Why Does Peacock Use So Much Data? 6 Proven Ways To Reduce It!

You’ve signed up to the Peacock streaming service and have dived into episodes of your favorite shows, like The Office or Girls5Eva, only to make the unpleasant discovery that your data runs out very quickly.

You’re no doubt wondering why this is happening.

Peacock uses so much data because it’s a streaming service, and these services are notorious for using high amounts of data. Streaming services such as Peacock, Netflix, and Disney+ all use a similar amount of data, approximately 1GB of data per hour.

In this article, I will provide you with information about why Peacock uses so much data and what you can do to reduce your data usage when you want to stream movies or other content to watch in your spare time.

Why Peacock and Other Streaming Services Use a Lot of Data

To better understand why Peacock uses a large amount of data, we need to first look at how streaming services work and why they require so much data in the first place.

Streaming is essentially a way of viewing videos without first having to download their media files.

The video data gets split into smaller amounts of data known as data packets.

Every packet essentially has a small piece of the media file in it.

When you use a video player or streaming service, these files get interpreted as video content, and they are played a few seconds at a time via the internet.

This process requires data – sometimes, lots of it.

Considering the above in mind, there are some essential things to know about how Peacock uses data and why you might find that yours runs out quickly:

• Peacock doesn’t offer data-saving features. A problem that Peacock has, as compared to competing streaming services, is that it doesn’t provide you with a chance to adjust your data settings. Netflix has a data saver feature on its app that allows users to enjoy approximately six hours of content per 1GB of data. If it had this option available, it would prevent data from running out so quickly.
• Peacock doesn’t offer ad-free plans. If you’re a Peacock premium subscriber, you might wonder why you still have to watch commercials. There are reasons for this, such as streaming rights, as the Peacock website states. Although Peacock has the lowest amount of streaming ads, with 4.6 ads per show, ads use extra data. And, it’s worth bearing in mind that other streaming services like Disney+ offer ad-free plans.
• You’ll use more data for higher-definition content. If you watch high-definition shows on Peacock, you can expect to use up to 3GB of data in one hour. However, this is usually the case with other popular types of streaming services, such as Netflix.

How To Reduce Your Data Usage on Peacock

If you want to stop using so much data on Peacock, there are some things you can do right now to achieve this. These include the following:

Get Faster Internet Speeds

You require enough megabits per second (Mbps) to use Peacock.

While many streaming services require at least 2.5 Mbps download speeds, as Popular Science reports, you will need at least 3.0 Mbps for Peacock to ensure that you’ll be able to make the most of its content.

If you want to use Peacock with other apps, such as social media apps, this will put pressure on your internet connection, so you’ll need a higher amount of Mbps.

If you want to watch live TV, for instance, you’ll need at least 10mbps.

If you don’t have enough Mbps, this will cause you to take longer to complete a task, which will use more data.

Basically, the faster your internet speed, the faster you’ll be able to download or upload a file.

You’ll avoid wasting time and precious data trying to stream videos.

Close Running Apps on Your Device

It’s easy to forget what apps are running in the background on your device.

These are all using data without you being aware of it!

So, make sure you check what’s running on your device and close all your apps before launching Peacock so that it’s the only app that’s running.

You can see what apps are running in the background by going to your device settings.

Make Standard Definition Your Best Friend

Switching to standard definition video quality for Peacock content will save you more data than you’ll experience with other definitions.

For example, the average data usage for streaming devices in standard definition is 0.6GB to 0.8GB.

In contrast, it can jump to about 3GB per hour if you watch videos in high definition.

That’s almost three times more data!

Don’t Let Buffering Steal Data

Buffering is when software has to download a certain amount of data before continuing to play the video you’re watching.

This causes your video to lag or stop playing altogether.
You can prevent buffering by not using too much data for different tasks simultaneously, such as by not playing games or downloading large files while streaming content on Peacock.

This ensures that there’s enough data readily available for streaming purposes.

Avoid Using Multiple Streams

Peacock enables you to use three streams, which means that you can stream video content on up to three devices simultaneously.

While this is user-friendly, it’s problematic from a bandwidth perspective because it will use more data, as reported on the Peacock website.

So, make sure no one in your household is using Peacock while you’re watching content to save yourself the hassle of having to buy more data.

Why Does Peacock Use So Much Data? Final Thoughts

If you’ve signed up to a streaming service like Peacock, you might be wondering why you’re losing so much data.

In this article, I’ve looked at why Peacock draws a lot of data from your device, and I’ve also provided you with some quick and easy ways in which you can start reducing your data usage.

These will ensure that your device isn’t always running on insufficient data because you’ve watched a couple of episodes of your favorite show.