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communication:bandwidth_conservation [2016/12/05 20:59] frater_secessus [android] |
communication:bandwidth_conservation [2021/12/17 20:43] princess_fluffypants [conserving mobile data] |
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+ | Note: this page was initially based on [[https:// | ||
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====== Bandwidth conservation ====== | ====== Bandwidth conservation ====== | ||
+ | Similar to dealing with [[water: | ||
+ | Here are the most common factors: | ||
+ | * cost - on metered or capped plans going over can be expensive | ||
+ | * availability - sometimes the connection is sketchy or has too many users for the size of the pipe. | ||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | ===== Conserving Mobile Data ===== | ||
- | ===== conserving mobile data ===== | + | **What takes up a lot of bandwidth? |
+ | tl-dr: **Video.** Anything to do with video consumes // | ||
- | ===== web frugality ===== | + | If you can reduce or eliminate any kind of video data usage, you've made the problem of data vastly smaller already. |
+ | Professional-quality photo uploading can also take a lot of bandwidth, but it's still nowhere in the same range as video. | ||
- | ==== stripping out extraneous junk ==== | + | **What DOESN' |
- | ==== compression proxies ==== | + | tl-dr: **Anything that isn't video.** Even audio streaming is barely a drop in the bucket; a 2-hour-long podcast is 20-30mb while a 2-hour-long movie is // |
- | Opera was the first mainstream browser | + | **General tips for reducing data usage** (Aside from avoiding video) |
+ | * Use cell phones or mobile devices when possible, instead of laptops. | ||
+ | * Mobile web browsers and apps are generally formatted and designed to be more efficient about data usage, and most web sites will have mobile-optimized versions that are more lightweight. You can sometimes fake this on some web browsers by using extensions to trick them into fetching | ||
+ | * Turn off data usage when not needed | ||
+ | * Modern devices are very " | ||
+ | * When going to bed or when you know you're not using the device for a while, turn off just the data connection. | ||
+ | * This means that you may not get notified immediately when someone posts a new cat picture, however SMS and phone calls will still come through (as those operate on a push notification from the cellular network, rather than a pull from the phone) | ||
+ | * Many cell phones will have options for "Low Data Mode", which will attempt to limit or stop this background behavior as well. | ||
+ | ==== navigation frugality ==== | ||
+ | There are **offline navigation apps** like [[https:// | ||
+ | **Google maps will let you download certain map tiles** for offline use. This would work best if you are in the same areas but would be less useful while traveling. | ||
- | ===== email frugality ===== | ||
- | ===== podcast frugality ===== | ||
- | ===== video frugality ===== | + | ==== web frugality ==== |
+ | **Quick Answer**: | ||
+ | === stripping out extraneous junk === | ||
+ | Ads and scripts can be blocked with [[https:// | ||
- | === android === | + | Some will let you " |
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === element blocking === | ||
+ | Most browsers will allow you to block content like Flash or multimedia by default. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === use mobile sites === | ||
+ | |||
+ | You can try to force the use of a mobile site even if you are on a computer. Mobile sites tend to be cleaner, simpler, and generally less gunked up with bandwith hogging multimedia. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The traditional way mobile sites were/are denoted was with the prefix " | ||
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+ | === compression proxies === | ||
+ | |||
+ | A compression proxy runs between you and the internet and optimizes / compresses web content to save bandwidth. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Note: **HTTPS (encrypted) traffic cannot be optimized** by third parties because it is encrypted and the proxy can't see what it is. | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | If you are technically minded and have a server somewhere you can run your own compression proxy using freeware like ziproxy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | A german ISP runs [[https:// | ||
+ | ==== email frugality ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Before the advent of “webmail” (email read from a webpage) people used email “clients” (programs) to connect to email servers and pull down their email. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Common email clients include Outlook for Windows and [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Find the POP (sometimes called POP3) settings for your webmail provider. | ||
+ | |||
+ | There are several bandwidth-saving features built into most clients: | ||
+ | * **download " | ||
+ | * **download last X days** - if you are downloading from an established mailbox and choose something like " | ||
+ | * **deselect " | ||
+ | * **deselect " | ||
+ | * if your feed is really minimal you can save a few KB by writing and replying to email in **plain text rather than HTML**. | ||
+ | * You can also save a few KB by **trimming quoted material** from prior emails. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Many of these settings will be available in webmail also. | ||
+ | ==== podcast frugality ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Podcasts consume much less bandwidth than video but savings still can be had. | ||
+ | |||
+ | If given a choice, **OGG/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Choose the podcast episodes you want to hear instead of automatically downloading all the episodes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== video frugality ==== | ||
+ | **Streaming is evil** when bandwidth is limited. Some networking gear is socket-limited; | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | If you can, download the media during off-hours; | ||
+ | |||
+ | Some streaming services allow you to download for offline consumption. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === YouTube frugality === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Force YouTube video quality down as far as you can stand. | ||
+ | |||
+ | You can [[source: | ||
+ | |||
+ | youtube-dl -f ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | For " | ||
+ | * '' | ||
+ | * '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Pulling down audio only when possible can save 90% or more bandwidth. | ||
+ | |||
+ | If you need both audio and video, those pieces can be pulled down separately and combined for absolute smallest filesize: | ||
+ | |||
+ | * '' | ||
+ | ==== android | ||
"On recent versions of Android (last couple of years) you can pull up the **Settings | Apps** menu and select the unwanted app. If it was preinstalled you can probably **Disable** it, which will lock it down. If it was installed afterwards you can **Uninstall** it from there. | "On recent versions of Android (last couple of years) you can pull up the **Settings | Apps** menu and select the unwanted app. If it was preinstalled you can probably **Disable** it, which will lock it down. If it was installed afterwards you can **Uninstall** it from there. | ||
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===== conserving wifi data ===== | ===== conserving wifi data ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Wifi is a shared resource**, one that is often free as a service to customers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The tips for Mobile Data also apply on wifi, but there are couple of chokepoints in a shared resources like wifi: | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **upload congestion** - for technical reasons downloading from the internet also requires some upstream traffic. | ||
+ | * **interference** - wifi is radio frequency in the microwave range. | ||
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