Once upon a time, if you wanted to take a vacation on your boat, you told people were leaving and you left. You didn’t think about watching TV, or checking emails, or shopping on Amazon. Your office staff knew that you were going to be out of touch, period. Well, those days are long past, and I think we’re all happier for it.
Today, you have a lot of different entertainment opportunities on your boat. You can choose traditional satellite television, which gives you hundreds of channels for one low price up to 100 miles offshore. You can choose a cellular solution which lets you stay connected without spending a lot, but you need to stay within about 10 miles. Or, you can choose satellite internet, which gives you access to the entire online world from practically anywhere.
Or maybe, just maybe, you might need to think about more than one option. Here’s why.
In the last year there have been some exciting new options for marine internet. Traditional providers like HughesNet and Viasat have launched new services that are faster and more responsive than ever before. And then of course, there’s Starlink. Starlink is getting a lot of buzz for rolling out their marine and RV plans this year. On the face of it, it seems like everything you’re looking for in internet service.
There’s only one problem.
Your marine Starlink plan isn’t unlimited. And let me tell you, those data caps are very generous if you’re using Starlink for email, shopping, or even socials but as soon as you start streaming video, they can seem a little bit confining.
Here’s the math all laid out. Yes, it’s a little bit “fuzzy,” because every streaming provider has slightly different numbers when it comes to how much data they consume. But these numbers are good averages. This math comes to us from our partners at KVH, who did all the hard work to compile all this stuff. They also relied on this article from Popular Science.
If you limit your streaming to HD, you’re consuming about 3GB of data per hour. That means a typical movie uses about 6GB. Watch one movie per day, just as one person, that’s about 180-186 GB per month (depending on how long the month is of course.)
If you have three people enjoying about one hour of HD each per day, that’s 270GB per month.
If you stream in 4K — and in some apps it’s hard not to — you will consume about 7GB per hour, or 14GB for one movie. One movie per day for a whole month is between 420 and 427GB of data for the month.
If you have three people enjoying just one hour of 4K streaming per day, that adds up to 630GB per month.
The most popular marine Starlink plan is 50GB per month. If all you do is answer emails, shop, post on socials, that sort of thing, it’s plenty. But if you’re using your Starlink connection for video, you’re looking at running out of data in 2 or 3 days. After that you pay high overage fees or get limited to turtle speed.
Adding a marine satellite TV plan makes loads of sense. Yes, there’s an upfront cost for the antenna and I admit that’s a pretty tall hurdle if you don’t have an antenna. But beyond that you’ll pay a very reasonable rate per month which allows you to watch on as many TVs as you want, for 24 hours a day if you want. There’s never any overages, buffering, or data caps.
If you want to know more about outfitting your boat with marine internet and satellite TV, and why that’s the smart choice, give the experts a call! Signal Connect has over two decades serving the marine technology market. No one does more marine activations. We’ll explain all the options and help you decide which is best for you.
It all starts with a call to 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you!
The post How much data does it take to stream video on your boat? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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Today, you have a lot of different entertainment opportunities on your boat. You can choose traditional satellite television, which gives you hundreds of channels for one low price up to 100 miles offshore. You can choose a cellular solution which lets you stay connected without spending a lot, but you need to stay within about 10 miles. Or, you can choose satellite internet, which gives you access to the entire online world from practically anywhere.
Or maybe, just maybe, you might need to think about more than one option. Here’s why.
Everyone talks about new marine internet options
In the last year there have been some exciting new options for marine internet. Traditional providers like HughesNet and Viasat have launched new services that are faster and more responsive than ever before. And then of course, there’s Starlink. Starlink is getting a lot of buzz for rolling out their marine and RV plans this year. On the face of it, it seems like everything you’re looking for in internet service.
There’s only one problem.
Your marine Starlink plan isn’t unlimited. And let me tell you, those data caps are very generous if you’re using Starlink for email, shopping, or even socials but as soon as you start streaming video, they can seem a little bit confining.
Bringing the receipts
Here’s the math all laid out. Yes, it’s a little bit “fuzzy,” because every streaming provider has slightly different numbers when it comes to how much data they consume. But these numbers are good averages. This math comes to us from our partners at KVH, who did all the hard work to compile all this stuff. They also relied on this article from Popular Science.
Streaming in HD only
If you limit your streaming to HD, you’re consuming about 3GB of data per hour. That means a typical movie uses about 6GB. Watch one movie per day, just as one person, that’s about 180-186 GB per month (depending on how long the month is of course.)
If you have three people enjoying about one hour of HD each per day, that’s 270GB per month.
Streaming in 4K
If you stream in 4K — and in some apps it’s hard not to — you will consume about 7GB per hour, or 14GB for one movie. One movie per day for a whole month is between 420 and 427GB of data for the month.
If you have three people enjoying just one hour of 4K streaming per day, that adds up to 630GB per month.
Your typical data plan hits its cap…
The most popular marine Starlink plan is 50GB per month. If all you do is answer emails, shop, post on socials, that sort of thing, it’s plenty. But if you’re using your Starlink connection for video, you’re looking at running out of data in 2 or 3 days. After that you pay high overage fees or get limited to turtle speed.
Marine satellite TV still makes a lot of sense
Adding a marine satellite TV plan makes loads of sense. Yes, there’s an upfront cost for the antenna and I admit that’s a pretty tall hurdle if you don’t have an antenna. But beyond that you’ll pay a very reasonable rate per month which allows you to watch on as many TVs as you want, for 24 hours a day if you want. There’s never any overages, buffering, or data caps.
If you want to know more about outfitting your boat with marine internet and satellite TV, and why that’s the smart choice, give the experts a call! Signal Connect has over two decades serving the marine technology market. No one does more marine activations. We’ll explain all the options and help you decide which is best for you.
It all starts with a call to 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you!
The post How much data does it take to stream video on your boat? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
