowance the actual monthly usage would amount to around 0.12GB a month note this is just 12% of a 1GB/monthly allowance.

Taken from my friends at Alsat

 

[bees]

I have tried running a blade box off a dongle, I found 3 network gave
me the best results but the picture was still glitchy.

It looked like the wireless connection could not keep up with
the updates that take place every few seconds,

guess it will be better with 4G speeds.

was wondering if the spiderbox/openbox or any other box for that matter
gave a steady picture.

cheers

bees

 

[ramor69]

Thanks for that Steady. some good info there.

 

[ramor69]

Decided to use my phones Mobile AP, (can't believe I didn't think of it earlier), after getting a test line, I ran the box most of the day and it seems that I used about 10mb, so I should be well within the 1gb limit I get every month with my contract. I think I'll use my phone for the openbox and keep the wi-fi dongle for the laptop. There seemed to be a glitch every 10 seconds or so and the box needed rebooted twice but as bees stated this may be down to the 3g signal.

 

[bees]

Don't think it's so much the signal strength
more the speed of the data transfer over
the wireless network.

Roll on 4G will probably have a crack it again some
time this summer.