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Thread ID: 128787 2013-01-15 13:48:00 Gw2 and Skype question :3 tigerj2 (16879) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1322916 2013-01-15 13:48:00 Does anyone know how much internet an average hour of guild wars 2 uses?
Also does anyone know how much internet a skype voice chat with one person would take up per hour?
tigerj2 (16879)
1322917 2013-01-15 15:14:00 Guild Wars - Most games use about 60-120mb per hour as a rough guess. It depends. It can be much less ~50mb an hour, but a good idea is to play it safe and say 100mb

Skype - 250mb sounds about right, maybe 500

Best way is to install networx www.softperfect.com and record your data usage over an hour. Do several readings to get an average. It's also good for just checking on your daily usage. I use it often.
The Error Guy (14052)
1322918 2013-01-15 21:16:00 Whhaaaaa? 500MB!?!

A voice chat using the uncompressed "standard" g711 is only approx 70MB per-hour! iLBC which they used previously uses around 1/3 that!

AFAIK they use SILK and some codec of their own (Opus?) but IIRC the bitrate isn't fixed, and so if the "HD Audio" ends up kicking in it may be using marginally more.
Still, I would say that if it's not "HD Voice" (Or if there's a way to disable it) then 70MB per hour is a very, very conservative amount.
Chilling_Silence (9)
1322919 2013-01-15 21:22:00 Skype uses much less than 250MB an hour. 30MB is more like it; and that's with video. Zara Baxter (16260)
1322920 2013-01-15 22:12:00 Can't be with video?! Even at 300kbps for poor quality that'd still be somewhere in the vicinity of 150MB once you add audio on top. Chilling_Silence (9)
1322921 2013-01-15 22:21:00 I've run video over dial-up...

Skype's site says it averages 24-128kbps. So let's say 50MB. My experience has certainly been more at the 30MB end of the scale. I do a lot of video Skype and it barely rates on my 3G stick modem...
Zara Baxter (16260)
1322922 2013-01-15 22:24:00 Of course, having said that, I don't se HD, which is likely to be higher.

You can check your own: support.skype.com
Zara Baxter (16260)
1322923 2013-01-15 22:37:00 Can't say I actually *use* Skype myself, but cool to see they've put in that "See how much bandwidth my call is using" feature.

Their own website says they recommend a minimum for poor-quality video of 128k:
support.skype.com
Good quality video wants 400kbps, so I was pretty damn close :D

Dunno how the hell you did it over dial-up, considering dial-up is 56kbps (In absolute ideal conditions, not usually actually attained), and half-duplex, so you can do an iLBC audio call (SILK now in Skype? Or Opus?) but that's basically leaving no room for any video.

Keeping in mind that if Skype *can* use more bandwidth, it likely will, so there's no easy way for you to say "Righto, only use the 128kbps video call at poor quality, rather than good quality at 400kbps".
Chilling_Silence (9)
1322924 2013-01-15 22:52:00 Note that they recommend that as a connection speed, though, not as how much bandwidth it would use. That same page is where they quote 28-128kbps as average.

I didn't say it was good video on dialup, hehe. And that was on an older version, so I don't know how much the codecs, etc have changed since.

I still Skype video several times a week though, on 3G and on Wi-Fi, using a standard iPad or laptop webcam. My numbers are based on my usage, but I can check my partner's HD webcam to see how his numbers compare this evening.
Zara Baxter (16260)
1322925 2013-01-15 23:13:00 Ah well, fair enough, I'd imagine it's possible.

I agree though, a voice call doesn't use much at all.
Chilling_Silence (9)
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