- 2020 was pretty rough.
It was the year of the pandemic, and social distancing,
and quarantining and all of that,
but that meant it was also the ultimate year for streaming.
Now, in 2021, hopefully, we're seeing a degree
of normalcy creeping back into our lives
and we're gonna be on the go more.
But that means our streaming may be going with us as well.
And we're gonna be doing that more
and more on our phones and tablets.
And it uses a lot of data.
Now, you might think, "Hey, I've got an unlimited plan,
"so I'm all set.
"What do I need this video for?"
That's good question.
But you might wanna think again about that.
Your unlimited plan is sweet
but there are still a few things you need to think about.
So when it comes to streaming on the go,
we've got three things we're gonna talk about today.
Let's dive in.
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Thanks for joining me today everybody.
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All right. Now, the first thing that we need to consider
is that data consumption matters,
and nothing uses up more data than streaming video.
The more you stream, the more data you use, it's science.
So this is the first thing you have to consider,
especially if you're on a metered plan
but even on unlimited plans as well.
We'll come back to that in a second.
Let's start with your metered plans.
Let's say you have a data allowance
of say six gigabytes a month.
How long will it take you to hit that cap?
Well, if you're streaming on Netflix,
let's use that as our example, 'cause it's pretty common.
The default settings will have you using
about a quarter of a gig every hour, give or take.
So with six gigs of data, that's 24 hours of streaming
over the course of the month, sorta.
Don't forget, even though video takes up the most data,
it's not the only thing that takes up data.
You're sharing that data pool with all of your emails
and games, and file sharing, and Instagramming,
and TikToking, and so on and so on,
whatever it is you do online.
So yeah, that doesn't really leave much room
for streaming time.
But what about your unlimited data plans?
Well, you're in much better shape here,
but don't rush to crank up your playback quality just yet.
Unlimited mobile plans have something
that's often referred to as a soft cap.
This means that while your data is unlimited,
once you hit a certain amount of data usage in the month,
you get bumped down a tier in importance
and you'll be the first one to see your speeds
slow down during busy hours.
Now, usually that soft cap is pretty high.
Verizon, for example, sets theirs at 50 gigabytes.
That's a lot more than the six gigabytes
from our previous example.
Still, it's something to keep in mind
before you crank your video quality up to 1080P,
which would have you using nearly two gigs an hour, yikes.
Now, speaking of which,
this is the second thing that you should know
about streaming on the go,
how to adjust your playback quality.
Because the lower the quality, the more you can stream.
Now, hang on a second, I can hear you saying,
"I don't wanna watch crappy video."
And I understand that, I agree with it.
Just remember that if you're watching
on a six-inch phone screen, video quality matters a lot less
than it does on your 65-inch flat screen.
Now, before you yell at me in the comments,
I didn't say that it doesn't matter,
just that it matters a lot less.
4K is definitely unnecessary in most mobile situations.
And even 1080 is probably overkill
when you're just watching old "Fresh Prince" reruns
on the bus or whatever.
Most apps will default you to 720P,
which is just fine on a phone.
And depending on what you're watching,
you might even get away with adjusting downward
to the lowest quality, usually 480P.
That would take you from a quarter of a gig per hour
in usage to about seventh of a gig per hour.
So now you can stretch your data a little further.
Finally, with all this talk about data usage
and streaming quality,
the third thing to know about streaming on the go
is that you can download your movies and shows.
Sometimes.
The idea is that while you're at home
on your wifi connection
you can download stuff that you know you'll wanna watch
on the road or on the plane or whatever
and save yourself from using that data
on your 4G or 5G connection.
And that's great, as far as it goes.
But there is one catch here.
Downloadable content is a premium feature of streaming.
As a rule, if you're paying for the streaming service,
there's a good chance you'll be able
to download stuff off of it.
So Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video and so on,
yes, download away.
But once you get into the free stuff, Tubi, Crackle,
the free tier of Peacock is another one,
not so much.
If you use those on the go,
you're gonna be using your data, plain and simple.
But there you have it.
Number one, keep track of your data consumption.
Number two, adjust your playback quality as needed.
And number three, be aware that downloading
is a premium feature.
Once you've got those rules down and under your belt,
watching streaming content on the go
is really a fun part of hoard cutting in general.
Now, I wanna know if you have any other questions
about streaming on the go,
or if you're a streaming veteran
and you made it to the end of this cord cutting
one-on-one video, did I miss anything?
Hit the comments, let me know if you have any questions
or comments.
Don't forget to Like and Subscribe if you enjoyed it.
And I will see you next time.