Been using plex dvr using my local antenna and hdhomerun box for 3 weeks now. My computer is connected with ethernet and is being used for storage. My wife’s laptop is connected wifi to router, both of us have been watching recorded shows. When I check data usage on my computer, it shows “Plex Transcoder” used almost 400 gigs, then it shows “Plex Media Server” used about 30 gigs.
What can I do to reduce this data usage? thanks
Not sure I follow…
If it shows transcoder usage, that means that you’re transcoding media and it’s sending the media out to you guys. That’s common for DVR’d shows as the .ts Mpeg-2 stream usually gets transcoded when sending to a client. So you could pre-convert them using MCEBuddy, this gives you the added benefit of making the files smaller in size.
However, this will move the data usage from Plex Transcoder to Plex Media Server, granted it will likely be a smaller number… But if you figure Mpeg-2 .ts files are usually about 4GB/hr, you can usually get them down to 2GB/hr without much quality loss… You’d still be shifting 200GB of usage to the Plex Media Server and eliminating the “Plex Transcoder Usage”…
If that makes sense…
Edit: This will not perform the same for LiveTV viewing… LiveTV viewing will almost always transcode, and if you watch a lot of Live TV there will be no way to reduce that data, unless your Tuner has a way to transcode for you on the fly…
Edit 2: This is typically all local usage when on your own network, so it won’t affect your ISP’s data limits in any way, unless you’re viewing remotely. If that’s what you’re worried about… I am not really sure why Local Data usage would matter…
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You’re talking over my head, I’m pretty stupid regarding this stuff. Why would I be streaming video if I’m watching content from my hard drive? I think it is my wife’s laptop that is making this transcoder data usage and not me watching the computer with the hard drive. Is that correct? are you saying watching my antenna live through plex is using streaming data? I’m very confused.
Plex is a streaming service that you host… Every device that is not the device Plex Media Server is hosted on, streams from the server. So you’re correct, if you’re watching from the PC that has Plex Media Server on it, then you’re creating no data usage.
However, your wife, watching from a different device, is streaming and thus causing the data usage. But as long as that usage is only while she’s at home connected to your home wifi/network, then it will not generate data usage that your ISP counts against you.
So lets start off basic here: Why does it matter how much data each of those is using? Are you on a metered internet connection (ie a connection that limits your data usage)?
Thank you. Yes, we have 1000 gigs of data per month and we have used a total of 900 with a couple days left, just got the warning from Cox today.
I wonder why the data her computer has used to watch plex has counted against us? Should I turn off the transcoder in my Plex settings? does that even have anything to do with this? It’s set to auto now. Should I connect her laptop with ethernet or does that not matter?
Another thing that is confusing me is that this nearly 400 gigs of “plex transcoder” data usage is listed under ethernet usage on my computer rather than under wi-fi usage.
Is your computer hardwired? If so, that’s why. What you’re looking at is actually data being used by your computer and the various programs on your computer. But, like I said, her data is probably not counting against you… Not unless her connection is indirect, but it doesn’t make much sense that it would be…
What you’re doing to look at data usage is not the way you should be going about it… If you look at total usage for your PC, and total usage for her PC and every other device in your home, you will probably be WAY over your 1000GB. Because you have network traffic. What you need to do, and this is not a skill that comes easy, is learn to distinguish which of those programs is local traffic and which of them is internet traffic.
Long story short, reducing the transcoder data usage will not solve your problem.
So if I just make my computer that is being used for plex storage wi-fi and disconnect the ethernet cable this will solve the issue?
And yes, we have added up all devices using the internet and it does come out to the 900 Cox says we have used. She has only watched plex from the router in the house.
No, ethernet or wifi usage counts against you when it’s internet traffic… Neither counts against you when it’s local traffic. Your problem is not one you’re going to be able to solve with your understanding of how things work… It’s not as simple as “What programs on my computer have used data?” you need to know what that data is doing and where it’s going once it leaves your computer. For instance
I commonly transfer files from my PC to another PC on my network, I would say somewhere in the area of 2000-3000 GB per month… However, since I know the program I use to facilitate that transfer is local traffic only, I know I don’t have to use that to calculate my internet usage. Because none of that data goes out or comes in from the internet.
Your ISP does not count data that’s being used across your own home network, they only care about the data that passes into your modem, and exits through your modem as internet traffic. If you and your wife are using Plex only while being at home and she’s not “Indirectly connected”, then you don’t even need to use Plex Media Server or Plex Transcoder in your data calculations, because all of your traffic is local from those 2 programs… which means the root cause of your problem is somewhere else.
Ok, so we need to create a home network? Seems that she is not pulling the video from our home, but from the internet.
duke, you already have a home network. By virtue of the fact that your home has multiple devices connected to the network via a router.
I will try and explain things as best as I can:
You have a Modem/Router provided by your internet service provider, that device is what facilitates your local/home network, as well as manages your internet connection. Your ISP only counts data that goes in and out from the Internet, it does NOT count data that has been transferred between two devices on your home network. The only time this should happen is if one of the devices has a VPN installed. In that case, the device will go out to the internet, through the VPN, and then back into the home via the Internet…
So does your wife have a VPN?
If Yes, she should turn it off when at home and using plex
If No, then her traffic is local on your home network, and does not register as Internet traffic.
You cannot tell what traffic is network traffic, and what traffic is internet traffic by looking at what you’re looking at. So there is no way to tell if the 400GB used is home network traffic or internet traffic. This is something you will have to “just know” by knowing how your internet/home network is setup, what does what, and what goes where. This is why I said it’s not solvable with your understanding of how things work. You need more knowledge and an understanding of these things in order to truly solve your problem.
I can say with a relatively high degree of certainty that you’re chasing the wrong problem. Your Plex Transcoder traffic is most likely not affecting your total usage with your ISP, but you’re focused on it because it’s such a high number.
Try to think of it like this:
You have a pipe, it’s going over 2 pools. One of those pools has a capacity, if you exceed the capacity it will overflow and cause damage, so you want to stop that at all costs.
Now, the other pool, is a bottomless pit, it can store as much water as you can throw into it.
The pipe going over the two has two leaks. One is a gushing flow, but thankfully it’s over the bottomless pit. The other is a steady leak, but it’s significantly less water than the other. However, it’s leaking into the pool with a capacity limit.
Your goal is fix the steady leak, because that’s what matters. But you are currently focused on the gushing flow that’s going into the bottomless pit. This will not fix your problem.
Edit: It’s also worthy of noting, that you’re only looking at one device on your network, not all of them. You need to actually look at ALL of the devices connected to your network, and add up all of the traffic from the various apps.
Use Google Sheets to do this. Any Smart TV’s you have, any Phones or Tablets you have, any other PCs. I can promise you, once you add everything up you’re going to be well over your 1000GB Limit with your ISP, you can then start subtracting things with educated guesses as to what traffic you suspect is home network traffic.
My wife did have a backup service that was showing almost 300 gigs of data usage over the last 30 days, she has stopped it. She’s not on a vpn, but could that have been doing it?
And I know the plex watching she has done has used a ton of data that has counted against us. We have added up all the data used by all of our devices, and counting the 400 gigs of plex data it all adds up to what cox says we have used thus far (only 1 day remaining in monthly cycle).
So you are saying there is no way to see which data is used against us and which isn’t? there isn’t any app or anything we could download to monitor this?
Yes, that is 300GB of data that was definitely used by the internet.
None that I know of. This would need to be a piece of software that you could install on every device, and then your information would be fragmented, and still need to be added up manually any time you wanted to check it, and I know of no such software. Most consumer routers have some sort of traffic monitoring built into them, but this doesn’t break it down by app, however, it is useful for telling you which Devices have used the data, and it tells you what portion of that data is local and what portion is internet.
Did you check your Netflix/streaming apps on your smart TVs and your other smart devices? This is often overlooked by most people.
Ok, thanks - I think it was this backup service that was causing the problem. We will know for sure if Cox continues to show data usage after she turned it off, I really appreciate you taking the time today to explain it to me.
No worries man, thankfully I don’t have this problem, but coming from cellphone tech support arena, and helping people manage their data plans, I know what it’s like.
I am uncertain about Cox, but I know Comcast offers an unlimited internet connection for $50 more per month. They also have most of their plans capped at 1000GB. Might be something to consider as things become more and more data intensive. Resolutions are increasing, filesizes for regular things (Documents, PDF’s, subtitles, etc) are increasing. Limited Internet in the age of Internet is just a bad idea…
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