How Much of Your Internet Data Plan are You Using? Monitor Your Netflix Usage...

With Netflix and You Tube, video streaming is becoming a major pastime for many of us.

Many people I know, including myself, have taken advantage of the free month of Netflix.  However, keep in mind that our internet service providers (usually Rogers or Bell) charge us a monthly internet plan fee that includes a pre-set maximum data usage.

For example, Rogers Light Highspeed is set at 15 GB.  This is a LOT if all you are doing is email, surfing and dowloading songs and pictures.  However, factor in that one hour of Netflix programming in HD is around 1.5 GB and you can understand that Netflix accounts for around 20% of the entire bandwith world wide during peak times!

Also, considering that number, most people who watch 5 HD movies or more who are on Rogers Light Internet would be paying an extra $4 per GB, especially considering all the other internet usage.

I'm not saying Netflix is bad (I'm signed up), just watch your usage carefully and purchase the appropriate internet plan so you aren't paying extra.

Here is a chart below to help you figure out what you need.  The last two columns show "total data usage" for the adjacent task (email, etc....) and the other column shows the "number of times" you have to perform that task to reach 5 GB, respectively.

Activity/Download	File Size	X*
1 email	10 KB	500,000
1 webpage visit to EVDOinfo.com	150 KB	33,333
1 Hr of Online Poker	2 MB	2,560 Hrs
1 downloaded song from iTunes	4 MB	1,250
1 digital photo (point & shoot digital camera)	3 MB	1,666
1 digital photo (pro / prosumer digital camera)	10 MB	500
1 typical 3 minute video on YouTube/Google	5 MB	1,000
1 hour of 56k audio stream	25 MB	200 hrs
1 typical 5 minute video on iTunes	30 MB	167
1 typical 45-minute TV show from iTunes	200 MB	25
1 hour of MagicJack phone call @ 128kb/s	56 MB	89 hrs
1 hour of Skype phone call @ 64kb/s	28 MB	178 hrs
1 hour of Skype video chat @ 384kb/s	169 MB	30 hrs
1 hour of World of Warcraft online gaming	32 MB	156 hrs
1 hour of Netflix Standard Definition stream	660 MB	7.5 hrs
1 hour of Netflix High Definition stream	1.67 GB	3 hrs
1 Full-length (2 hours) movie MPEG4 download	1.5 GB	3
1 entire DVD (MPEG-2) disk image	4.5GB	1
1 hour of Hulu Standard Definition stream	350 MB	14 hrs
1 hour of Slingbox Standard Definition stream	444 MB	11 hrs
1 hour of Ustream Viewing	192 MB	26 hrs
1hour of Ustream Broadcasting	102 MB	49 hrs
1 hour of Xbox/PS3/Wii Online Gaming [Average]	50 MB	100 hrs
1 hour of Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection	60 MB	83 hrs
1 iBook download for iPad [Average]	0.5 MB	10,000
1 episode on ABC Player for iPad [1hr episode]	183 MB	27
1 hour of Pandora Radio streaming	27 MB	185 hrs
1 hour of AOL Radio streaming	50 MB	100 hrs
1 hour of Facetime 2-way video calling on iPhone 4	90 MB	55.5 hrs