dumasrl_2000

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Excessive Data Usage

I switch to cox 5 days ago from att internet. With ATT I have a data cap of 100GB a month and never went over that amount. It is only me in my household. I work from home, I may stream 3 to 4 hours of movies/shows a day on either nexflix or amazon prime. Absolutely nothing has changed in my internet activities over the past 5 days, yet with cox I have used 128GB of data in 5 days. There is absolutely no way I am using that much data that quickly. With ATT my highest usage was about 95GB for the month. I switched because I did not want to have to worry about going over, and thought that 1TB would allow me to not have to constantly check my data usage, but I find myself more worried now, than when my cap was 100GB with ATT.

There seems to be something seriously wrong with the way COX is measuring my data usage. Using all of their Tips and calculation tools even suggest I should not have used 128GB of data in 5 days.

Is anyone having excessive data issues?

bearone2

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3-4 hours/day is a lot of streaming + hard to believe you could watch att for 30 days, stay under 100g!!

proudworld

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31 Messages

I've complained the same for quite some time...and I'm a 20+ year customer of Cox. It's probably different from ATT.

I've never exceeded 1000GB until last month...and Cox had issues all month. We were down as long as 8 hours at times. There is no way we exceeded 1000GB. In September we used under 600 GB, October about 800GB Normally it's about 750-800GB.

There is no consistency in their monitoring. Days I expect higher, it's often lower. Days I expect a lower result, it's higher. I don't vary my schedule and viewing habits much either...it's just my wife and I. Sometimes I do so just to see how the monitoring responds....it's inconsistent. All I can say.

I don't know how Cox measures, but I question the veracity. Way to inconsistent in it to accept it as accurate.

The recent "system upgrade" seems to have produced even higher numbers. Expect worse.

Good luck.

bearone2

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1.5K Messages

check what dl you're using at netflix, default or hd!

proudworld

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31 Messages

don't subscribe to the Netflix garbage

proudworld

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31 Messages

just a follow up as you did remind me to check my other Sling settings...as I noticed a change last night when I reset one of our Amazon Firesticks...we have 4.

If you reset your stick...which we were doing more often when Cox was having connectivity issues, the Firestick seems to override the settings for the Sling app...perhaps other apps. Sling still showed a lower bandwidth, but it was using higher. It was noticeable to the eye. I just clicked higher then lower on bandwidth settings in Sling and the picture quality was degraded.

My assumption is I will see lower usage tomorrow with the settings reset to where they should be. Interesting that the Firestick resets/overrides the app settings.

Just one man's observation.

Becky

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Hi Proudworld, many streaming apps can alter default video settings during an update. Factors such as video quality, FPS (frames per second), color usage, and audio bitrate can all impact the bandwidth (the amount of data transmitted) of streaming video. As video and audio quality increase, so does the amount of data consumed, so regularly checking the quality settings for each streaming service can help you manage data usage. Most video players offer Low, Medium, and High settings that allow you to adjust the quality of your video stream from standard definition (such as 240p or 360p) to high definition (720p or 1080p). Let us know if you have further questions about data usage. You can post here or email us at Cox.Help@cox.com. We're happy to help! -Becky, Cox Support Forums Moderator

proudworld

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31 Messages

I am aware of those issues Becky...but thanks.

Just FYI. Yesterday's usage decreased to 14 GB...vs Monday 40+ and Sunday 50+ GB usage.

It wasn't the app per se that created the problem, it was the device override.

As stated earlier, if you reset the device(which we did when Cox was having service issues because it often created an issue with Firestick syncing after outage), that's when Firestick overrides the app settings within Firestick....even tho the app menu showed my normal settings after reset.. App settings had to be changed higher, then lower...even tho the menu showed it lower to begin with.

Kind of odd the device overrides the app settings yet shows correctly, but that was the issue. A quirk between Firesticks and Sling app I guess.

Welcome to the Cox Community

Excessive Data Usage

bearone2

proudworld

proudworld

Becky

proudworld

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