Lovefilm, Europe’s top DVD rental provider as well as a leading on-demand video streaming service, recently launched its iPad app. To stream a service such as Lovefilm to your computer, TV or iOS device you will need a broadband connection with at least 2Mbps for a half-decent picture quality.
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The providers claim that the average 90-minute streaming title will eat its way through around 500MB of data. That doesn’t sound so bad but the amount will increase significantly if you have a faster connection speed or watch a longer film!
Users could be chomping through their data allowance without even thinking about it. So how can you stream content on the go without breaking the bank?
Unlimited Mobile Broadband is a Myth
The bad news for the majority of mobile users as there are only a few network providers that actually give their customers truly unlimited internet. The rest of us are strangled by tiny data allowances limits or fair usage policies.
For many that do plan to stream films online you will need to connect to a Wi-Fi connection while out and about.
Onavo
Onavo is a download which significantly reduces data costs by reducing the amount of bandwidth iOS mobile devices use by compressing the data.
An Android version is also available but it doesn’t include Onavo’s specialist data-shrinking technology. However both apps come with some tools to help mobile users better understand and manage their data usage such as alerts when users are coming up to high data usage.
Home broadband
In reality most us are going to have to turn to home broadband packages, which should be able to cope with online film streaming. A 40GB download limit should allow users to watch around 59 films.
If you are connected to a Wi-Fi router but are struggling with the streaming or picture quality, your broadband speed may not be high enough. To combat this, try stopping any online activity on other computers on the same connection.
Guest Author: This is a guest article from broadband deals site, Choose, which also covers DVD rental services such as Lovefilm.
