How much data do I need (gaming, voice chat)?

[MrNateGate]

I recently bought a prepaid AT&T mobile hotspot, 4g LTE, which I am going to use for internet access at a summer camp for a little over a month since the place doesn't have wifi. (http://www.amazon.com/Unite-Mobile-No-Contract-Hotspot-Prepaid/dp/B00GJY6XI4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1432840938&sr=8-4&keywords=at%26t+hotspot)

Here is what I will be doing with it:

1. 5-6 Hours MAX daily online gaming (LoL, COD Advanced Warfare, Primal Carnage, Ark: Survival Evolved etc.). I may occasionally need to update a game (will not be downloading any full games).
2. 5-6 Hours MAX daily Skype voice chat.
3. 50-100 webpages MAX daily.
4. 20 minutes of Standard Definition videos MAX daily.

What is the maximum amount of data I should get? Looking to stay over the threshold and not run out of data while I'm there...

Also, is there any better options than a prepaid mobile hotspot? I can't seem to find any, Sprint's Unlimited Data Hotspot is nice but the place I am going to is not covered unfortunately. 🙁

 

[bootcher]

Why are you going on a summer camp when you are going to be behind a pc over 12 hours a day??

It is hard to guess but I think you can be sure you a few gigabytes will not be enough. Maybe you can ask your current ISP how much your current data usage is per month, so you have an idea?

 

[MrNateGate]

Why are you going on a summer camp when you are going to be behind a pc over 12 hours a day??

It is hard to guess but I think you can be sure you a few gigabytes will not be enough. Maybe you can ask your current ISP how much your current data usage is per month, so you have an idea?

Did you not read the post? 5-6 hours a day MAXIMUM, and that's at the end of the day after all work is done, say from 8 PM until 1 AM. The Skype Voice chat will obviously be running DURING gaming time. Ideally I'd like to get 40GB of data and internet coverage for 2 months for my wifi hotspot (provider does not matter) if I was not going to go prepaid.

 

[bill001g]

It would not be uncommon for a game to eat 200-400mbyte/hour. video likely is closer to 500mbytes/hr it will go to over 1g/hr if you load 720 video and close to 3gbyte/hr if you were to run 1080p video. It greatly depends on the video site and how much they compress the data.

You will use much more than you expect because of hidden junk. You accidentally leave some web pages up and they will constantly load ads. I would load noscript so you can control everything that runs....noscript makes surfing painful though.

You also need to turn off all the auto updates for windows as well as all virus protection.

The cheapest plan I have seen is from sprint if you are in their coverage area. It is 30g in a month for $110 but if you go over it they charge $50/gig. Most other plans you will pay $300 to use 30gig.

Biggest thing is to be sure you get good coverage and it does not drop back into the 3g. Game can be played ok on a LTE service but if it drops even back to hspa+ you will not be happy.

 

[MrNateGate]

It would not be uncommon for a game to eat 200-400mbyte/hour. video likely is closer to 500mbytes/hr it will go to over 1g/hr if you load 720 video and close to 3gbyte/hr if you were to run 1080p video. It greatly depends on the video site and how much they compress the data.

You will use much more than you expect because of hidden junk. You accidentally leave some web pages up and they will constantly load ads. I would load noscript so you can control everything that runs....noscript makes surfing painful though.

You also need to turn off all the auto updates for windows as well as all virus protection.

The cheapest plan I have seen is from sprint if you are in their coverage area. It is 30g in a month for $110 but if you go over it they charge $50/gig. Most other plans you will pay $300 to use 30gig.

Biggest thing is to be sure you get good coverage and it does not drop back into the 3g. Game can be played ok on a LTE service but if it drops even back to hspa+ you will not be happy.

Really, that much? From what data calculators tell me, 100hrs of online games should only use up 3.6 gigs of data? :/

 

[bill001g]

Watch the game run in resource monitor. You an see exactly how much it uses. Even 500k/sec is 225mbyte/hour.

They also count both upload and download added together many times.

 

[Tchota]

I think 20gb would be enough. if you stay 45 days there.

10 gb for videos and webpages. and the rest for skype, gaming and updates.