Verizon WIFI & Netflix

[sgtjoe]

Looking at getting rid of our CenturyLink (Quest) wifi at the house and going with Verizon wifi/mifi so we have computer access on the road for the six months we are gone. The wife likes her Netflix movies and I was wondering how that would affect the useage of the 50 buck a month Verizon. We would be watching the movies through out WII game system.
Would we exceed the monthly allowance by just watching movies on our TV through the WII game system?????? We wouldn't be downloading them to the computer.

[jzick]

Probably, if you have the standard 5G limit. Data is data, whether it is coming through a computer or a WII. I have read that streamed movies require 1-2 GB per hour for HD, about 1/2 that for SD. Link Technologies says 4 movies per month will take, on average, 5.278 Gigs for Netflix streaming. This data is on their website Link Technologies, Inc.

The other consideration is the quality of the service available. Many times we will have data service (3G) as we travel that is barely able to stream movies. It depends on how far from the tower, how much competing traffic, geography, etc. You may want to consider Redbox or Blockbuster as a backup.

[jbilling]

You really need to know what your monthly package allows. As the other post stated, you need to count on upwards of 1.5-1.8Gig per hour for high def movies. If you only have a 5 gig limit for the month you would already be facing overage charges while watching the second movie in a month. Good luck

[FlyingDiver]

You can get 20gig/mo through Millenicom, though you might need to get a router instead of using the Mifi. But you're still going to have problems with the data cap if you're a regular Netflix user. None of the wireless options (cell or satellite) are really suitable for streaming video.

joe

[DGShaffer]

I have a 3G HTC Incredible and streaming video can be painful. You will use up a lot of data allowance that was as well.

[Tha_Rooster]

I have not been to a camp ground without free wifi for iPads. I was lucky on my 4g revolution phones grand fathered in on unlimited data.

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster I have not been to a camp ground without free wifi for iPads.

Wow, you travel to much better places than I have. Do you count the ones where you have to go to the club house or laundry room? Are you new to this or have you had this kind of luck over the last few years? Is the wi-fi always available at your coach or do you have to visit the office, clubhouse or laundry room?
It has been my experience that from time to time I do get free usable wi-fi in my coach at the campgrounds that we visit but I would not describe this as a normal park of the ones that we visit.

[JC2]

This link will give you an idea on what usuage amounts would be when accessing the web for different items. As others have stated, movies eat up your monthly allowance.
What does 5GB (Gigabytes) Get Me? : EVDOinfo.com

[Tha_Rooster]

Bill Adams, if I had to go to a laundry room, club house or anything else besides the MH I would use my phone but not yet. I'm on free wifi now while camping.

[docj]

It is worth noting that you can control the data rate on your Netflix account. Our TV can only display 720p and if we restrict the streaming data rate to support that we can get roughly 2 hours of streaming for 1 GB (about one movie). Our normal web-surfing usage is ~4-5 GB/mo, so we can treat ourselves to about 5 movies a month without over-running our allowance.

[sgtjoe]

Thanks for the responses folks. We're having our Centurylink DSL hooked up in Yuma while we are there. That will take care of Netflix and both our laptops with no limit. Did this last year and I supplied wifi to 4 other friends at no cost, so netflix should not be a problem.

[Techie]

Still uses data. We have unlimited plans on our phones and use Netflix to the TV for movies. As an FYI, if we are travelling for about 2 weeks we will easily exceed 15 Gb for the month.

Our phone sare 4G (Verizon) and we are quite happy with the speed and quality of movies when on 4G and it is tolerable (some delays while it buffers) when on 3G

[FlyingDiver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtjoe Thanks for the responses folks. We're having our Centurylink DSL hooked up in Yuma while we are there. That will take care of Netflix and both our laptops with no limit. Did this last year and I supplied wifi to 4 other friends at no cost, so netflix should not be a problem.

Just be aware that sharing that connection outside your "household" is almost certainly against their ToS and could be grounds for terminating your service.

joe