How is Streaming a Video Different from Downloading It? Streaming Basics

These days, everyone streams their favorite shows and movies straight to their home TVs or computers. Streaming is convenient, fast, and great for ensuring you’re caught up on the latest episodes of top-notch shows without having to buy and download them before viewing.

The downside? Streaming can use quite a bit of data, especially in comparison to downloading video. Today, let’s explore how streaming video is different from downloading it, plus go over just how much data streaming uses on average.

 

What is Video Streaming, Anyway?

Video streaming means temporarily bringing video files to your computer or TV. Internet content, like a TV show or movie, is delivered to a viewing device without being permanently stored there. Instead, the streamed content “lives” elsewhere, like in the cloud.

For instance, when you boot up Netflix and select a new show to watch, Netflix streams you the show you chose only for as long as you’re viewing it. Once you’re done or exit out of the app, it’s gone. In this way, streaming is a continual process.

 

Streaming vs. Downloading

Downloading is very different from streaming. When you download content – whether that’s video content like a movie, TV show, music, game, or even work files – you transfer or copy that content permanently to your device.

Say that you want to buy a digital movie and download it to your PC. When you download that movie, it’s stored on your PC forever, and you can watch it as many times as you want without having to continue to pay a licensing or subscription fee to a streaming service.

 

Which is Better?

Nothing beats the convenience and ease of use of streaming. With a streaming service like Netflix, you have access to thousands of different shows and movies with just a few button presses, and you don’t have to buy all that media to watch them. Additionally, streamed media doesn’t take up spare gigabytes on your hard drive – no need to worry about running out of space or having to delete movies you’ve already seen to make room for new ones!

On the other hand, downloading your media means you own it forever and can watch it whenever you like in exchange for paying a one-time fee. For some, that might be worth the trade-off in convenience.

 

How Much Data Does Streaming Video Use?

Because video streaming is continuous instead of a one-and-done download, streaming uses much more data compared to downloading.

In fact, you might be surprised at just how much data video streaming needs! On average, a standard-definition movie or TV show uses up to 0.3 GB of data per hour of viewing.

For context, a gigabyte is 1000 megabytes – and each “byte” is 8 bits (1s and 0s). So, a single gigabyte of data is 8 billion bytes! As you can see, visual media uses a lot of computerized information.

 

Visual Quality and Data Usage

But just how much data streaming video uses is also affected by the visual quality of the content you want to watch.

The video quality of any given media is determined by definition. You’ve probably heard of terms like standard definition (SD or 480p), high definition (HD or 1080p), and ultra-high definition (UHD or 4K). As you might guess, the higher the resolution of your video content, the more data it needs to stream.

High-definition media uses up to 3 GB of data per hour, while 4K streaming needs up to 7-9 GB of data per hour! On top of that, if your Internet doesn’t provide enough speed or bandwidth, your streaming might be interrupted in the middle of media playback, forcing your computer or TV to re-download data again and again and adding to its data total.

 

Beware of Data Caps if You Stream Frequently

Since streaming video needs a lot of data no matter what resolution you choose for viewing, it pays to be aware of potential data caps.

Data caps are limitations imposed by your Internet service provider (ISP) to prevent Internet networks from becoming clogged with too much traffic. In essence, once you’ve used a certain amount of data in a billing cycle, your speed or data downloads could be capped. Depending on your ISP, you might be prevented from streaming further, or any streams after you hit your data limit could be much slower.

This is one reason why it’s not wise to stream media directly to your phone or laptop if you aren’t connected to a WiFi network. Odds are you’ll quickly run up against your monthly data cap if you do this consistently.

 

Should You Download to Save Data?

In terms of data usage, downloading a movie or TV show (after buying it legally) takes much less data than streaming it again and again. For example, if you know that you’ll watch a particular movie many times in the future, you could avoid the risk of running into your data cap by buying it once. Then, that movie will be stored on your PC, and you can watch it whenever you please without having to stream it from somewhere else in the future.

 

How to Stream Without Worrying About Data

Since streaming uses much more data compared to downloading shows or movies, it’s a good idea to make sure your Internet plan has unlimited data allowances if you want to stream frequently.

Many of the best Internet providers, like Shentel, offer unlimited data plans that completely eliminate limitations on your streaming potential. For instance, our unlimited data add-on can be combined with any of our Internet plans for just $30 per month, giving you unlimited home Internet without overage charges or caps.

Through an unlimited data plan, you can stream as much as you want – in high-quality picture resolution, too! – and enjoy any other online activities no matter how much data they might use. Gaming, social media, and surfing: they're always available with unlimited data.

 

Conclusion

In the end, switching to an unlimited data Internet plan from a provider like Shentel is your best bet to stream to your heart’s content, all without having to worry about data overage fees. Even better, our Internet plans offer fast speeds ranging from 150 Mbps all the way up to gig-speed Internet: fast enough for streaming, gaming, and everything in between. Check out our plans today!