How much data does live streaming use?
The short answer: take your video bitrate in megabits per second and multiply it by 0.45. That is how many gigabytes of video you send in an hour. A stream at 8 Mbps, the usual target for 1080p, sends about 3.6 GB of video an hour. Then add the part most calculators leave out. A stream sent over mobile networks carries extra traffic that protects it: packets sent again when one is lost, and the cost of splitting one stream across several connections. Plan on about 20% more. At 8 Mbps that comes to about 4.3 GB an hour, so 100 GB lasts around 23 hours on air.
The sum: bitrate times 0.45
Bitrate is measured in megabits per second, and data is sold in gigabytes. A megabit is an eighth of a megabyte, and there are 3,600 seconds in an hour, so one megabit per second held for an hour is 450 megabytes, or 0.45 GB. Multiply your bitrate by 0.45 and you have your gigabytes per hour of video.
The second figure on each line below adds the 20% to plan on when the stream travels over mobile networks. It is the figure to budget with.
- 4 Mbps: about 1.8 GB an hour of video, about 2.2 GB an hour to plan on.
- 6 Mbps: about 2.7 GB an hour of video, about 3.2 GB an hour to plan on.
- 8 Mbps: about 3.6 GB an hour of video, about 4.3 GB an hour to plan on.
- 12 Mbps: about 5.4 GB an hour of video, about 6.5 GB an hour to plan on.
- 20 Mbps: about 9.0 GB an hour of video, about 10.8 GB an hour to plan on.
Which bitrate are you actually streaming at?
The number that matters is the one you set where your video is compressed: in the Lumbus Live app on your phone, which is the encoder, or in OBS or the streaming software on your laptop. As a guide, about 8 Mbps suits 1080p and about 20 Mbps suits 4K. Between 4 and 8 Mbps is the usual range for 1080p at 60 frames a second.
Resolution does not decide how much data you use. Bitrate does. A 720p stream at 6 Mbps uses more than a 1080p stream at 4 Mbps. Dropping the resolution only saves data because it lets you drop the bitrate without the picture falling apart.
Every platform publishes the highest bitrate it accepts, and it is not the same everywhere, so check the one you stream to before you settle on a number. Sound adds a little on top, a small fraction of a megabit, which is why nobody budgets for it separately.
Why real usage is higher than the sum
A stream over mobile networks is never just the video. When a packet is lost on the way it is sent again, and when one stream is split across several connections there is a cost to splitting it and putting it back together. On a clean connection that adds little. The normal planning range is 15 to 25%, and 20% is the figure to plan on.
A poor network pushes it higher. At 8 Mbps, a bad signal or a crowded cell can take you from about 4.3 GB an hour towards 5 GB an hour, because more of what you send has to be sent twice.
That is why the figure to plan on includes the traffic used to protect your stream, such as bonding overhead and retransmissions, and why actual usage depends on bitrate, network quality and redundancy settings.
Does bonding more connections use more data?
No. Bonding splits one stream across the connections you have. It does not send a copy down each one. Two connections, six or twelve carry the same total between them.
At 8 Mbps that total is about 4.3 GB an hour. Across two connections each carries about 2.16 GB an hour; across four, about 1.08 GB each. Weak networks and heavier redundancy settings raise usage. The number of connections by itself does not.
How long does a data allowance last?
Divide your data allowance by your gigabytes per hour. At 8 Mbps, with overhead counted:
- 100 GB is around 23 hours on air.
- 250 GB is around 58 hours.
- 500 GB is around 116 hours.
- Three hours a day, five days a week, comes to about 280 GB a month.
- Streaming around the clock for a 30-day month is about 3.1 TB.
Streaming from a phone on your own plan
The same sum applies. Streaming is upload, and a phone plan counts what you send as well as what you receive, so a two-hour stream at 6 Mbps takes between 5 and 7 GB out of your plan however little you download.
Read the terms of a plan that is sold as unlimited. Many of them slow down after a set amount, and a slowed connection rarely carries a video stream. The terms say where that point is.
If you stream from your phone, keep the plan you already pay for. The phones around you carry the rest, each on its own plan.
Adding phones does not add to the total
When you stream through Bond, the phones around you lend their connections and your stream is split between them. Nothing is sent twice: each phone carries only its share, and the total is what the sum above says.
At 8 Mbps that total is about 4.3 GB an hour. Across two connections each carries about 2.16 GB an hour; across four, about 1.08 GB each — out of each phone's own plan. A weak network raises the total, because more has to be sent again; the number of phones by itself does not.
More on BondQuestions
- How many GB is a one-hour live stream?
At 6 Mbps, about 2.7 GB of video, or about 3.2 GB with overhead counted. At 8 Mbps, about 3.6 GB of video, or about 4.3 GB with overhead.
- How much data does a 1080p stream use per hour?
It depends on the bitrate, not the resolution. At 8 Mbps, the usual target for 1080p, plan on about 4.3 GB an hour over mobile networks.
- How much data does a 4K live stream use?
At about 20 Mbps, a 4K stream sends about 9.0 GB of video an hour. Plan on about 10.8 GB an hour with overhead.
- Does streaming in 720p use less data?
Only if you lower the bitrate too. Data follows bitrate. A lower resolution lets you use a lower bitrate without the picture breaking up, and that is where the saving comes from.
- Is 100 GB enough for live streaming?
At 8 Mbps it is around 23 hours on air. At 4 Mbps it is around 46 hours. Work out your hours per month before you choose a data plan.
- Does live streaming use upload or download data?
Upload. A phone plan counts data in both directions, so what you send comes out of it just as a download would.
- Does bonding use more data?
Bonding adds overhead, about 20% to plan on, but more connections do not multiply it. The same stream is divided between them.
- How much data does streaming 24/7 use?
At 8 Mbps with overhead counted, about 3.1 TB in a 30-day month.