Data Usage online

  • Thread starter Storm_SP17
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Yo guys, I just want to know how much data I'm likely to use playing GT6 online in a lobby, max size, for possibly 2-3 hours.

I'm hoping to get a hotspot device as I have no landline, and play using Wi-Fi. Considering my options on what deal to get.

Help? Thanks guys!

Storm...
 
Online gameplay hardly uses any bandwidth at all; you could probably get by just fine with only 1 gig per month if you're only looking at playing online for 10-20 hours per week.

That said...

The biggest issue with data for gaming isn't bandwidth, it's latency, jitter, and packet loss. While the actual bandwidth usage for online play is not very high at all, it requires a very stable connection with low latency and low jitter, which are all things that cellular hot spots tend to be pretty bad at.

Latency is the time it takes for your computer (in this case the PS3) to start receiving the data it has requested. For gaming, you want this to be very low. Ideally you want this to be under 50 milliseconds though most games remain at least moderately playable up to about 150 milliseconds or so.

Jitter is the variation in latency. For example, just because you may get a latency of 25 milliseconds for one request, that's not helpful if the next request takes 400 milliseconds to answer.

Packet loss refers to whether pieces of information get lost between the host and your machine. "Lost" packets have to be retransmitted, which can reduce the quality of the gaming experience by causing some lag.

All of these are areas where mobile hotspots tend to have their issues. Of course, many report good experiences with mobile hotspots these days, so I'd check to see what providers other gamers are using for their mobile hot spots to find out if one provider is best.
 
I should add, however, that downloading the patches will use a lot of data; some of the patches have been nearly one gig, so you might want a bit more than just one gig per month if you also plan to use the hot spot for downloading game updates and patches. Sorry I didn't think of that in the beginning.
 
Just did a 1/2 hour online open lobby as a guest & consumed ~29 meg of bandwidth (rounded up). Which equates to ~ 1 hr per day for a month on a 2 gig plan, with little left over for browsing, email, or video streaming. A 20 gig Millenicom Hotspot Plan (Verizon) would be my choice if going this route.

EDIT: Millenicom is for USA only I'm afraid. It is a reseller of AT&T & Verizon bandwidth.
 
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I have no land-line either.....I connect my PC and PS3 using 3GUK 'all in one' £15 for 30 days unlimited internet on my Samsung Galaxy. But the speed is capped from 3pm-midnight [peak time] and is pathetically slow and am just barely able to browse forums and such on my PC [any large pictures can take forever to load and videos will stutter for 5 seconds, every 5 seconds]...... most of the games updates have come at off peak time so they D/L fairly quick [I can get up to 7.2mbps off peak which is the phones speed limit]

I only really connect for the login bonus and to take part in the Seasonal events, I do not race online mainly for the reasons @Zenmervolt stated, and my pathetic speed cap, but also because I don't count it as the most enjoyable aspect of the game.
 
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I have a really slow internet connection, about 3.5mb and that's sporadic, so what I do is tether my PS3 to my iPhone, I have a "Truly unlimited" plan with EE Costs me £15 a month. My 3G data speed is 8mb . If you can get a truly unlimited plan that isn't subject to a fair usage policy you'd be on to a winner
 
I didn't expect to get this much information and advice, thanks guys!

I''ve gone for a starter pack with Three for £49.99, I only have 1GB of data, but I pretty much just got the deal just so that I have a device handy. I'll get a Data Sim 1-month rolling contract for 10GB, which is only £15, which will do me just fine for now.

The nice guy who was serving me at the shop was trying to offer me a similar deal to the "truly unlimited" deal @D-no has, since he said I could tether the phone to my laptop, PS3, etc. in a 12-month contract for £20, or a 1-month rolling Sim contract of the same for £23 (don't mind paying the extra £3 if it means I can pretty much end the contract whenever)...

I've noticed that I could just top up 500MB per day for £2.99, which if the 500MB lasted until it ran out rather than after just 1 day, I'd snap that up...
 
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