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Question Will getting a 4k TV force my Roku Box to steam 4k and increase my monthly data usage?

HeXen

HeXen

Diamond Member
We have Xfinity, household of 3 people and yet each month we usually get a warning from them that we are either approaching the monthly TB limit or have already surpassed it for which they charge extra on. We use streaming apps for TV and use 3 1080p TV's. My stepson has a new Xbox so not sure how much he uses but for this reason I stopped purchasing digital PC games and TV wise I usually only watch YT, my wife uses the antenna channels a lot and really nothing about our usage habits or times has changed in the past couple of years since we cut the cord but yet we still somehow approach or surpass 1 TB even though we never had this issue until recent months and aren't even home during the day so I have to assume that it's the increase in game download sizes as well as higher resolution streamable content. I don't know if Roku still streams in 4k despite using a 1080p TV or not.

Anyway, I bought a new 32" TV which is 4k and use the Roku Ultra box which has 4k (not that I want it but needed a TV now and that's all they had in 32" size). So I wanted to know if a 4k TV will cause Roku to download more data? Or does 4k content always stream in 4k regardless of TV? If so, is there any way to force Roku to stream at 720p or 1080p??
 
This is all I can find. Are you tracking usage from your router? Streaming service tend to be adaptive so they'll increase if allowed.

www.howtogeek.com

How to Limit Bandwidth Usage on Your Roku

Does streaming video on your Roku make the Internet unusable for everyone else in the house? Are you up against your ISP's bandwidth cap, and want to limit data usage? If so, you've probably browsed the Roku's settings looking for a bandwidth cap, and found nothing.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com
 
Last edited:
sdifox said:
This is all I can find. Are you tracking usage from your router? Streaming service tend to be adaptive so they'll increase if allowed.

www.howtogeek.com

How to Limit Bandwidth Usage on Your Roku

Does streaming video on your Roku make the Internet unusable for everyone else in the house? Are you up against your ISP's bandwidth cap, and want to limit data usage? If so, you've probably browsed the Roku's settings looking for a bandwidth cap, and found nothing.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com
Click to expand...

thanks for the link but will streaming at a lower Mbps actually reduce the overall data? I thought that was just for speed and we don't have any issues with multiple streaming devices. I think we have 100 Meg connection
 
HeXen said:
thanks for the link but will streaming at a lower Mbps actually reduce the overall data? I thought that was just for speed and we don't have any issues with multiple streaming devices. I think we have 100 Meg connection
Click to expand...

Lower mbps will lower usage. Whether it works or not is a different story. Also, ISPs count upload as well.
 
Some individual streaming services allow you to specify your preferred resolution. I know netflix allows you to set preferred streaming quality in the account settings for example.

If you're regularly getting dinged with Comcast overages, you might just want to look into paying the fee for unlimited data. It's I believe a $30 charge. Compared to the overage fees which are $10 per 50GB up to $100/month (on top of your regular bill).
 
mnewsham said:
Some individual streaming services allow you to specify your preferred resolution. I know netflix allows you to set preferred streaming quality in the account settings for example.

If you're regularly getting dinged with Comcast overages, you might just want to look into paying the fee for unlimited data. It's I believe a $30 charge. Compared to the overage fees which are $10 per 50GB up to $100/month (on top of your regular bill).
Click to expand...

I've already been through that with them and they don't offer anything like that in my area. there's business class which is the only other upgrade package and it's quite a bit more which is still a lot more than paying the fee plus requires a 2 year agreement.
 
HeXen said:
I've already been through that with them and they don't offer anything like that in my area. there's business class which is the only other upgrade package and it's quite a bit more which is still a lot more than paying the fee plus requires a 2 year agreement.
Click to expand...
AFAIK the unlimited data add-on is available everywhere, the only stipulations are that you're not on a plan that's subsidized for low-income families.
The Unlimited Data Option is available for non-Internet Essentials and non-Internet Essentials Partnership Program customers and costs an additional $30 per month. This fee is independent from your actual data usage. The Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan will not apply to customers who enroll in the Unlimited Data Option
Click to expand...
 
Absolutely, if you are watching 4K content. See if you can set some device/app setting to 1080p or even 720p.
 
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