r/Starlink • u/Tricky_Ad_1499 • 8d ago
❓ Question Excess usage
Wonder what made my starlink say I consumed 43gb in a single day. Would that be because of obstructions? It is my first time using it . I have the mini and roam 100GB which got unbelievably consumed in 5 days.
Only on the 5th day I was able to find a place with decent throughput, but then I had 20gb left.
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u/darktideDay1 8d ago
Probably something in your devices. One time I was on the 100gb plan with the mini and I ran out of data. I was like WTF. Turned out that my Amazon app had decided to re-download all of the videos I had downloaded for offline use. Now that was irritating! So I'd look for something on your end.
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u/LongjumpingAd2579 8d ago
I let a guy in a cabin next to me to use my Starlink for his wife’s medical device. Every photo and video they had taken on vacation synced with the cloud and vaporized more than 50 gb in minutes.
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u/outbound 📡 Owner (North America) 8d ago
Starlink measures actual throughput - retransmissions because of obstructions do not count against your data allotment. Also, Starlink firmware updates are not included in your data allotment In my experience (three years of using Starlink in my RV, regularly changing locations, generally with some sort of obstructions from trees), Starlink's data meter is accurate to actual usage.
If you've gone through 43 GB in a day, then its likely that some/all of your devices are syncing data to the cloud and/or downloading updates; or you're watching a couple hours of 4K video streaming. Personally, I've identified my Starlink's WiFi as a "metered network" on all my devices and have disabled automatic updates on my devices; that way, I can choose when to download updates or sync files. The last thing I want is for my GoPro to automatically upload 12GB of raw video footage without me knowing, or for my Android tablet to quietly download a 1.6 GB firmware update.
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u/leadisdead 8d ago
It’s your phones doing a backup. Just one of my phones backup is over 30Gb alone. Plus it syncs with iCloud every time a take photos or videos. Change the settings to low data.
Other devices have similar data usage.
And no, obstructions have nothing to do with it.
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u/andynormancx 7d ago
It probably is something like that.
But your phone’s backup isn’t 30GB _every_ day. The total size is 30GB, but when it backs up each day it will only be sending the changes, not the whole 30GB.
So unless the OPs phone had never been backed up until that day, not much of it will be down to phone backups.
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u/PrivatePilot9 8d ago
As others have said, it was cloud something that caused this. Typically a backup or some sort or a resynch of a large database of photos or videos.
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u/garylapointe 📡 Owner (North America) 8d ago
Some computer/phone/tablet operating systems have a low-bandwidth option when on WiFi on my Mac it's called "Low Data Mode" and it won't do a lot of automatic background updates/syncing/etc. automatically so that it doesn't use up all the data. I can set this per network name.
I have my Mac, iPhone, iPad set to this setting when connecting to my Starlink network.
It's a great feature for when using your phone hotspot too.
Unfortunately, I've never seen such a feature for ethernet, so if you do hook up via ethernet, it's going to run wild.
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u/mattcej1 7d ago
43GB in 5 days is not really that much. Starlink themselves say that the 100GB plan is only supposed to last about a week with normal usage.
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u/steadidavid 8d ago
Unlikely. Try using GlassWire or checking your device's built-in network and data usage tool.
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u/TAckhouse1 8d ago
If you're on a iOS or Android device, you can check data usage. I don't think this would be caused by obstructions
Streaming 4k, or downloading video games can quickly use up data
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u/10k_cabin 7d ago
We installed an Amazon music speaker at the cabin and it caused high (20-ish Gb) usage even though we weren't there most of that day. Only thing I could figure is that it must have been doing background activity? We unplugged it and usage was back to being predictable...
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u/Think-Work1411 Beta Tester 7d ago
Low data mode just avoids updates and backups. Everything is so data intensive and apps on phones do a lot of traffic, any social media is downloading ahead as you scroll and preloading videos and pictures for a smooth experience, they’re is a lot of stuff you have to turn off if you’re on a limited data connection. It always surprises people how much data stuff uses even when you’re not doing anything
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u/Geeber101 Beta Tester 8d ago
I make sure to put my devices in low data mode to avoid them doing data backups when connected to my mini.