How much data is my webcam going to spend?
June 17, 2022 12:26 PM Subscribe
I thought I had solved my anxiety about leaving the cats and house unattended while I'm away on vacation by getting some nifty webcams, but now I am concerned about how much data they use. Can you please explain like I'm 5 whether there's anything to worry about and if possible, what settings I should make sure in place to alleviate concerns?
They are Geeni Glimpse (link) and I have two. I don't need to record anything and haven't set up Cloud storage as far as I can tell (unless that's a default?). Just want to be able to peek in on the scene every now and then, so I can replace my anxiety-driven imaginings with reality.
There's no time to buy something else, so it's either set these up the right way or turn them off :)
They are Geeni Glimpse (link) and I have two. I don't need to record anything and haven't set up Cloud storage as far as I can tell (unless that's a default?). Just want to be able to peek in on the scene every now and then, so I can replace my anxiety-driven imaginings with reality.
There's no time to buy something else, so it's either set these up the right way or turn them off :)
Best answer: I have a doorbell camera that is always on and my total uploads for the last month is about 90GB so my doorbell camera would only be some fraction of that.
Mine is kept at medium quality (1152 x 864) and if I did a higher quality option then it would take more. I don't know if I can just extrapolate based on the resolution because I'm sure there's compression involved and it may scale differently from the resolution. So I'd think you're probably OK but maybe check the comments to see if anyone is complaining that yours are data hogs.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:40 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Mine is kept at medium quality (1152 x 864) and if I did a higher quality option then it would take more. I don't know if I can just extrapolate based on the resolution because I'm sure there's compression involved and it may scale differently from the resolution. So I'd think you're probably OK but maybe check the comments to see if anyone is complaining that yours are data hogs.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:40 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If they aren't saving video to the cloud, they're only using (significant) data when you're actively watching them remotely.
If your ISP is Comcast, you don't really need to worry about it too much. No matter what they're doing they aren't going to blow through your data allotment in less time than it takes for the usage to reflect on the usage meter and even if they do Comcast doesn't charge unless you exceed the cap twice in a 12 month period.
And FWIW if they do turn out to use a ton of data but you want to keep using them, there's a good chance that you have the option to switch to a promo plan that includes xFi Complete at no extra charge, which in addition to covering the cost of their rental gateway also includes unlimited data.
Point being, you're fine for your vacation no matter what and you can wait to see how much actually gets used until you get back.
posted by wierdo at 12:40 PM on June 17, 2022
If your ISP is Comcast, you don't really need to worry about it too much. No matter what they're doing they aren't going to blow through your data allotment in less time than it takes for the usage to reflect on the usage meter and even if they do Comcast doesn't charge unless you exceed the cap twice in a 12 month period.
And FWIW if they do turn out to use a ton of data but you want to keep using them, there's a good chance that you have the option to switch to a promo plan that includes xFi Complete at no extra charge, which in addition to covering the cost of their rental gateway also includes unlimited data.
Point being, you're fine for your vacation no matter what and you can wait to see how much actually gets used until you get back.
posted by wierdo at 12:40 PM on June 17, 2022
Best answer: Looking at the manual, they claim ~1GB/day local recording (depending on settings), so even if they were streaming continuously I think you'd be fine based on that cap.
posted by CrystalDave at 1:02 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by CrystalDave at 1:02 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you all! Cameras are on and I'm off to the airport carefree! (Well not worrying abt camera data at least :)
posted by Tandem Affinity at 9:11 PM on June 17, 2022
posted by Tandem Affinity at 9:11 PM on June 17, 2022
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posted by Tandem Affinity at 12:28 PM on June 17, 2022