Enter an assumed average bitrate in megabits per second, daily hours and number of days. The example 5 Mbps is a scenario, not a service-specific streaming requirement. The arithmetic uses decimal units: eight bits per byte and 1,000 megabytes per gigabyte.
Bandwidth and Data Usage: worked example
| Bitrate (Mbps) | 5 |
|---|---|
| Hours per day | 3 |
| Days per month | 30 |
| Data per month (GB) | 202.5 |
| Data per day (GB) | 6.8 |
Bandwidth and Data Usage: formula
Streaming services adapt bitrate to your connection, so the value is an average. Uploads, video calls, game downloads and cloud backups add to the total, and overhead adds a few percent. Some providers do not count certain traffic against caps.
Peak-time speed matters as well as the monthly total.
Common error: Mixing megabits and megabytes. Providers advertise speed in megabits, files and caps are counted in megabytes, and confusing the two is off by a factor of eight.
Bandwidth and Data Usage: changing Bitrate (Mbps)
| Bitrate (Mbps) | Data per month (GB) | Data per day (GB) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 162 | 5.4 |
| 4.5 | 182.3 | 6.1 |
| 5 (example) | 202.5 | 6.8 |
| 5.5 | 222.8 | 7.4 |
| 6 | 243 | 8.1 |
Bandwidth and Data Usage: compare input ranges
| Input | Tested from | To | Data per month (GB): low input | Data per month (GB): high input | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitrate (Mbps) | 4.5 | 5.5 | 182.3 | 222.8 | 40.5 (20%) |
| Hours per day | 2.7 | 3.3 | 182.3 | 222.8 | 40.5 (20%) |
| Days per month | 27 | 33 | 182.3 | 222.8 | 40.5 (20%) |
Bandwidth and Data Usage: individual input comparisons
| Input | Value | Data per month (GB) | Data per day (GB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitrate (Mbps) | 4 | 162 | 5.4 |
| 4.5 | 182.3 | 6.1 | |
| 5 | 202.5 | 6.8 | |
| 5.5 | 222.8 | 7.4 | |
| 6 | 243 | 8.1 | |
| Hours per day | 2.4 | 162 | 5.4 |
| 2.7 | 182.3 | 6.1 | |
| 3 | 202.5 | 6.8 | |
| 3.3 | 222.8 | 7.4 | |
| 3.6 | 243 | 8.1 | |
| Days per month | 24 | 162 | 6.8 |
| 27 | 182.3 | 6.8 | |
| 30 | 202.5 | 6.8 | |
| 33 | 222.8 | 6.8 | |
| 36 | 243 | 6.8 |
Bandwidth and Data Usage: combined input changes
| Bitrate (Mbps) / Hours per day | 2.4 | 3 | 3.6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 129.6 | 162 | 194.4 |
| 4.5 | 145.8 | 182.3 | 218.7 |
| 5 | 162 | 202.5 | 243 |
| 5.5 | 178.2 | 222.8 | 267.3 |
| 6 | 194.4 | 243 | 291.6 |
Bandwidth and Data Usage: which assumptions move the result?
Bandwidth and Data Usage: values and definitions
| Quantity and definition | Value used |
|---|---|
| Bitrate (Mbps) — Enter the measured or assumed average bitrate; 5 Mbps is an example. | 5 |
| Hours per day | 3 |
| Days per month | 30 |
| Data per month (GB) | 202.5 |
| Data per day (GB) | 6.8 |
Bandwidth and Data Usage: half and double Bitrate (Mbps)
| Bitrate (Mbps) | Data per month (GB) |
|---|---|
| 2.5 | 101.3 |
| 5 | 202.5 |
| 10 | 405 |
Networking & Technology calculators: Subnet Calculator, Password Entropy Calculator, Download Time Calculator, Storage Converter Calculator, Aspect Ratio Calculator, PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Calculator.
A bitrate is bits per second, and a data cap is bytes per month, so the conversion has an eight in it. A 5 megabit stream watched three hours a day moves about 6.75 gigabytes a day and about 202.5 gigabytes over a 30 day month. That is more than many caps allow, which is why a household with several streams can hit a limit faster than one heavy download would.
Use the bitrate your service delivers, which changes with picture quality settings. Ultra high definition runs at several times the rate of standard definition.
See the time a file takes on the download time calculator, unit conversions on the storage converter and network sizing on the subnet calculator. The password entropy page covers security, and the electricity cost calculator estimates the running cost of always-on equipment.
How much data does an hour of streaming use?
About 0.9 gigabytes an hour at 2 megabits and 2.25 gigabytes at 5 megabits, with 4K video using several times more.
Can I lower my data use while streaming?
Yes. Reducing the video quality setting cuts the bitrate, and halving the bitrate halves the data used.
How do I convert Mbps to gigabytes per hour?
Multiply the megabits per second by 3,600 seconds, divide by 8 for bytes and divide by 1,000 for gigabytes.