Is 1.2TB of Internet Data Enough?

Monthly data caps on home internet service are rare these days, but most of the providers that still enforce them put the cap at 1.2TB. If you go over your data cap, you may have to pay extra fees or even have your service cut off. Fortunately, most customers don’t need to worry about them (with a few exceptions that we’ll cover here).

According to a recent industry report, the average household uses about 720.5GB of data per month, jut more than half of 1.2TB. However median usage was even lower at 496GB per month. In other words, most customers should be fine with a 1.2TB data limit. But those who download a lot of large files (like game and video files) or live in a big household with many internet users may need more data.

Let’s get further into exactly what you can do with a 1.2TB data cap, who may need more data, and some easy ways to cut down on household data use.

How much internet data is 1.2TB?

To help put a 1.2TB data cap into perspective, here are some examples of what you can do with that much data:

• 400 hours of HD video streaming
• 8,000 hours of music streaming
• 6,666 hours of web browsing
• 888 hours of video conferencing
• 12 huge (100GB) video game downloads

Internet data usage

Average Monthly Data Usage: 720.5GB

According to the most recent OpenVault Broadband Insights Report, the average household uses 720.5GB of data. The median user goes through just 496GB. That’s less than half of a 1.2TB data cap. Let’s take a closer look at specific internet activities to see how they affect data usage.

What uses a lot of internet data?

Video and gaming files are some of the biggest culprits of spent data caps. That doesn’t mean you need unlimited data if you stream and game, but keep these activities in check if you have a hard time staying under your data limit.

Video

Video files make up slightly less than half of all data usage in residential internet service, taken as a whole. Whether it’s streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, broadcasting/uploading to Twitch or YouTube, or video conferencing on Zoom or Microsoft Teams, video files simply take up a lot of data.

Video quality has a big impact on data usage. The table below shows how dramatically video quality affects the amount of data required to stream on Netflix:

Gaming downloads and updates

It doesn’t take a lot of data to game online. But downloading new games and gaming updates can put a big dent in your data cap. For example, one of the most popular gaming franchises, Call of Duty, often requires initial file sizes over 100GB, in addition to large required updates. Taken as a whole, gaming comprises 6.8% of downloads on residential internet in the U.S.

Cloud management is the sleeping giant in web data usage. This can include cybersecurity, internet tech and infrastructure downloads, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) data for things like smart speakers and appliances.

What doesn’t use a lot of internet data?

General updates

Computer, device, and program updates are usually a drop in the bucket compared to game downloads and video streaming. Of course, file sizes vary, but tend to be around 3GB for major updates and often much less for routine updates.

Web browsing

The amount of data required for web browsing depends on what you’re doing. For example, shopping on Amazon doesn’t take that much data at all, perhaps 180MB every hour. On the other hand, if you’re watching 4k videos on Youtube, you can expect data usage similar to the 4k streaming numbers in the table above.

Email

Standard emails take up very little data, approximately 20KB. Of course, attaching files to emails increases their size. Even so, the tiny amount of data used by email is not something to worry about.

What’s the perfect internet speed for you?

Use our  how much internet speed do I need tool to discover the ideal internet plan for your household.

How to save internet data

Use these tips to stay under your data cap and avoid overage fees.

Know your data usage

Many providers allow you to view your data usage throughout the month (especially if they enforce a data cap). Take advantage of this feature and keep an eye on how much data you’re using. Also, memorize the day of the month when your data cap resets. Sometimes waiting on a big download for a day or two is all it takes to avoid going over your data cap.

Lastly, see if you have the option to get text or email alerts when you go over a certain amount of data usage. Some provideres do this automatically.

Stream video in 1080p instead of 4k

Streaming 4k video takes twice as much data as streaming in 1080p. We know 4K looks great, but it burns through your data really fast, especially if you have multiple people watching different streams in your household.

A 1.2TB data cap will get you 171 hours of Netflix 4K streaming; the same 1.2TB data cap affords 400 hours of streaming in 1080p.

Limit video game downloads and other large files

Installing a video game often requires a huge download. Even games that come on a physical disc often require a large initial update. Cutting down on these downloads will help you get more mileage out of your data cap.

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